I have been overweight/ obese (such awful words don't you think?) pretty much most of my life. I wasn't born a fat baby. I was healthy my mom's biggest weighing in at 8 lbs. I was a skinny child. I can pinpoint the time that I started to become overweight and that was about 5th or 6th grade. I remember at school they would let you line up for seconds if you were still hungry. I loved food especially dessert, so of course I ran to that line and got my seconds. I can't tell you how much I weighed at that point in my life, but my clothes stopped fitting me right. It didn't even phase me until I started Junior high. Junior high was awful. I hated it. we are at such awkward stages in our lives at this time. So what was so different about the food in Jr. high? Well the ala carte line which served shakes, fries, brownies, cookies, you get the idea? Pizza line, vending machines. Every fat kids dream! Plus their was a family in our neighborhood that had their own little candy shop. Yes I spent a lot of time there, and a lot of money. Candy, Candy, Candy....huge problem. Then food wasn't just my only problem, I had friend issues in junior high. I'm a quiet person and very tenderhearted. I got teased a lot, and that is where I turned to food as comfort. When I started high school I wasn't as bad because I had started to become more self conscious about my weight. I think the time that I looked the healthiest was my sophomore year. I let things slide the next 2 years. I let friend issues get in my way again and food was my comfort again. I was really getting into shape right before I met Matt and lost a lot of weight. I actually weighed 173 lbs. when I got married. So as you can see it's been a battle my whole life to become healthy and stay healthy.
When we moved to California and got pregnant with McKenzie I gained a whole bunch of weight. I reached my max weight of 214 lbs. 6 months after McKenzie was born. I felt huge, and miserable, not pretty at all. I weighed myself. I started to cry. I knew i couldn't let myself get any bigger, so I started to workout and eat right again. I went from 214 lbs. to 179 lbs. when I got pregnant with Madisynn. I ate pretty healthy all throughout that pregnancy. I only gained 15 lbs. I kept up with exercising, but then things got really stressful.
Matt's back was doing worse, he was waiting to go up against the medical board to see about a medical discharge. We were scared to get out of the military. We had been in for almost 4 years, and that's the life we knew. We were scared to become civilians again. Also Matt had surgery for his acid reflux and the Doctor screwed up on him. What was supposed to be an overnight stay in the hospital turned into 2 weeks in the hospital. It was an awful time.
Then Madisynn wasn't eating very well. She wasn't gaining weight. They ran a lot of tests on her. It was traumatic. I was stressed out of my mind. I don't remember if I was working out at this point, I know I wasn't eating well at all. Food was my comfort. Then when I thought things couldn't get worse my Dad died. He committed suicide. I had no idea my Dad was struggling that way. I knew he was going through a hard time, but not to the point of being depressed, and not wanting to live anymore because he couldn't take it. It has been hard on our whole family, but we have made it through. I don't hate my dad for what he did, i just feel angry because I feel jipped that I don't have my dad here on earth anymore. I know he regrets his decision more than anything, and I know he is sorry for doing it. We will see him again that's what matters most.
At this point we knew that we were ready to get out of the military. The military however was hurry up and wait. It took them about 4 months to give Matt his discharge orders. It was a stressful time. We moved back to Utah. We were trying to adjust to civilian life. We helped my Mom sell her house, pack, and move. We helped my little brother move, we helped my sister and her family move. We rented a home with my Mom for 6 months, and halfway through my Mom got really sick, and was in the hospital for awhile. During our time of renting a home we started looking for a home to buy. We found one in Magna and moved. I went through some bad anxiety attacks, and depression as well. The years of 2006, 2007, and 2008 were some pretty tough years. It was a depressing time. 2009 was better.
In December 2008 I decided I had had enough of feeling fat and yucky. So I decided that my new years resolution was to be healthy and lose the weight. January 1, 2009 I woke up and weighed myself. I had gained almost every lb. that I had lost back. I weighed 200 lbs. I made the goal right then and there that I was going to work out every single day except for Sunday. I also made another goal of eating no candy for the year. It has been a long, difficult, but very inspiring and great journey for me! There were times where I wanted to just give up and quit, but I knew I couldn't because that would mean I was a failure. I had already made many attempts to lose weight and eat right, but I eventually quit and failed. I hate feeling like a failure, and I knew this attempt would be different.
In the beginning I was just careful about what I ate. I did Turbo Jam for my exercise. I did this for the first few months, and then started running in the summer as well. I started to get board with the Turbo Jam and wanted another challenge. I had been watching the Biggest Loser, and love what the trainers do for the contestants. I had heard about Jillian Michael's workout DVDs., so I went to Wal-mart to see what ones were there. She has 3 out that are all her. I had a hard time deciding what one to buy. I finally chose to buy the No more trouble zones workout. It was definitely a challenge, I worked up a good sweat.
Thanksgiving came around and I think I was weighing in at the 160's. I needed to switch things up again. I decided that I was going to start counting my calories. I bought another Jillian workout, her 30 day shred. I absolutely love this workout video. She kicked my butt every day. I was getting closer to my goal weight, but was having a hard time with the calorie counting. I think I experienced bouts of anorexia. I was eating way below the amount of calories I was supposed to have for the day. So of course I wasn't going to lose weight like I wanted. My crossing partner loaned me her Jillian workout video:Banish fat- Boost Metabolism. She told me that one of her friends switched her eating habits, ate whatever without overdoing it for a couple of days and lost 5 lbs. I decided to stop counting my calories eat whatever carefully for a couple of days and do this workout video. It worked I lost 5 lbs. right away.
Out of all of Jillian's workouts her Banish fat- Boost Metabolism one was the hardest and did the most for me. I did this workout for about 6 weeks, and lost weight quicker than all of the other workouts I did.
So on April 13th I reached my goal weighing in at 144.5 lbs.! I let out a loud scream when I saw my number. It took me almost a year and a half to lose 55 lbs., and drop from a size 16 to a size 7/8 pants, and size 6 dress! It almost doesn't feel real, but it is, and it's GREAT! I met my goal, I did workout everyday except for Sunday even when i wasn't feeling good. I haven't had candy for almost a year and half either. I'm not going to start eating it anytime soon either.
So bottom line if your are interested in losing weight and inches this is my suggestion. Start with Jillian's 30 day shred workout and progress through all 3 levels. Count your calories just to see where you are on your eating habits and to see how fattening things are and serving size. Then I would move on to Jillian's Banish fat-Boost Metabolism workout video. stop counting the calories, and then just watch your portions that is key. Drink Lot's of water. Eat a big breakfast, a good size lunch, have a snack in between breakfast and lunch, and a snack in between lunch and dinner. Eat a light dinner. Chew the extra fruit sensations gum, that helped me a lot while cooking dinner so I wouldn't snack. Don't eat after 7 p.m. Make healthy choices. Choose one day a week to eat whatever you want, so your body doesn't think it's starving. Just be careful and don't do 2 days of eating whatever you want! I made that mistake. Oh and don't weigh yourself everyday you are going to set yourself up for failure. I started out doing that, and I was discouraged easy. I hid the scale and only weighed myself once a week. Much more rewarding and motivating that way.
This is what I'm going to do now with my workouts now that I'm where I want to be with my weight I'm going to start doing Jillian's No more trouble zones workout video again. This one is to help target those hard to lose areas like muffin tops, flabby arms, legs, and butts. I'm also going to buy her Yoga workout video and see how that goes.
I owe my life to Jillian Michael's, she is one of my hero's. If it wasn't for her I would still be struggling with my weight loss. I pictured in my mind her yelling at me if I didn't do the workout the best that I could. I know that sounds silly, but it worked for me. I looked forward to watching the biggest loser every Tuesday night, it helped me get through the next week as well. That show is just so inspiring to me. In my own way I'm the biggest loser! =) I didn't give up when things got stressful, when i had anxiety/panic attacks this past year. I learned to keep going and to deal with my problems without turning to food. Exercise is a good stress reliever. Try it!!!
Thanks so much for all your encouragement, compliments, and just putting up with me when I was ornery.
I'm sorry for the neglect to my family and friends at times throughout this past year and almost a half. I love you all, and I hope that i have inspired you, and helped you. If you are wanting to lose weight I wish you the best of luck! You can do it!!!! Don't let yourself be miserable, find those issues that are making it so you are gaining weight and deal with them properly. Be positive!!! You are worth it!!!! Love yourself!!!!
Before picture December 2006 weight 214 lbs.
Before weight December 2008 200 lbs.
My After pictures April 2010, weight 144 and a half lbs.
The pants I'm wearing over my clothes were a pair of my brother's pants from when he was heavier size 36 waist. I felt miserable wearing my little brothers pants. Feels good to be out of those!
And now the New Me:
