My struggle- my journey- my story & all thanks to my new BF:

amarie35 · March 2011

As a young teen, I can remember weighing 150 pounds & in high school, I got up to as high as 160. About 1 year after graduation, when I got married, I weighed around 145. When I was pregnant with my 1st child, I gained right @ 30 pounds, which made me weigh in @ 175. @ my 6 week checkup, I weighed 135 pounds. I had lost all my 'babyweight' plus 10. Which nursing helped w/ most of that. I've had 3 kids total & with each I gained between 25 & 35 lbs. But, I was lucky enough to be able to nurse & lose my weight pretty quickly.

As a young wife & mother, I got a job as a creeler, & I was able to maintain my weight. For those of you who don't know much about creeling, let me just say that it is a VERY FAST pace job & you pretty much walk 8 hours straight picking up anywhere between 5-8 pounds of yarn continously....or I did anyway. SO yes, I could eat what I wanted & I never had to worry about gaining; It was awesome! I worked there for about 9 years & then came the BIG surprise! They went under, closed the doors, & LAYED everyone off. So, here I am, no job, no money, & no goals. It was then, that I decided that instead of getting another job creeling & going through something like that again, I had to do something with my life. So, I chose a more stable career & I enrolled in college w/ LPN as my major.

That's when the weight started to come back. I went from having a VERY active lifestyle, to an EXTREMELY sedentary lifestyle. After 3 1/2 years of college, I gained between 20-25 pounds. Which my husband claims is really good, considering that I still ate what I wanted, when I wanted it, & NEVER exercised.

Although I had gained 20+ pounds, I was still able to (tightly) squeeze in my size 11 junior pants. But they were getting VERY tight & since I didn't want to buy bigger pants, I decided that it was time to lose. So, I started watching what I ate & counting my calories. I did this off and on for about a month & then got frustrated & just quit. I remember thinking, "If only there was a site out there that counted your calories for you!"

So, I decided to check it out. I started looking up apps on my Android & low & behold, there it was.....MFP. It was like a dream come true.

I became an active member @ the end of January. I logged in my food everyday & exercised 5-6 times a week. Now, 2 months later, I've lost all but 1 pound of the weight that I had gained; I weigh 136 lbs. I haven't went out & bought me a new wardrobe or anything YET! But, I do plan on it VERY soon. My size 11 juniors are still wearable. Although I have to wear a tight fitting belt w/ them or they will fall completely off. I don't think they have ever fit me like they do now. I have tried on some size 4-6 misses & they fit me. So, I'm sure I'd be able to wear @ least a size 9 in juniors.

To those of you who get discouaged, DON'T! If you ever feel like you can't get to your goal weight, YOU CAN! You may have bad days or even bad weeks, but whatever you do, DON'T give up! You didn't gain the weight overnight & you won't lose it overnight. I know that some of you may have more to lose than I did, & for some, you may have even less, but no matter what the numbers are....they WILL go down. With dedication, patience, & hard work YOU WILL lose & YOU WILL reach your goal!

I wish you all the best of luck in your weight loss journey. :flowerforyou:

GOD BLESS!