My Story, Weights and All

I am not special.

Honestly, that is the first thing that comes to mind when writing the story about my weight loss journey. It is extremely ordinary. Extremely plain. And EXTREMELY similar to so many other people who have struggled to fight the same battle.

I wasn't always heavy. I almost wish that I could fall back on that as some kind of excuse. But the truth is, I was pretty average growing up. Sure, I had some chubbier years, but I also had some slimmer ones. And by the time I was in high school, I had slimmed out quite a bit. In fact, my "normal" weight in high school (excluding a period of time where I was sick and lost weight) was around 140 pounds. I am 5'9, so that was a great weight for me. If only I'd thought so at the time!



After high school, I started to put on a bit of weight. And then a bit more weight. At 21 I hit a high of 183 pounds, and knew that if I didn't get my eating under control, I was in for real problems in the future.

Not only was I eating too much junk, but I was also struggling with (as I continue to struggle with) binge eating. But with the help of the Weight Watchers point system and a gym membership, I got down to my goal weight of 145.



After hitting my goal weight, I gained a few pounds, but settled into the 148-153 range for about a year. And then I got married. And after getting married, I ate and ate and ate. And I gained over 40 pounds in less than a year. I hit an all-time high of 195 - I couldn't believe it!



After being married a little over a year, I became pregnant with my first child, a daughter. I weighed 187 when I got pregnant, 222 at nine months pregnant, and 200 pounds once I stopped losing weight (without trying) after she was born.

For the next two years, I'd try here and there to lose weight, but I could never get below the 170s. Sometimes it felt like I was gaining and losing the same 5 pounds over and over again. I wasn't exercising a lot, and I was still eating too much, so what did I expect to happen?

When my daughter turned 2, I found out that I was pregnant with my second child (a boy!). I weighed 180. I gained 39 pounds with that pregnancy, hitting 219 before I gave birth, and settling in at 198 afterwards. I got back down to 183 by following Weight Watchers again, but I wasn't exactly giving it my "all".

When I realized just how many articles of clothing no longer fit me, and how miserable I really was about my appearance and health... that's when I knew it was time to lose the weight once and for all.



I rejoined the gym, recommitted to eating better, and guess what? The weight came off.

That was in July of 2012. I hit my goal weight of 157 in late October, then dug deeper and reached my wedding weight of 153 by late November. A vacation and Christmas side-tracked me just a little bit, but I was back on track right after the festivities were over.



Now, I'm working to lose just a few more pounds so that I can hit the 50-Pound weight-loss mark. Wish me luck!