About Me ~ Weight Loss
I am a 29 years old and Canadian! I have been happily married since May 28, 2004 to Trevor my soul mate whom I met 4 years ago. We do not have children yet, but would like to someday soon. I work full time as an Executive Assistant for a web developing company. In my spare time I work out, read (usually together), create web sites and hang out with my husband. I have lost a lot of weight before by counting calories and working out six days a week, but then I met my husband and gained most of it back. I then joined weight watcher's 2 weeks after we got married. My goal is to lose around 66 lbs. and become a Weight Watchers lifetime member and then maintain it. My plan to obtain this goal is to work out at least 4 days a week and continue to attend Weight Watchers.
My story with weight gain and food begins the same way as most peoples. I was a "normal" weight as a child. I don't quite remember when I started to gain weight. I checked my school photos and it looks like around the age of 7 or 8…. I just started gaining weight! I can remember that Fridays was grocery day and in the summer we would go with my mother on buy all sorts of goodies (junk) and I would look forward to what I would get to eat first!! I would spend the entire weekend eating! Also my mother would buy us a treat almost every day. I think this is were it began I was always rewarded with food. Never once a good job or keep up the good work or I love you but here have a chocolate bar. Which would explain why I love chocolate (well partially anyways!).
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College Graduation Approx. 215lbs (YUCK!, I look 40 years old!)
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Although I used to love to eat I managed to hover around 170 pounds from the age of 13 to 18. I tried many diets and lost a few pounds here and there, but I never kept it off. Then I met my exboyfriend! The weight startedt to pile on! When I was about 19, getting ready for College and a trip to Europe, we broke up. I went to Europe and had a blast and then I completed a 3 year biochemistry program at college. I then moved in with one of my good friends from college. This only lasted 6 months because I lost my job in the city, so I moved back in with my parents. I then realized I weighed a lot more than that number I would never go over. You know that number that you promises your self you will stop eating when you get there, well mine was 200lbs and I was 217lbs. Ouch! I did not see that girl when I looked in the mirror! When I bought new clothes, I bought what fit and I thought it looked good until I saw it in a photo!
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I was always very good at avoiding the scale and when I did get on it I was really good at forgetting what I saw!! I was kind of in a daze all those years. Not really paying attention to my health! I just ate what ever and when ever I felt like it. I never thought about it! I think this is a main point I have discovered... I must think about my health and what I eat! I must be always conscious of it, because even after all this time it is so easy to go into a mindelss daze again!
Anyways I was in a job that I enjoyed, I was living with my parents and I was 25 years old and 217 pounds. I was a happy blob walking around in a daze. Then one morning I woke up and thoguht this is enough, I can not do this anymore. So I decided I would start walking to work and I would eat 1200 calories a day. I then found out that my current job would pay for most of a membership at a fitness club. I would only have to pay $50 for a whole year. I had joined fitness clubs before for 3 months and gone for a week and never went back. But this time I meant business and when one of my best friends Meg (I love you bella!) saw how well I was doing, she decided to join me in the weight loss battle!!! She said I inspired her!I can not explain how good that felt!!!
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Well this worked and within a year I lost 70 pounds and so did Megan. I worked out for 1.5 hours a day, 6 days a week and ate 1200 calories a day and wrote down everything that went into my mouth. I even got my before and after picture put up on the gym wall, for everyone to see, after I had lost 43 pounds. I was at my lowest weight of 147lbs.
This was all working really well until I met Trevor and got a life. If I wanted to spend time with him I could not work out quite so much. He was very understanding about my weight issues and said when we first met he liked me from the first day he met me, which was when I was 217 pounds (we worked at the same company). Trevor and I started spending more and more time together and I started to get relaxed about my weight loss efforts (here comes that daze again!). I continued to go to the gym five days a week, but my eating turned to crap on the weekends, then sometimes for a week and then I would go back to eating good. Everyday I went to the gym I saw that before and after photo of myself and slowly started to get heavier than my after photo!
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Summer 2002, Cape Cod, lowest weight ever 147lbs.
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After we were a couple for two months Trevor proposed and I said yes!!! We moved in together a little while later and then we were both laid off within a day of each other. I all of a sudden had a lot of time on my hands and my weight started to pile back on!! A year later, when I finally found work, I was up 35 pounds and then the year after that when we were married I was back up to 190 lbs. The excuses were just flying out of my mouth…. It is so stressful being out of work. It is so stressful starting a new job, It is so stressful planning a wedding,…… and it goes on from there. I tried to lose weight before the wedding. I lost a little but not much. It was a good thing my dress was a tie back because I bought it and lost weight and so they made it smaller and then I gained weight!!!
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On May 28, 2004 Trevor and I were married. (Click here to view our wedding website!) The ceremony was beutiful. It was the most magical day of my life. I will not let the fact that I had gained some weight ruin how I feel about my weeding photos. I love my wedding photos!! Trevor is my soul mate and he supports me no matter what. He is always behind me 110%. He has more faith in that I do!!
I promised myself after the wedding I would do something about my weight. On June 17 2004, nine days after I was married, I rallied all the people I could find : my mom and my Aunt Wilma,( my mother's sister) and we joined weight watcher's. I was scared and I was kind of embarrassed. I felt like I had failed on my own and that I should be able to do this on my own! After all it is as simple as eating 1200 calories a day and working your but off at the gym….. Right? Wrong!!! I have learned a lot going to Weight Watcher's meetings…. We will talk about that later, but first more about my first day!! I weighed in at 197lbs…… Oh my God!!
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May 28, 2004 189lbs.
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My heart sank. How did I let myself get back here…? I was so close to the weight I never wanted to get over! I felt like crying, but Mom and Aunt Wilma were there for me!!! Thank god!!! They are my support team. I love them both dearly they are not only my mom and my Aunt, but they have become some of my best friends!!!
My Aunt was already a lifetime member and needed to lose 30 pounds to get to goal and my mother had never been to Weight Watcher's, but was a severe diabetic and needed to lose about 30 pounds.
At Weight watcher's I have met some very courageous wonderful people!! I have seen a lot of people come and go, but there is a group of about ten of us that are always there trucking along (Thanks Girls!). And then there is Gail…… our leader. She has been doing Weight Watchers since the 80's. She is one of my inspirations!!! She is not perfect and makes sure everyone knows that (she loves date squares!). I owe a large part of my strength to her. I love the meetings. All of the people there are so supportive and Gail has awesome meetings! This is what will make the difference this time. The meetings, and I am actually eating!!! I am not starving myself and I have learned to eat healthy and have my treats with in reason. I call my Weight Watcher's meeting my therapy. I am happy to pay the weekly fee as long as I have to for my therapy and then when I get to go I will continue. I couldn't do it with out the Weight Watchers girls and Gail!!
This weekend someone asked me the question: "What are going to do when you stop weight watchers?" My answer was, "That I am never going to stop, I will be a Weight Watcher the rest of my life." That "Daze" is always waiting for me to fall back into it! In order for me to get to goal and stay there I must continue to go to the meetings and eat within my points. So even when I hit goal I will continue to go weekly and just increase my points until I level out. The only time I will have to stop going to the meetings is when I get pregnant someday….. I will deal with that time when it comes!!
I have now been attending weight watchers for over 15 moths!!! My mother and Aunt have gotten to goal but continue to come with me every Tuesday night! I have had my ups and downs and then more ups and downs!!! As of this date I have lost 43 pounds and am well on my way to my weight watchers goal of 131 pounds!!! This will be my lowest weight ever!!! As I write this I am 154 pounds, only 7 pounds more than I was the first time I lost weight!!! I am so happy about this!!! I can not weight to get into that virgin fat wich is less than 147 lbs.
I have been recording everything about my weight loss Journey since the first day I started, but secretly. I have heard (Thanks Paulene) that online Journaling can become an integral part of a weight loss journey. So welcome to my world.... wendy's world!
Wendy
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