jinn_wow
I've had a problem with my weight for most of my life. I lost weight in high school on a "teenager diet" which was basically high protein/low carb. Other than the high amounts of protein, it was really a pretty healthy way to lose weight, and I actually got my weight down to about 145 - 150 pounds. It felt really good!
After high school, I started college, and gained about 30 pounds before I met my first hubby. Even at 175, I looked pretty good, so I didn't worry too much about it. I have lots of photos from those days, and it's hard to believe I was 175. So I didn't feel really pressured to do much about my weight at that point.
After we moved to my husband's first duty station in Maryland (he joined the Army right after we got married) I decided to join a weight watchers group on the base, since I was lonesome, and didn't have any friends in this new place. I'd never lived away from my hometown and it was a hard move for me. I lost the 30 pounds I gained after high school and although I never made life-time, I kept the weight off successfully until I got pregnant with my first child in 1983. During the pregnancy, we got orders for Germany, so rather than going over with hubby, I went to live at my mothers until after the baby was born. I had one of those friendly, country doctor type of OB situations, and he allowed my weight to blossom over 80 pounds during the pregnancy. When I first arrived home at 3 months pregnant, I could put on my wedding dress with lots of room to spare. By the time I had the baby, I was as large as a blimp!
Needless to say, I didn't lose the 80 pounds when he was born. I think I only lost about 25 pounds of it. Then when the baby was 3 months old, we moved over to Germany (land of delicious food and pasteries) and lived there for about a year. I probably lost about 30 more pounds, but I was still carrying around about half the weight I had gained. It was tough for me, but I still looked "OK" so I didn't worry too much about it.
Four years later (1988) we decided to have another child. This time, my doctor was like a drill master -- any time I gained an ounce more than he thought I should, I was sent for a gestational diabetes test and their in office nutritionist. With his watching of my weight so close, I only gained 25 pounds with this baby, and lost 30 when she was born. By this time, things were beginning to stress in our marriage, so losing weight was very hard. I was in the upper 100's at this point, and also made a major career change around this time. I was alone with 2 young children most of the time, and a mother-in-law who loved to stuff me with delicious food, so I kept gaining, rather than losing and got over 200 pounds. Of course I tried to follow weight watchers during these times, but it was hard, there was stress everywhere and I kept telling myself I had time to lose the weight, I was young, and I would be able to do it, maybe after both kids were in school.
In 1995, I got a promotion to HR Specialist for my agency, and had to move to Tallahassee from Pensacola to accept the position. Of course, I never lost the weight when both kids got into school, and by this time I'd tried every fad diet out there ... I would lose on the fad diets, but when I stopped, I would quickly gain the weight back. When we moved to Tallahassee in 1995, I was right at 200 pounds. The move was hard. My marriage was troubled and I needed to be near my family for support and friendship. I slowly begain to turn back to food for comfort, and began slopping on the pounds again. I gained 63 pounds from 1995 to 1998, when I finally decided I would have to get a divorce.
The divorce was very bitter and difficult. My husband drug out the process, and during the 2 years it took for me to get through it, I put on another 10 pounds. So I was topping off the scale at an all time high of 273 by the time everything was final.
When I met my husband, Michael, I was so amazed he'd even look at me, but he did, and we were married in 2002. During our courtship, I lost back down to 250, but after we got married, I guess wedded bliss helped me put it all back on plus some, because when I finally went back to weight watchers to get serious, I had gained all the way to 293!!! I was mortified.
I successfully lost back down to the 260s -- and seemed to be at a plateau. Because my husband didn't have any children, I decided we needed to go ahead and try to concieve if we were going to have a baby together, so this was going on during the weight loss efforts. I was having some frustrating ups & downs due to life events going on and my weight kept yo-yo-ing between 260-270. In November of 2004, after 2 years of trying, I found out I had finally gotten pregnant, and the arrow was on 270, so I was pretty much stuck there until after the baby was born. Things went well, and I didn't gain extra weight, so we decided to have a second baby in 2006. I got gestational diabetes and high blood pressure this time, which really opened my eyes to what my life could be if I didn't lose weight. I actually lost weight instead of gaining during that pregnancy, but I am still at a high weight for me (269).
I know how to eat healthy - I just need help to lose this large amount of weight. So I am excited to be here, and hopefully I'll get through all the hoops and get approved....
