A Different Kind of Success Story

cildawg1
cildawg1 Posts: 14
in Success Stories
At 58, I was larger than I wanted to be, but I was okay with it. I'd had the pounds on for about 10 years and decided to myself "This is what beautiful looks like at 58." I had nothing to prove to anybody. Life was good. I had survived two bouts with cancer and there were more important things in my life. Then I started noticing that my beautiful daughters (both former cheerleaders) were getting a tad chubby - and they're young!!! They're in their 30's.

I certainly didn't want to tell them they needed to go on a diet because I didn't want them to HATE ME - and I didn't want to hurt them. So I tried another strategy. I announced that I was going on Jenny Craig in December. I had the food delivered to my home and I got serious about it. When we all gathered together for Christmas Eve and Christmas, I ate my meals (except for Christmas dinner, of course) and my daughters told me that I looked slimmer. After a couple of months, I had lost 12 pounds. I couldn't stand paying the money for Jenny Craig so I decided that I do the rest of it on my own.

In March, I was having dinner with my younger daughter and she announced her weight - I think she'd lost a couple of pounds. I announced my weight and I was four pounds lighter than my daughter. Of course my daughter gave me a high five and congratulated me. But I know that in her mind she was thinking "I can't believe that I weigh more than MY MOTHER!!!!"

Last weekend, my daughters and I got together. The younger daughter looked SO GOOD wearing a white suit!!! She told us how much she'd lost - eating right, exercising, staying focused. (You know, we all know what to do.) My older daughter is on the bandwagon now, too. She has purchased a spin bike and reports how many calories she's burning every day. We have a blog where we encourage each other.

I'm so glad that my daughters are now doing all those healthy things and taking control. I started dieting to be a role model for them, but to be honest I feel great about myself. I'm sleeping better and feeling pretty again, even as an old woman of 59 now. So that's my little piece of the world.

Replies

  • kellykat
    kellykat Posts: 180 Member
    That is a really sweet story. I'm glad that you inspired your daughters to be healthy! Good job to all of you!
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
    Way to go....I am proud of you and your girls....Keep up the good job!!!!:smile:
  • cfischer81
    cfischer81 Posts: 111 Member
    That's a really great story! I'm glad you inspired your daughters to live a healthier life! SInce I've started I've gotten my MOM to start and my sister, a cousin, and a close friend! It's great to see what a little motivation can do for people!

    Keep up the great work! You never know who's life you'll change! :flowerforyou:
  • MissingMinnesota
    MissingMinnesota Posts: 7,486 Member
    Your story hits true to me. One of the big thing that pushed me to get with it diet and exercise wise is that my mom started working out. I am in my 30s and my mom is in her 60s. I moved across the country a couple years ago so when I went back for Christmas and saw she was smaller then me it just pushed me to get off my behind.
  • knittygirl52
    knittygirl52 Posts: 432 Member
    What a happy story! I hope your success story works in my family as well. I have struggled with my weight my entire life and I have finally come to realize that in addition to eating right and exercising, I need counseling. I have made an appointment to start that in a few weeks, and just making the appointment has re-energized my efforts. Unfortunately, I seem to have dragged the rest of the family into bad habits with me. My husband and daughter both need to lose a LOT of weight--my son, not as much, but some. My daughter is talking about joining Curves, and hopefully our entire family will get fit in the days to come.
  • weidner
    weidner Posts: 127
    You are not only an inspiration to your daughters, but to the rest of us as well.

    Great story - thank you for sharing!
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
    I LOVE this! I have two daughters as well, only they're almost 4 and almost 2 :) I look forward to the day they're actual adults and we do stuff like this together. You're an awesome Mom - one we can all look up to :D
  • cildawg1
    cildawg1 Posts: 14
    Thank you for your kind comments. I was a little afraid that I was going to come off as corny.:smile:
  • bennettv
    bennettv Posts: 152 Member
    The idea of roles models and mentoring has fallen by the wayside in our "want-it-now" culture. Good for you for becoming the person you wanted others to be!
  • pfenixa
    pfenixa Posts: 194 Member
    It's not corny at all! I LOVE the fact that you started this whole thing not for your own self, but out of love for your daughters. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine to do it selfishly (at least I hope so! lol), but it makes it that much sweeter when it's not.

    Cheers to improving the lives of you and your children!
  • Georg
    Georg Posts: 1,728 Member
    :flowerforyou:
    I think it's great! Good for all of you!
  • eliz_talks
    eliz_talks Posts: 10 Member
    This is an amazing success story!! Congrats to all of you, nothing quite like family effort and support!!!
  • ginabhappy
    ginabhappy Posts: 15 Member
    thats an awesome story. I'm very proud of you. I can relate because I have 3 daughters & 2 of them need to lose a little weight. also all 3 were cheerleaders, but I have been on so many diets in my life only to gain back the weight they don;t even consider changing their ways. I'm still trying I'm losing about 1 pound a week.

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