Officially 100lbs lighter

I almost don't know where to begin, but my biggest cheerleader on MFP asked me to share my story and I promised her that I would, so here goes...(forgive me if it is a little all over the place, today has been emotional for me)

I have struggled with weight issues my whole life. I went from being a skinny leggy kid to a not so skinny kid whose step-mother once told her she had thunder thighs. At every age and every weight my mother, who has been morbidly obese most of my life, would always say, "You look good but...you would look great if you lost 20 more pounds." Awesome way to instill a sense of self-confidence in a young girl.

I have been the fat sister/mom/cousin/friend/spouse my entire life and I didn't want that for myself anymore. So, after having spinal surgery in December 2010, my neurosurgeon told me that while he couldn't say being morbidly obese was what caused the cyst he had just removed, it didn't help and I should try and get the weight off once he released me to do so. His fear was the the extra weight would cause further degeneration, which could lead to another leakage of spinal fluid and possibly another cyst. He told me that if I got another cyst in the same area, he would probably need to fuse my spine. That was all I needed to hear to snap my *kitten* into gear.

On the morning of January 17th my Dr.'s assistant called and told me that my doc had cleared me to start slowly and report back to them weekly to let them know how I was feeling. So January 17th I went to the gym for the first time in years. I couldn't do anything but 20 minutes on the treadmill on 2mph. Baby steps...

I got the book, 'The Lean Belly Prescription' by Dr. Travis Stork after seeing him on several talk shows while...at the gym. It was one of those too-simple-to-work sounding gimmicks, but I bit and downloaded it to my Kindle app on my phone and began reading it while...on the elliptical machine (with my surgeon's ok). It really had a lot of great facts and studies gathered into one place and it set forth a very simple list of things that would help lose weight. All you had to do was pick at least three things to start, any three that worked for you, and stick to them for a month. The ol' 28 days to build a habit thing...ahhh. Well, it obviously worked. I picked things to make me more active, I incorporated new foods into my diet, I made sure to eat things in combinations and at certain times (ie- pre or post workout). I started with a few and added on and boom, I was now turning my body into an efficient machine that, when properly fueled and maintained, would burn calories all day long.

After the nutritional and mobility makeover, I had so much more energy and weight was definitely coming off without struggle. I decided I was ready to try weights and circuit training, so I checked with, and was ok'd by my neurosurgeon and primary care physician (whom I had started going to for well visits in late January/early February and began monthly weigh-ins with her as well as checking my bloodwork every few months to make sure everything is on par). My gym offers free personal training, so I took advantage of that to learn new exercises and routines and then I applied the same dedication to that as the cardio and nutrition.

By late March/early April, I was not only a machine, but a full-fledged gym rat. I also started doing Zumba on February 14th, which I found to be the most fun workout EVER and do once a week, sometimes more. I started going on family bike rides and having picnics and playtime with my nephew and daughter. I made all sorts of changes in my life to be more active. I rarely miss a day at the gym, and when I do I make sure I do SOMETHING that day to keep active. It takes 28 days to form a habit but only 3 days to break it...I'm not planning on testing that.

Flash forward a bit to now: I work full-time, I am a mom, I am a wife, I am an aunt and sometimes caregiver to my nephew, I am a friend and all the while, I am also a gym rat, I am a well-oiled machine with my eyes on the prize.

People come up to me and tell me I inspire them, people ask me what my secret is, people have even asked if I had weight loss surgery. The reactions I get are all over the board, but here is what it breaks down to.

1) On January 17th I weighed 270lbs (my highest was over 300lbs and I started weighing myself at 289lbs) and started working out and changing my eating habits.
2) I have kept my doctors involved in what I am doing so that I know medically I am not doing any harm to my body.
3) I have not taken weight loss drugs or had weight loss surgery of any sort, I have real life friends on MFP that can verify this information.
4) I do not starve myself or follow any weird diet craze. My food and exercise journal is public and you are all welcome to see that I eat like a freakin horse and I love fried foods. Little embarrassing but whatever.
5) If I have to really pick my "secrets" they would be:
*the MyFitnessPal app on my phone, it is my bible, I do not put anything in my stomach that doesn't get logged and I make sure I eat at least what it tells me to everyday and then some when I exercise a lot.
*Honesty, which you need to use MFP properly anyhow, but I come from a place of 'the only person I'm lying to is myself' if I eat/drink something and don't log it. So I log every calorie I eat and burn.
*Staying active, whether it be time at the gym, a bike ride with my family, a walk on the beach or playing in the park like a kid, I try to do something active every single day and on good days I do more than one active thing.
*Determination, inner strength, will-power- whatever you wanna call it, you have to make up your mind to just do it and keep at it. It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen.
6) Excuses do not exist for me anymore.
7) Today's date is July 17th, 2011, exactly six months ago today I weighed 270lbs...today I weigh 188lbs. 82lbs in six months, 101lbs since I first weighed myself a year ago and somewhere in the range of 115lbs or more since April 2010.