NEW ME

I have been thinking about this blog for a very long time. YEARS. Yep, I have been losing weight SLOWLY for years. I set a lower goal (but realistic) then I ever thought I would reach and TODAY I DID IT. As of this moment and pending I maintain my weight for six weeks I have achieved LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP status with Weight Watchers. I think my friends at Weight Watchers look at me as "the girl that came in and just wanted to lose 20 pounds," but what they don't know is that I KNOW what it is like to be in their shoes. I know how it feels to be "obese" and "overweight." It was easier to gain the weight than it was to lose it. Here is my story.

I started gaining weight mid junior year of high school. This is around the time Shayne and I started dating and I was eating out more, tasting and trying new things, and a stressful time academically where food was my comfort. I also was working at fast food chains, McDonalds, Taco Time, and Taco Bell where the food available for me was not the best food FOR me. Without even realizing it, I gained my "freshmen 15" in high school.

College wasn't any "friendlier." Now all the sudden, the ball was completely in my court. So was the convenience of eating on campus. It seemed during this time I began to eat out of boredom. I even had a mini fridge in my dorm room to help it along. With badly prepared microwaveable food as my cheapest option, nutritionally, I was lagging.

I think I started to notice I was gaining weight though after I got married, and gained ten more pounds working full time and I believe through added stress. People were starting to take pictures of me that I didn't like... I was wearing size 12-14 jeans, and soon to be growing... because a year into our marriage I found out I was pregnant.

I gained 60 big ones during my pregnancy and my doctors were not kind about it. My blood pressure was high, and there was no control. I blamed much of this on my swelling, but realized only so much was swelling since only 30 pounds came off when Danelle was born. I was the biggest I have ever been. I don't have a lot of pictures of this time of my life and I actually thought I hid my weight well. I was 195 pounds and wearing size 16 jeans. I knew I had a problem at this point. Something had to change.

It was at this point (end of 2005) that my mom started to count calories and lose weight so I made an incentive chart, $1 for every time I exercised, $1 for every day in my calorie range, and $5 for every five pounds lost. I earned $120 and lost about 20 pounds. Now 175, I felt pretty good. I was still overweight, but this was a number I could handle. I lost all the weight from being pregnant with Danelle.

In 2006, after my av node ablation on my heart, my doctor STRONGLY suggested I lose more weight for the sake of my heart health. During the time waiting for my surgery and just after, I had strict orders for a heart healthy diet. Having the scare of my heart problem jolted me that I needed to lose more weight - I had to get in a healthy BMI. In 2006, I started dieting again and lost 20 more pounds. I was now 155, and the upper edge of "healthy BMI." I was proud and feeling good. In 2008, I lost 10 more pounds and was now 145, a number I felt REALLY good about. I stayed this weight for a year, until I found out I was pregnant with Kaitlyn Marie.

Kaitlyn's pregnancy "physically" was a much easier pregnancy. Her pregnancy was complicated with a tear in the placenta early that caused problems that whole time through, but physically for ME it was perfect. I had excellent blood pressure, no swelling, never had aching, and I only gained 35 pounds which was considered healthy weight gain (they told me 25-35 is normal). I am so glad I was healthy enough to not make this pregnancy more complicated for Kaitlyn by having blood pressure problems.

Once Kaitlyn was born, I lost 15 pounds easily, but having a c-section with her I got a slow start losing weight and didn't want to push myself too hard. I started my own program of counting calories again and a little incentive program. I lost 10 pounds. Upper end of healthy BMI again. I knew I wanted to lose at least the extra weight I kept on after Kaitlyn but didn't know if that would be possible now that I had a "c-section gut."

Finally last spring as soon as I stopped nursing and felt like I could diet again, I told my mom I wanted to start Weight Watchers after the move and wondered if she wanted to join with me. She was very enthusiastic about it. We joined in June, and I lost about 8 pounds in the first month. The weeks to follow were long and slow. I was finally 145 again and felt really good, but my goal was lower - I was curious if I could reach my goal so I kept going. After a little more time, I passed 145 and realized that with Weight Watchers I just might be able to to the IMPOSSIBLE!

I did reach the impossible. I could probably lose more if I put my mind to it, but for now I am happy with where I am at and need a little break. Shayne thinks instead of trying to lose weight, my focus should be on toning up (which I need badly) and maintain this weight. Weight Watchers says I can always lower my goal if I wanted to and keep going but I feel like that might be overkill right now. I am satisfied more than I could have ever been by eating food.

Since joining Weight Watchers, I have learned how to eat properly and the right proportions. I have learned that I CAN splurge once and while and get right back on the program and STILL lose weight. I never felt deprived and I could eat whatever I wanted BUT had to check and balance my points to still lose weight. I learned that not all calories are created equal and part of why I might have stopped losing weight was more to do with me not understanding this fact! When considering option of what to eat counting calories an apple could be 100, but so is that 100 calorie pack of cookies, or small bag of chips. However, FAT takes less energy to burn and therefore it's easier to gain weight whereas an apple (which is 0 Weight Watcher points) takes more ENERGY to burn so it almost cancels itself out. The bag of cookies is 3-4 WW points, while the apple is 0 WW points.

I highly recommend the program. It was so much easier than other diets of not eating carbs, much healthier and rewarding than taking diet pills, and much more realistic for me than anything surgical. I am really proud of myself and feel empowered at the things I can do. I know that this experience has been a good one for Danelle to watch over the years and I often hear her talking about healthy choices. The girls and I were physically active this summer with biking and walking more than any other year. I am hoping that by my experience and the way that I now feed my family, that my children will learn how to eat and carry it with them their whole life. I hope that through our walks and rides they will have a love for being physically fit.

This isn't the end of my journey.... I know that it will take a lot for me to maintain this weight and it will have to be a lifestyle change to stay. I don't think I will ever eat the way that I used to. Weight gain might be in my future with another pregnancy, surgeries, or whatever may be, but I know that with Weight Watchers there is hope.

I have to maintain my weight for 6 weeks to start going for free to Weight Watchers, then weigh in once a month to keep my membership. I plan to continue to go to meetings and keep my motivation high and stick in there with my mom who is doing very good but has more to go. I am excited for where I am. I am now wearing size six jeans and I feel better than ever.

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway..." Earl Nightingale.