My Story - The First Year

I started MFP in early 2011 but faithfully started tracking in October 2011. My first goal was to lose 50lbs in six months. My second goal was to lose 100lbs in 12 mos and then finally to finish up at 150lbs loss in 18mos. I have approx 40 days until the end of my first year and I have lost 104lbs. It is hard to imagine my life a year ago. So many lifestyle changes have taken place in 330 days.

My basic story - obese from a young age, kids at school tormented me, parents died when I was 12, and my teenage years stunk and then the day I graduated high school the best thing happened to me. I applied for college and was accepted AND I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. So single parent, no family, and of course I was broke; I went to work instead of college and never looked back. I worked two to three jobs because living off the system was not for me. My child was not going to be a statistic so LIFE was hectic and food was my comfort and one dependable thing in my life. I attempted marriage – he thought the grass was greener elsewhere so SA LA VEE. Food was always there to comfort me during the bad times and to celebrate the good times. I had no idea what I was doing to my health and/or teaching my child. I met a wonderful man whom I married in 2008 and he adopted my daughter. He also brought in two great stepkids whom I adore. We started enjoying life together and the weight stayed...I got older and life seemed to get rougher for my body. Fast forward - now 35 yrs old and weigh 362lbs – the most I have ever weighed. I am not a fad diet person – I know that being fat your entire life means it will take life changes and slow weight loss but I could not grasp what needed to be done. In June 2011 I attended a wedding in Alabama. I posed for a picture with my two of my friends. I could not believe the person I was looking at was me.

At the end of summer I started researching weight loss surgery. I joined a group on facebook and read through their posts – the good and the bad. I reviewed “pouch” recipes and even attended a meeting for weight loss surgery. I received a notice in the mail that my insurance did not cover surgery and if I wanted gastric bypass the cost was approx. $29,000 and the band would be approx. $15,000. HOLY **** – really?? I have friends who have had the bypass and the band. They were nowhere near as fat as I was and they have all had major health problems since having the surgery. Going into debt for surgery – I weighed the pros and cons…they just were too lopsided for me to take that leap. I have a friend who is a personal trainer and her suggestion to me was to eat 990 calories a day. Yep, you guessed it, we are no longer friends!! How a personal trainer could tell a 300lb+ person to eat 990 calories a day to lose weight is beyond me. People actually pay for her to train them to this day. What a waste of money!! A Dr’s visit for a physical during this time was not too hot. I had arthritis, my organs were as healthy as an 18yr olds, but my joints were breaking down. During this visit the Dr. mentioned the word enzymes to me. I had never heard this word before…I explained to him that I had researched the surgeries and had just started using MFP. Also, during this time I had also been following fit2fat2fit (before he became this big media person) and read Dr. Joe’s book on permanent weight loss. NOW - I am a logical thinking person…why could I not take different ideas and develop a plan for me to change my lifestyle? Dr. Joe’s book helped the most – he helped me understand the process of how to balance carbs, proteins, and fats to get my enzymes working. ENZYMES…what a fabulous word..NOW that I know what it means. So…in mid Oct. 2011 I went to work. I tracked my food, started walking once or twice a week and built up from there. I remember the first time I got on the elliptical. I thought after two minutes I would pass out. LOL – I now hit it for 30 minutes and chuckle at those days. It took me months to conquer the stair climber and last but not least the ab machine…Holy blazes…can you imagine being 300lbs and doing abs? During my lifestyle change I decided I needed to work on my mental, physical, and psychological well-being. Food for me was dependable – let me repeat – food for me was dependable. It took me about 4 mos in the beginning of my journey to realize this. I fully believe, if you are obese, fat, etc. there is a reason why. I needed to find my reason (cause) so I could understand it and change the effect (obesity). I really thought I depended on food because my parents died a few months apart in my early teens or any one of my other life issues. I searched and searched my life history, memories, etc. and finally found my reason (cause). My cause happened in kindergarten and the effect (obesity) was still running my life 31 years later. Finally understanding what the cause was has helped me move forward and become more determined to fight my obesity (effect) and live a healthier life.

My success story is not finished – this is the beginning of a new chapter and I wanted to share with everyone BECAUSE there is NO real solution that will work for EVERYONE. Each person must find what works for them to conquer their issues. You can read all the success stories listed, follow fad diets, take advice from whomever, BUT at the end of the day – it starts with you!!!
I still have 100lbs to go to clear the “overweight” category and about 45lbs to get out of the “obese” but I know I am already a success and as each pound drops off that is just another day of healthy living and a blessing when I can wake up to live the next day. There is not a stop and rewind button on life. You do not get a “do over” in life so START LIVING!!

My two basic mottos:
Eat to Live NOT Live to Eat
A lifetime is not promised, DO NOT wait to start tomorrow when you can start today.