I have been overweight my ENTIRE life! When I was 3 years old, I was the size of a
6-7 year old. When I was 6 years old, I
was the size of a 9-10 year old.
I was a dancer and a cheerleader as a young girl/teenager
and was the token fat girl on the cheer team.
(You know there is one on every team and it was me!) I would walk the halls of school and kids
behind me would say “Boom ba ba, boom ba ba, boom” like I was Attila the
Hun. I was called a whale on the
bathroom walls.
When it was time to make college plans, I told my parents I
wanted to be a professional dancer and wanted to study dance. I was told that wasn't a good idea because I
would never fit into the costume.
I grew up with a single parent that struggled to pay the
bills. My Mom was always dieting to
attract her next “catch.” And let’s face
it…in the 80s, dieting meant skipping meals.
If you starve yourself, you’ll lose weight, right?!? Isn't that the right way to do it?!?! And since my mother could barely pay the rent
she could barely afford fresh fruits and vegetables so we ate A LOT of
processed, high sodium, high fat foods….white bread, Hamburger Helper, frozen
TV dinners…and everything was breaded and loaded with butter. So I started “dieting” in high school. Starving myself, Slim Fast then going on food
binges (because my “diets” weren't working) were my methods back then. Exercise?
What was that?!?! I danced and
did cheerleading. I didn't need to do
anything else…or so I thought.
The yo-yo dieting and failed attempts at being committed to
the gym continued through college. When
I finally moved out on my own, my weight & food issues got worse. I ate what I wanted. I drank what I wanted. All day…all night. I avoided the scale at ALL COSTS, but I
easily gained 25 lbs and went up 2 pants sizes.
I joined Weight Watchers for the
first time in 2000 and lost 25 lbs. I
felt great about myself! Then I dropped
out because I thought I was in control. I
was comfortable being fat...or so I thought.
When I began living in with my (now) husband in 2001, life
got very comfortable. He wasn't a great
eater so it was an easy excuse for me to throw my nutrition & fitness
efforts out the window. I can’t tell you
how much weight I gained during our courtship, but I would assume an easy 30-40
lbs. When we got engaged, I started
working out at the gym again and lost about 20 lbs before our wedding. And then…I got pregnant 10 months after our
nuptials.
With my first daughter, I gained 25 lbs. Now most people would say, that’s it...just
25 lbs?!?! But for someone who was
already a size 18/20 and weighed 225 lbs (I only know this from the countless
pre-natal appointments), that was enough weight to gain. Shortly after having my daughter, I got
pregnant with my 2nd daughter.
I actually lost weight early in the pregnancy because I was still losing
my baby weight from my first. When all
was said and done, I gained about 15 lbs during my 2nd
pregnancy. So after 2 years of being
pregnant and having babies, I was up to about 240 lbs.
Now I've had my share of health issues…a blood clot in my
lung; ACL reconstruction; gall bladder removal; and most recently, a total hip
replacement at 34 years old. After
having my daughters, my doctor started to become concerned about my blood
pressure. I was suffering from migraines
and my BP gradually got worse. Although
I have been overweight my entire life, I was a generally healthy person. Being put on blood pressure medication made
me feel old and defeated. I've worked
with a nutritionist several times and am a 3 time Weight Watchers drop out. I even started a program at a local hospital
to have gastric bypass surgery done because I thought that was my only
hope. I dropped out after a couple of
months because it just was not the right program for me.
My worst nightmare came true in 2012 when my husband
suffered a heart attack, just a couple weeks shy of his 40th
birthday. He is a diabetic that ate terribly and lived a sedentary lifestyle with a family history of heart
disease. Talk about a recipe for
disaster. There was NO DOUBT that
changes in our lifestyle HAD to change.
My heart knew we had to change, but my brain just wasn't ready yet.
I met Nicole, my coach and now one of my best friends, in 2012
while our daughters were in the same kindergarten class. She had a business sticker on her car and the
first time I checked out her website, I immediately thought..”Oh…she’s one of
THOSE skinny, fitness people. This isn't
for me”…even though I desperately needed her help at the time. She invited my daughter and I for a play date
at her home and introduced me to Shakeology and Team Beachbody. My heart FINALLY convinced my brain that it
was time to make a change. So I joined
Team Beachbody in July 2012 and with the help of Shakeology, Power 90, P90X,
the Ultimate Reset, and adopting clean & proper nutrition, I have lost 50
lbs to date.
My goal is to lose a total
of 125 lbs and I’m well on my way!!
