No Ifs, Ands or Big Butts

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jdc1307
jdc1307 Posts: 1
in Introduce Yourself
Hello,

I'm Jen. I'm 30 years old, married, mother of two girls (4 years; 11 months). I'm roughtly 100 pounds overweight. I've struggled with weight most of my life, but parenthood has definitely contributed. Eating too much of the wrong food has been affecting my family for a few years now, but last year was the first year that we had an up-close and personal scare. My husband (39 at the time) was admitted to the hospital with chest pains. Long story short, he had two stents placed. Scared the you-know-what out of us. We immediately went on a crusade to lose weight, eat healthier, and take better care of ourselves. But then, after a little while, we let the everyday stress and frustration get to us and started medicating ourselves with food - to the point that we're now heavier than we were a year ago.

For a few weeks now I've thought about eating better and exercising portion control...usually when I was finishing off 6 scoops of ice cream with caramel and hot fudge. I've always been an emotional eater and I've come to realize that I'm a binge eater as well. I hide some of my indiscretions. I've been known to pick up sweets on my way home when I knew my husband would be working late so that I could polish them off by mself while he was gone and then hide the evidence. The shame and disgust that follows leads me to eat more to squash those feelings.

On top of that my dad was recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol; my mom was also diagnosed with high cholesterol. Knowing my husband's family history with heart issues and seeing where it landed him and now comparing that to my family health history scares me.

It's time to start fresh and to ensure that both my husband and I will be around for a very long time to watch our girls grow up and teach them healthy sustainable habits.

I hope to make some good friends on the way, too. :)

JEN :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • coffeegirl1998
    coffeegirl1998 Posts: 121 Member
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    Welcome Jen! This is a great place to start!
  • missouri_rain
    missouri_rain Posts: 560 Member
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    Hi Jen and welcome, this is such a great site.
    Good luck!
  • DJDUFFY
    DJDUFFY Posts: 98
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    Well for starters stop with all the junk food,Start eating fruits and veggies.Do exercising,Like walking,running,maybe sit ups.If you eat healthy and smaller portions for each meal and exercise you will be shedding those pounds.I hope this helps you. :wink:
  • dansdeb
    dansdeb Posts: 164
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    It is a hard struggle if you have had these eating habits all of your life. The bad thing is, you are teaching your children the same. (I don't mean to be critical, we have all been in the same boat). You need to develop the healthy habits and enforce them throughout your household. do you work and have an employee assistance program? If you have an emotional eating problem talking to someone might help. Even a clergy member can listen or a good friend! wish you luck - this is a great site and can really offer some good information.

    Exercise is also important, even just starting with a walk around your neighborhood! the first step is a big one!
  • sbarham
    sbarham Posts: 44 Member
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    Wow, Jen, thanks so much for sharing! It is such a process and journey for a lot of us to FINALLY get to the place where we are willing to stick with it for the long haul!!!! Family is also such a motivator for me-my parent's health is awful because of the weight they've gained over the years. Not only do I want to be an example and encouragement for them, I want to be healthy and happy for my husband, my step-sons, and our future family! Welcome aboard and stay connected! Would love to add you as a friend!
  • cdsledge09
    cdsledge09 Posts: 167 Member
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    Welcome Jen. Just know that starting is the hard part and remaining dedicated is a continual struggle. Hopefully, you'll find all of the support and information you need on MFP to keep you enthusiatic about becoming healthy, and staying that way. This is a great place to find support and others that are going through the same issues. Feel free to friend me if you like and I wish you the best in your efforts. :flowerforyou:
  • aquavitae30
    aquavitae30 Posts: 43
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    This is a great site for you. You'll be amazed how many calories are in some things and how few are in others. We do have a lot of similarities and hope we can help each other lose weight. :)
  • Robin304
    Robin304 Posts: 64
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    Welcome Jen! This really is a great site. I've been an emotional eater my entire life and ended up at 325lbs. Some of your story is very similar to mine. I'm diabetic, hypertensive, etc. But, I am now totally diet controlled, medication free and just had some amazing lab results. I still have about 54lbs to lose, but I'm getting there. If I can do this, trust me, anyone can. The really sad thing is, once I made my mind up that I was worth taking care of myself and deserved to be healthy and happy, it hasn't been that difficult. I wasted too much of my life being fat and miserable. But no longer. So hang in there and know you can do this. Just remember that it is a long term commitment and make sure you take the time to celebrate the little victories as they come. Good luck!

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