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I have been heavy pretty much my entire life. At my heaviest I was 285 pounds. That was in November 2003. In June 2006 I attended a cousins wedding. I thought I looked really great, until I saw the pictures. I looked a hot mess. Especially the ones in my bathing suit. I was delusional to say the least. This was one of the factors in my pursuit to lose weight.
My dad was also getting ready to have gastric bypass the following month. My mother was one of the first to have the procedure way back in 1980. Another cousin who had attended the same wedding, had the procedure the year previously, and she looked great. Thing was she had a lot of very loose skin. Not terribly attractive. I also had returned to college after almost twenty years. All these factors combined and I put myself in high gear, and really worked hard to lose the weight.
I started out on Sparkpeople, it got me rolling. I started figuring things out on my own, and then I met someone who also helped to spur me on. My lowest came the following June when I reached 178 pounds. Literally, just four days after hitting this low the person who came into my life and helped inspire me to lose weight moved out of state. It hit me harder than I ever anticipated. I went into a huge depression. I even quit going to school. All my other close friends were also moving too. My environment was not the same anymore. I just couldn't get it together. I ended up gaining back some of the weight during the rest of the year. I would waver between 185 and 195. I did this up until May of 2008.
At this time I moved to a new home, and a new job. Really had an impact on me. During this time I was wavering between 190 and 200. At one time in July I did get back down to 188. At the end of 2008 I started a relationship with a close friend. I ended up gaining 10-20lbs being with him and enjoying this new relationship. In Aug, Sep, and Oct of this year. I got back down to the high 190's. I ended up gaining the weight back during the holidays, and I also quit smoking on Dec. 1st. I planned for this. I knew it would be best to quit smoking and enjoy the food at the holidays instead of doing it back to back. I wanted the weight gain to be minimal. I gave myself another couple weeks after the new year to get myself together, and finally get over this cig habit. During that time I gained another five pounds.
Since the middle of January I have lost ten pounds. I am feeling really good about this. I have had some upsets in the last couple of days, but I am dealing with it, and staying upbeat. I am not letting it effect my diet, and exercise. This time around I want to lose the weight slowly, and get to the crux of why I overeat to begin with. My goal is to not be in a race to lose this weight. I want to be naturally skinny. I don't want to be seventy years old having to live off a huge calorie deficit, and working out hours a day. I want to learn how to eat to live, and also be active, but not over do it. I have done that before. I used to lift very heavy weights, and run. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to figure out my calorie needs. I suffered a lot of injuries, and fell into a depression. I can't let myself fall into that trap again. Moderation is the key for me.
As of this moment I have gained the ten pounds back in the last five days mostly because I went off program, or what I assumed was program and I am a day from starting TOM. I bought the 2002 book and have read the first twelve chapters. I now have menus in place for the next two weeks for induction. My biggest concern at this moment is a wedding/vacation I have coming up the 10th of April. I am going to use this situation to guage how well I will be able to make this a way of life instead of just a means to an end.
I am doing things the way the books outlines it instead of what everyone else has to say about it. I have already weaned myself off of caffeinated coffee, and will not be having any coffee of any kind during this time. I will not be using any artificial sweetener period. I think this is a big issue for me insulin wise. I will also be looking at how I react to cheese, if I am not sure of good results I will cut it out and add more butter, and olive oil elsewhere. I will be using body measurements and an outfit to really gauge my fat loss. I had started a strength training program in the last couple weeks and I will cease that for the next two weeks, and just continue with using the treadmill to work out.
If anyone has advise they can offer I would truly appreciate it! Thanks and happy losing to all!
My dad was also getting ready to have gastric bypass the following month. My mother was one of the first to have the procedure way back in 1980. Another cousin who had attended the same wedding, had the procedure the year previously, and she looked great. Thing was she had a lot of very loose skin. Not terribly attractive. I also had returned to college after almost twenty years. All these factors combined and I put myself in high gear, and really worked hard to lose the weight.
I started out on Sparkpeople, it got me rolling. I started figuring things out on my own, and then I met someone who also helped to spur me on. My lowest came the following June when I reached 178 pounds. Literally, just four days after hitting this low the person who came into my life and helped inspire me to lose weight moved out of state. It hit me harder than I ever anticipated. I went into a huge depression. I even quit going to school. All my other close friends were also moving too. My environment was not the same anymore. I just couldn't get it together. I ended up gaining back some of the weight during the rest of the year. I would waver between 185 and 195. I did this up until May of 2008.
At this time I moved to a new home, and a new job. Really had an impact on me. During this time I was wavering between 190 and 200. At one time in July I did get back down to 188. At the end of 2008 I started a relationship with a close friend. I ended up gaining 10-20lbs being with him and enjoying this new relationship. In Aug, Sep, and Oct of this year. I got back down to the high 190's. I ended up gaining the weight back during the holidays, and I also quit smoking on Dec. 1st. I planned for this. I knew it would be best to quit smoking and enjoy the food at the holidays instead of doing it back to back. I wanted the weight gain to be minimal. I gave myself another couple weeks after the new year to get myself together, and finally get over this cig habit. During that time I gained another five pounds.
Since the middle of January I have lost ten pounds. I am feeling really good about this. I have had some upsets in the last couple of days, but I am dealing with it, and staying upbeat. I am not letting it effect my diet, and exercise. This time around I want to lose the weight slowly, and get to the crux of why I overeat to begin with. My goal is to not be in a race to lose this weight. I want to be naturally skinny. I don't want to be seventy years old having to live off a huge calorie deficit, and working out hours a day. I want to learn how to eat to live, and also be active, but not over do it. I have done that before. I used to lift very heavy weights, and run. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to figure out my calorie needs. I suffered a lot of injuries, and fell into a depression. I can't let myself fall into that trap again. Moderation is the key for me.
As of this moment I have gained the ten pounds back in the last five days mostly because I went off program, or what I assumed was program and I am a day from starting TOM. I bought the 2002 book and have read the first twelve chapters. I now have menus in place for the next two weeks for induction. My biggest concern at this moment is a wedding/vacation I have coming up the 10th of April. I am going to use this situation to guage how well I will be able to make this a way of life instead of just a means to an end.
I am doing things the way the books outlines it instead of what everyone else has to say about it. I have already weaned myself off of caffeinated coffee, and will not be having any coffee of any kind during this time. I will not be using any artificial sweetener period. I think this is a big issue for me insulin wise. I will also be looking at how I react to cheese, if I am not sure of good results I will cut it out and add more butter, and olive oil elsewhere. I will be using body measurements and an outfit to really gauge my fat loss. I had started a strength training program in the last couple weeks and I will cease that for the next two weeks, and just continue with using the treadmill to work out.
If anyone has advise they can offer I would truly appreciate it! Thanks and happy losing to all!
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