Peach1
New member
Here's my story:
Ever since puberty, my body has always been a bit flabby and wide for my liking, however, I wasn't classified as overweight until I was about 18. That's when I joined the Air Force. When I weighed in at my recruiter's office, I was 150 pounds on the dot, which for a 5'5" female, was the maximum weight. So I lost 10 pounds before going off to basic training, expecting to lose more. But guess what? I actually gained 20 pounds in six weeks of basic training! Okay, most of it was muscle, but I was also stuffing my face whenever I could. Afterwards, I was sent to technical training school to learn my job, and ended up gaining another 10 pounds. For the next few years, I hovered at or around 170 pounds, but completely unaware of it. My body is well-proportioned and I gain weight evenly. When I came up for promotion, I was temporarily denied after weighing in at 175 pounds, which was 25 pounds over my max. So the Air Force, in their infinite wisdom, put me in the fat girl program, better known as the Weight Management Program. They gave me three months to lose the weight... three months! I don't know how I did it, but I dropped 30 pounds in those three months, but it quickly came back, and then some.
After another few years, I decided to have another go at losing weight, but I still didn't know much about diet and nutrition. I put myself on a dangerous 1000-calorie-a-day (usually less) diet complete with three days of 45-minute stints on the elliptical machine per week. Needless to say, I lost so much weight so fast that I scared my co-workers. I went from 185 to 135 in just four months. Of course, I was starving myself without knowing it, and as soon as I "celebrated" my weight loss, it all came rushing back with a vengeance.
I separated from the Air Force back in June 2005, but wanted to continue my military service. I ended up joining the Army National Guard in January 2006. At the time, the Army was so desperate for recruits, they didn't even bother to weigh me, because if they had, they would have rejected me for being 46 pounds overweight... that's right, I had ballooned up to 196 pounds. Over the next few months, I started losing weight in preparation for Army training, and lost about 24 pounds. When I came back from Army training, I had lost another 6 pounds, putting me at 166 pounds... a 30-pound loss. But, of course, I was still undisciplined and over the next 6 months, I put most of the weight back on.
Then, in February 2007, I had finally had enough of all that yo-yoing. On 28 February 2007, I started my weight loss journey at 191 pounds. I put myself on a 1200-calorie-a-day diet, and started moderate workouts on a stationary bike. I quickly grew bored of the bike, but I didn't stop my eating plan. Ironically enough, I found that I lost the same amount of weight whether I exercised or not. Proof that I had finally committed to healthy eating was when I would go away for vacation, splurge a little, then come home and jump right back into my weight loss state of mind without blinking an eye. I was very proud of myself. I lowered my goal weight from 130 to 120, and was certain I could reach this goal in a year.
Well, a year has passed and I'm not at my goal yet. How disappointing. Today is 6 March 2008, and I have lost 44 pounds with another 27 pounds to go. My weight loss has slowed up considerably. Before I would lose anywhere between 3 and 4 pounds per month. Now I'm lucky to lose half a pound per week. In an effort to jumpstart my metabolism again, I started working out regularly again last month, but I'm not seeing any real results yet. I try to remain patient, but I had hoped so much to be at my goal by this summer, and I'm not sure if I'm going to accomplish that.
So that's my story. Welcome to me: 27-years-old living in Oklahoma City. Currently unemployed, but an IT professional by trade. Unmarried, no kids, 3 cats, and all my energy goes into focusing on my weight loss.
Ever since puberty, my body has always been a bit flabby and wide for my liking, however, I wasn't classified as overweight until I was about 18. That's when I joined the Air Force. When I weighed in at my recruiter's office, I was 150 pounds on the dot, which for a 5'5" female, was the maximum weight. So I lost 10 pounds before going off to basic training, expecting to lose more. But guess what? I actually gained 20 pounds in six weeks of basic training! Okay, most of it was muscle, but I was also stuffing my face whenever I could. Afterwards, I was sent to technical training school to learn my job, and ended up gaining another 10 pounds. For the next few years, I hovered at or around 170 pounds, but completely unaware of it. My body is well-proportioned and I gain weight evenly. When I came up for promotion, I was temporarily denied after weighing in at 175 pounds, which was 25 pounds over my max. So the Air Force, in their infinite wisdom, put me in the fat girl program, better known as the Weight Management Program. They gave me three months to lose the weight... three months! I don't know how I did it, but I dropped 30 pounds in those three months, but it quickly came back, and then some.
After another few years, I decided to have another go at losing weight, but I still didn't know much about diet and nutrition. I put myself on a dangerous 1000-calorie-a-day (usually less) diet complete with three days of 45-minute stints on the elliptical machine per week. Needless to say, I lost so much weight so fast that I scared my co-workers. I went from 185 to 135 in just four months. Of course, I was starving myself without knowing it, and as soon as I "celebrated" my weight loss, it all came rushing back with a vengeance.
I separated from the Air Force back in June 2005, but wanted to continue my military service. I ended up joining the Army National Guard in January 2006. At the time, the Army was so desperate for recruits, they didn't even bother to weigh me, because if they had, they would have rejected me for being 46 pounds overweight... that's right, I had ballooned up to 196 pounds. Over the next few months, I started losing weight in preparation for Army training, and lost about 24 pounds. When I came back from Army training, I had lost another 6 pounds, putting me at 166 pounds... a 30-pound loss. But, of course, I was still undisciplined and over the next 6 months, I put most of the weight back on.
Then, in February 2007, I had finally had enough of all that yo-yoing. On 28 February 2007, I started my weight loss journey at 191 pounds. I put myself on a 1200-calorie-a-day diet, and started moderate workouts on a stationary bike. I quickly grew bored of the bike, but I didn't stop my eating plan. Ironically enough, I found that I lost the same amount of weight whether I exercised or not. Proof that I had finally committed to healthy eating was when I would go away for vacation, splurge a little, then come home and jump right back into my weight loss state of mind without blinking an eye. I was very proud of myself. I lowered my goal weight from 130 to 120, and was certain I could reach this goal in a year.
Well, a year has passed and I'm not at my goal yet. How disappointing. Today is 6 March 2008, and I have lost 44 pounds with another 27 pounds to go. My weight loss has slowed up considerably. Before I would lose anywhere between 3 and 4 pounds per month. Now I'm lucky to lose half a pound per week. In an effort to jumpstart my metabolism again, I started working out regularly again last month, but I'm not seeing any real results yet. I try to remain patient, but I had hoped so much to be at my goal by this summer, and I'm not sure if I'm going to accomplish that.
So that's my story. Welcome to me: 27-years-old living in Oklahoma City. Currently unemployed, but an IT professional by trade. Unmarried, no kids, 3 cats, and all my energy goes into focusing on my weight loss.
