Tigpuppy
New member
This is a diary of my weight loss journey. Since it will be a record of the road back, I think it's important to start with how I got where I'm at today.
Growing up and throughout college I was always the 'skinny one'. I could eat what ever I wanted and never seemed to gain any weight. I also HATED exercise, but it never seemed to matter. I was 5' 5" and 107 lbs when I got married at age 18. I looked down on overweight people and always said if I ended up like that, someone should just take me out and shoot me!
By the time I graduated from college my metabolism was starting to slow down and I had put on a bit of weight. I was up to about 125 lbs. I began working at a sedentary job as a software developer, located 75 minutes from where I lived, so not only was I sitting in front a computer for 8 hours a day, I was also sitting in the car driving for 2.5 hrs per day during my commute. I had no kids and no life, so I started working 12 hours a day, plus the 2.5 hour commute. I ate breakfast in my car while I drove (pop tarts, toaster strudels, caramel rolls - once in a while oatmeal or cereal). I would order in lunch every day from one fast food place or another and eat at my desk. I'd grab something from a drive thru on my way home every night and eat while I drove home. Went to bed when I got home, and started the whole thing all over again the next day.
It wasn't long before I was tipping the scales at 150 lbs and decided I should probably do something about it. I was 26 years old and decided it was time to make a bunch of changes in my life. My husband and I had been married almost 9 years and figured it was time to start a family, so I went off the pill. I cut back my hours to normal 8 hour days. I also joined a gym and jumped right in to an over the top exercise program. I went to step aerobics 3 nights a week for an hour, and lifted weights for an hour 2 nights a week. I took weekends off. The first few weeks I thought I was going to die - I was REALLY out of shape. But after a few weeks it got easier and easier, and I found I actually enjoyed the aerobics classes.
Then I got pregnant and miscarried at 6 weeks. I blamed it on the aerobics and quit. I got pregnant again the month after I miscarried. I suffered from severe morning sickness and went from 150 lbs down to 130 during my pregnancy. I threw up all day every day the whole pregnancy, even in the delivery room. After my first daughter was born (healthy thank goodness) I was nursing and couldn't believe how hungry I was all the time. And food tasted SOOOO GOOOOOD now that it would stay down. I pigged out all the time with the excuse that I was a nursing mother. Except I was the only one that I knew of who gained while nursing instead of losing.
By the time I got pregnant again 2 years later I was 165 lbs. Again I suffered from horrible morning sickness for the first 7 months. I dropped down to 145 lbs during that pregnancy, but like the first time around, I pigged out again after my 2nd daughter was born and used nursing as an excuse.
This time I ballooned up to almost 180 lbs by 3 years after my last pregnancy. Around that time I started a home based business selling nutritional supplements and started taking them myself. As part of the training for my business I started to learn about nutrition. I began to try eating healthier, switched to whole wheat instead of white, added more fiber to my diet and the pounds started to melt away.
I was back down to 160 lbs when I got pregnant for the last time - this time with twins. Again morning sickness was wicked, but only lasted for the first 5 months. The day before I delivered I was 200 lbs. I was induced a month before my due date because they thought one of the babies had stopped growing. I had identical twin girls - one healthy and ready to take home. The other had some problems and was in the NICU for a week. It was a very stressfull week where I stayed at the hospital with them because my home was over an hour away. After we all got home I finally decided to weigh myself to see what the damages were. I was surprised to find I only weighed 165 lbs!
This time I tried to be more careful about gaining weight while nursing. I managed to stay the same for the 2 years that I nursed my twin girls, but then after I weaned them, the weight started to creep back on. By the summer of 2009 I was up to 175 lbs.
The health insurance provider thru my employer started an incentive program around that time to get employees more active and healthier. I decided to join and started walking every day with my girls, and doing light exersize several days a week. The numbers on the scale were starting to go back down and I was at 170 when I was bucked off a horse and badly broke my arm. The healing process was long and painful and by this last spring I was up to 185 lbs.
This last February my oldest daughter was looking thru old photo albums and came across a picture of me taken about 12 years ago. I was sitting on my husband's Harley and was wearing a leather bikini top and skin tight jeans that I could maybe fit around one thigh now. I think I was about 120 lbs at that time. My daughter was shocked that I used to look so hot at one time in my life and she said Mom, you really need to lose weight! I was pretty embarrassed at how far I'd let things go. I looked at myself in a full length mirror without any clothes on (I hadn't done that in forever!) and I thought YUCK! That's just disgusting! I don't know how my husband could stand to be intimate with me any more. I was repulsed by my body. I did a little research on the internet to find out what a healthy body weight for my height would be and was not happy to find out that I was considered obese at my current weight. I finally decided it was time to get serious about losing weight.
So I started my weight loss journey - hopefully for good this time.
On March 1, 2010:
Height - 5'5"
Weight - 185.8 lbs
Size - 18 dress, 16 jeans, 38G bra
Hips - 48"
Waist - 36"
Ribcage - 36"
Bust - 46"
Thigh - 27"
Bicep - 14.5"
I had my daughter help me take before photos in my underwear from front, side and rear view. I'm too chicken to post them though!
Growing up and throughout college I was always the 'skinny one'. I could eat what ever I wanted and never seemed to gain any weight. I also HATED exercise, but it never seemed to matter. I was 5' 5" and 107 lbs when I got married at age 18. I looked down on overweight people and always said if I ended up like that, someone should just take me out and shoot me!
By the time I graduated from college my metabolism was starting to slow down and I had put on a bit of weight. I was up to about 125 lbs. I began working at a sedentary job as a software developer, located 75 minutes from where I lived, so not only was I sitting in front a computer for 8 hours a day, I was also sitting in the car driving for 2.5 hrs per day during my commute. I had no kids and no life, so I started working 12 hours a day, plus the 2.5 hour commute. I ate breakfast in my car while I drove (pop tarts, toaster strudels, caramel rolls - once in a while oatmeal or cereal). I would order in lunch every day from one fast food place or another and eat at my desk. I'd grab something from a drive thru on my way home every night and eat while I drove home. Went to bed when I got home, and started the whole thing all over again the next day.
It wasn't long before I was tipping the scales at 150 lbs and decided I should probably do something about it. I was 26 years old and decided it was time to make a bunch of changes in my life. My husband and I had been married almost 9 years and figured it was time to start a family, so I went off the pill. I cut back my hours to normal 8 hour days. I also joined a gym and jumped right in to an over the top exercise program. I went to step aerobics 3 nights a week for an hour, and lifted weights for an hour 2 nights a week. I took weekends off. The first few weeks I thought I was going to die - I was REALLY out of shape. But after a few weeks it got easier and easier, and I found I actually enjoyed the aerobics classes.
Then I got pregnant and miscarried at 6 weeks. I blamed it on the aerobics and quit. I got pregnant again the month after I miscarried. I suffered from severe morning sickness and went from 150 lbs down to 130 during my pregnancy. I threw up all day every day the whole pregnancy, even in the delivery room. After my first daughter was born (healthy thank goodness) I was nursing and couldn't believe how hungry I was all the time. And food tasted SOOOO GOOOOOD now that it would stay down. I pigged out all the time with the excuse that I was a nursing mother. Except I was the only one that I knew of who gained while nursing instead of losing.
By the time I got pregnant again 2 years later I was 165 lbs. Again I suffered from horrible morning sickness for the first 7 months. I dropped down to 145 lbs during that pregnancy, but like the first time around, I pigged out again after my 2nd daughter was born and used nursing as an excuse.
This time I ballooned up to almost 180 lbs by 3 years after my last pregnancy. Around that time I started a home based business selling nutritional supplements and started taking them myself. As part of the training for my business I started to learn about nutrition. I began to try eating healthier, switched to whole wheat instead of white, added more fiber to my diet and the pounds started to melt away.
I was back down to 160 lbs when I got pregnant for the last time - this time with twins. Again morning sickness was wicked, but only lasted for the first 5 months. The day before I delivered I was 200 lbs. I was induced a month before my due date because they thought one of the babies had stopped growing. I had identical twin girls - one healthy and ready to take home. The other had some problems and was in the NICU for a week. It was a very stressfull week where I stayed at the hospital with them because my home was over an hour away. After we all got home I finally decided to weigh myself to see what the damages were. I was surprised to find I only weighed 165 lbs!
This time I tried to be more careful about gaining weight while nursing. I managed to stay the same for the 2 years that I nursed my twin girls, but then after I weaned them, the weight started to creep back on. By the summer of 2009 I was up to 175 lbs.
The health insurance provider thru my employer started an incentive program around that time to get employees more active and healthier. I decided to join and started walking every day with my girls, and doing light exersize several days a week. The numbers on the scale were starting to go back down and I was at 170 when I was bucked off a horse and badly broke my arm. The healing process was long and painful and by this last spring I was up to 185 lbs.
This last February my oldest daughter was looking thru old photo albums and came across a picture of me taken about 12 years ago. I was sitting on my husband's Harley and was wearing a leather bikini top and skin tight jeans that I could maybe fit around one thigh now. I think I was about 120 lbs at that time. My daughter was shocked that I used to look so hot at one time in my life and she said Mom, you really need to lose weight! I was pretty embarrassed at how far I'd let things go. I looked at myself in a full length mirror without any clothes on (I hadn't done that in forever!) and I thought YUCK! That's just disgusting! I don't know how my husband could stand to be intimate with me any more. I was repulsed by my body. I did a little research on the internet to find out what a healthy body weight for my height would be and was not happy to find out that I was considered obese at my current weight. I finally decided it was time to get serious about losing weight.
So I started my weight loss journey - hopefully for good this time.
On March 1, 2010:
Height - 5'5"
Weight - 185.8 lbs
Size - 18 dress, 16 jeans, 38G bra
Hips - 48"
Waist - 36"
Ribcage - 36"
Bust - 46"
Thigh - 27"
Bicep - 14.5"
I had my daughter help me take before photos in my underwear from front, side and rear view. I'm too chicken to post them though!
