In the last 6 weeks, I have lost 24 lbs! I am very proud of myself. I am obese and have been since I was 5 years old. Between 2008 and 2013 I gained 80 lbs. I had help of course, with 3 pregnancies, sharing food with the toddlers...But it was always my decision to eat what I did. I had a very poor diet filled mostly with fast food, eating it at least 4 times a week, if not more some weeks. It was disgusting, but it was an addiction, it was all my brain wanted. I was extremely sedentary, I sat down at the computer day in and day out and ate, always unhealthy foods while wasting my mind away on the computer. I ate chips and cookies, entire boxes of crackers, the kids Halloween candy...It was getting very very out of hand. I never could stop though. I then became addicted to soda pop, drinking 1-2 litres of cola a day.
What changed?
Around the end of September, I ended up in the hospital for severe stomach pain and was diagnosed with esophagitis and an ulcer. I had been taking anti-inflammatory NSAIDS, twice daily, for nearly a year for my back pain, drinking carbonated beverages all day through out the day every day. I ate greasy crap foods...No wonder I had this ulcer and this inflammation. I was put on some proton-pump inhibitors, and amazingly it go rid of the pain...Which meant I could eat, and drink pop without the effects of the burning sensation in my upper stomach. I stopped taking them at the beginning of December, and glory be, I was in worse pain then I was in September. I said to myself, and to my husband, that's it! No more pop, its killing me. And out it went. I started to drink water, and only water. Still we were eating junk and nothing was changing. I was so tired running around with the kids, I couldn't even fold laundry because it made me so tired. My heart would pound nearly through my chest when i would run up the stairs. I felt sick to my stomach and had pain in my knees and hips and arms all the time, so much that it became a regular part of life. One night, a few days before Christmas my brain just snapped. I started researching things like weight loss pills, and detox diets, but it was all ridiculously expensive and I was in no shape to starve myself. I couldn't even fathom charting what I ate, I always ended up very embarrassed by the result. I was an addict and I either needed desperate help or needed to change my way of thinking and do this the right way. I didn't want it to be a new years resolution, because who ever sticks to those? I made Christmas day my "last meal". The last day I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as i wanted, because it was gooood food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce, buttered buns, cookies, candies, bars. And I did. I had my last hurrah. The next day I gave my husband all the junkfood, either hide it or get rid of it, I don't want the temptation. It was hard at first, the first week I still ate quite a lot. I then stumbled across Myfitnesspal.com, and they have a free calorie counter on there, so I tracked my calories for the day and realized, my goodness, even thought I thought I took all the unhealthy things out of my diet, I am still eating a ridiculous amount of calories! I think the first day I logged about 2800. Yikes. I changed things, switched them out for healthier items, white bread became brown, taco wraps became lettuce wraps, chips became cucumbers, Italian dressing became balsamic vinaigrette. It took me 3 weeks to change the way I ate. To look down on the bad foods and up on the good. To realize that if I paid attention to the "per serving" in the label, then I could eat more without out eating more. One third of a cucumber and calorie wise balsamic dressing was only 50 calories! And it was an entire bowl full, that filled me and satisfied me. Once I did that the weight started to melt off. I added in walking. I walk my son to his school bus stop daily, so there was 20 mins out of my day I already used for exercise, and his bus stop is right on a city pathway, so I started to walk. After I his bus would pick him up, I would turn around and keep going, starting with 30 mins a day, or every other day. Then my husband brought my exercise bike back into the livingroom from the dusty spare bedroom. And I sat on that for 15 mins every few days.
2 months later, I eat better, I can think straight, I can concentrate, I don't feel sick all the time, I can breath when I run up the stairs. I can do 25 mins on the bike, I can now do a slow jog when walk. I can play with my kids. I can eat enough to satisfy me instead of gorging or grazing all day. I know I have a long way to go, but it's a start, and I see the difference, and am incredibly happy to see results and very proud of myself. I am happier then I have been for years, and this has done nothing but improve my life. So I will continue. For me.
Dec 26, 2013 - Feb 2, 2014- 24 lbs and 10 inches lost. Goal 65 lbs.
My Inspiration; My kids, my brothers, my bffs (hubby included), Aaron Goodwin.
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