Weight Loss Journey

My weight has been a battle for me my whole life. I was always the big kid in the class. The big friend in the group, the girl that didn't make the drill team in high school becasue she was too big. I made up for it in other areas. I made good grades, I tried to be funny and make people laugh, I was a leader, a hard worker, and a helper. Maybe people wouldn't notice. If I ignored it, maybe so would they. Well, it didn't work out that way. After years of going up and down on the scale, I finally hit rock bottom after I had my 2nd baby in 2 years. The day I delivered my daughter, I weighed 240 lbs. although only 40 of it had been gained during the pregnancy.

I was constantly trying to make sure for the first 9 months that everyone around me knew that I "just had a baby" especially if Isabelle wasn't with me, because maybe then they would understand why I was so big. Sure, I was Type II diabetic and have had trouble burning sugar and fat my whole life, but it was easier to tell myself, I just had a baby. She was about 9 months old when I decided that I HAD to do something about it. The only way I was going to help myself was if I was willing to take action every day. That's exactly what I did. Starting in March of 2010, I started going to the gym 7 days a week. I did what I knew. I got on the eliptical and went for an hour. That seemed like a normal workout. I told myself that I would go everyday so that I wouldn't make excuses. My husband was right beside me. Every day I went, he went too. He started making the culinary changes we needed to see more of; grilled chicken, fish, replacing potatoes with veggies like mushrooms and peppers. Seems easy, but it was a slow change. I worked so hard at the gym. I started losing about 2 lbs. per week. I had already lost 30lbs. right after having Isabelle so I was at about 210-215lbs. in March of 2010. I have been faithful with my diet and 7 day a week exercise because I finally told myself that I was worth it to take the "Me Time" every day to make this happen. I will not say it's easy, and often get resentful when people breezily ask, "You lost 80lbs...oh, what did you do?" (hopeful for that miracle secret). When I explain that I did hard core cardio for over an hour EVERY SINGLE DAY burning around 1,000 calories per workout, for 6 months, they say, "Oh, I can't do that".

It's not rocket science. The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose. Everyone knows it, but less are willing to get up and do it. I needed to be active everyday. I needed my kids to see that it was important to me. I needed my husband to encourage me when the last thing I felt like doing was going to the gym. I had all of that, but more than anything, I needed to change my attitude about who I was and how worthy I was of deserving to live a healthy, happy life. It's a very hard thing to admit. I was ready to take care of everything else first. That would show that I was a good wife and mother. Nope. I didn't have time...Nope. I have 2 little kids. Nope. No excuses.

I needed to be honest. I decided to tell my husband that I weighed 210lbs. (anyone who has ever weighed more than their husband knows how humliating this can be-to yourself)and every Monday I would weigh myself and report. I needed that. I needed to know that I was going to be held accountable.
Over a year has passed since I started and to this day, every Monday morning I tell my husband how much I weigh. It works for me.

I can't even explain the level of support Blair gave me and what a deep respect I have for him. He never told me I needed to lose weight or workout. He just asked what my goals were and how I planned to reach them and if they were reasonable. We were a team. He would send me text messages when he was out of town to tell me to have a great workout and he would ask me how it went later. How could I NOT go? LOL. It worked! My kids started asking everyday when I got home from work if we were going to the gym because that's what we did every day. How could we NOT go? It worked. The motivation came quickly when I started getting lost in my clothes. I had started in March in a size 18/20 and was in a 12 by the end of the summer. During this school year, I have only lost 10 lbs. and I gained 5 of it back. But, I'm in a size 8 now so I am noticing more from measurements than the scale now. I got down to 158lbs at one point this year and am at 165lbs now. I know I will get back to the 150s! I have been "unclassified" as a Type II diabetic because my blood sugar is constantly under control with this amount of exercise. That was HUGE to me!

I'm still on this journey and it I ever get to a place where I think I've hit my goal and stop worrying about it, I will be doomed. I have to live this new healthy life with choices that affect it everyday. Maintenence is a goal. So, as long as I'm here, I'll be working towards something. When I finally reached 160lbs. I decided to train for a 1/2 marathon with one of my best friends, Dawn. I'm soooo not an athlete. Not even close. This was out of my league. But why not try? Why not set a goal? Why not celebrate losing 80lbs? So, I did. For 9 weeks I trained and I ended up beating my goal time of 2 1/2 hours. I finished in 2hours 27min. I've come a long way and the 13.1 miles was just a short part of it!



30 Min. before I delivered Isabelle by C-section. May 18, 2009: 240 lbs.

After: Wearing the same shirt as the day of delivery-80lbs. less. Dec. 2010

I don't recognize this person from March 2010. I was in San Antonio at the Alamo so it is blurry-but I swear, it IS me! This was at 215lbs. 1st week of working out.

After: August 2010 Lost 75lbs

After: April 10, 2011. After completing my 1st 1/2 marathon race with my friend Dawn after training for 9 weeks. I finshed in 2hrs. 27min.