So where did this begin?

I know not many people may care about this blog, but I felt like I needed a place to document the journey I've taken with my weight loss. If it inspires you, GREAT! I'll say that I appreciate all motivating comments from anyone who reads this blog. It is my plan to document my successes and failures in this blog.

For as long as I can remember, I've been overweight. Seriously--I don't remember a time when I was at an acceptable weight except maybe in early elementary school. I've always said or been told I was big boned--which is probably true. At certain times while I was growing up, when I would talk with people about my weight, they would comment that I didn't look like I weighed as much as I did.

Throughout all of high school I weighed anywhere between 200-230 pounds. I don't know my exact weight simply because, at that time, I didn't worry about it. During my senior year, I went to the doctor for a check-up and decided to ask about losing weight. He told me to count calories and that's where I started. For the remainder of my high school career I counted calories, did very little exercise, and lost weight. I graduated, in 1993, at 210 pounds.

Throughout my college career, my weight fluctuated between 210 and 230. I watched what I ate, exercised by taking PE classes and managed to end college at about 210. I met my wonderful husband at the end of my college career . The wedding plans helped me maintain my weight so that I looked stunning on my wedding day. :)

In the year and a half that followed, I gained weight. When I found out I was pregnant for my first child, I was at about 230. Throughout my pregnancy, I LOST weight! Yes, LOST! Everything was fine during the pregnancy. I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. When I left the hospital, I was at my lowest weight ever since high school ended--approximately 208 pounds. That was nine years ago.

In 2003, I found out I was pregnant again. At this time, I was approximately 230-240 pounds again--I gained 20+ pounds in 2 years! Again, pregnancy seemed to be my best weight-loss plan as I lost weight during the entire pregnancy and I left the hospital much lighter than I started. I weighed about 215. I vowed at that time not to gain my weight back! HA--that was a joke.

Over the next 5-6 years, I gained a whopping 35+ pounds. I tried Weight Watchers at least twice and never lost more than 15 pounds. I didn't feel like I had the will power to keep it up. In 2009, I found out I was pregnant for my third child. Again, I lost some weight during the pregnancy, but not as much as I had for the first two. However, once my beautiful baby boy was born, I was again much lighter than when I had found out I was pregnant. I left the hospital at about 230 instead of where I entered at 254--my highest weight ever. This time, I vowed again, never to see that number.

In the two months after my youngest was born, I gained about 12 pounds--of course I couldn't excercise much for 6-8 weeks. Once I was cleared by the doctor, I decided to start back on Weight Watchers and began walking for exercise. I officially started with Weight Watchers in April 2010 at 242 pounds. My husband inspired me to start walking when he started training for and racing in various 5Ks. I decided that I could walk while my boys practiced baseball. I also joined water aerobics in the summer which helped me get acclimated to exercise. When my husband ran the United Way Bridge Run across the Luling Bridge in April 2010, I decided my goal would be to walk it in April 2011.

Since I began in April 2010, I have officially lost 23.5 pounds from my starting weight of 242. If I consider my highest weight before my last pregnancy, I have lost 35.5 pounds. It has been difficult! I have to be strong especially when co-workers want to go out to eat. There are periods of time when I do REALLY well and bring my lunch, count all my points, and track all of my activity. Then there are times when I do none of that. I don't beat myself up if I don't lose weight especially if I know that I didn't follow the plan closely. I also don't deprive myself--I try to budget my points so I can eat what I want and not feel like I'm "dieting."

I had set a goal to end 2010 at 210 or less. I didn't make that goal--but I'm not upset. I was able to maintain my weight during the holiday season with the sweets and incredible amount of food I exposed myself to. So, now, my goal has been reset. I want to be below 200 by March 4th. That gives me approximately 10 weeks to lose about 19 pounds--that's right at 2 pounds per week. It's doable, but I'm going to have to be VERY disciplined.

I've started back with my exercise and am doing a better job of tracking my points (today I ate WAY too many--thank goodness for weekly points!).

As I continue I will post my successes and failures as I go towards this goal. WHEN I make it, I will be at my lightest since HIGH SCHOOL--at least 18 years ago!

Feel free to follow me as I journey to my ultimate goal of 155 pounds--a weight I probably haven't seen since elementary or junior high!