Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Good Intentions

   My first Weight Watchers weigh in was on Valentines Day at a Monday night meeting. I had already lost 7 lbs.on my own. I was excited, but saddened by the fact that I could not count those pounds while others in the class were celebrating and getting stars for losing 5 lbs. As I looked around the nearly filled room, I saw a very good friend from my church there. I never would have thought she needed Weight Watchers. She waved for me to sit beside her and then whispered that she was a lifetime member who had lost over 40 lbs.
    This immediately gave me encouragement to do this thing. But, finding out that all my old WW books were obsolete (because it was now "Points Plus") was a dissapointment. I wasn't about to pay that much money again for the new calculater, recipe books, points guide etc. So I figured I would sign into WW online and get help.
  Online I found what I needed to "get by" until I could afford to at least get the calculator.  Oh, how I missed the the old slide scale used to calculate points. This was going to be difficult. At least the way I was going about it all was a good effort and the next weigh in would tell.

Monday, March 28, 2011

How The Struggle Began

    I was always a skinny thing who could eat you out of house and home for the first 23 years of my life. Even after having two children I was thin. (I had a preemie daughter at age 18 and then a stillborn baby girl at age 20.)  I was a lean, tanned size 7.  Then I met the man who would be my love, my life and my forever companion. He still is today. But the first year was financially hard and we lived on love, beans, taters, biscuits and gravy. After the first year of marraige I had went from the 120's to the 160's , but hey, he had gained about the same. No dancing on weekends can really make a difference. But we were married and in love and I finally had a butt. But when I got to the 170's and didn't lose it after 3 more years, I knew I needed to do something. So I started walking and cutting out fat.
      I walked and walked and dieted and really did good. My goal was the 130's. But when I got down to 140 I started getting sick. I thought I had overdone it but in actuality it was God blessing us with our own child. He was two weeks late and I was miserable. I walked in to have him weighing 207. That's a 67lb. weight gain. I stayed swollen after bringing him home and had terrible headaches. Found out it was high blood pressure. Then I found out that  my thyroid had completely stopped working. But I managed to lose down to 180. Two years later, I walked in the hospital at 211 to have my second baby boy.
       That was 14 years ago and I have been on yoyo diets, lost and gained, lost and gained the same 20 pounds over and over again. This past January I was  up to 207 pounds and I couldn't blame it on pregnancy this time. It was pure FAT.  I had indigestion and depression about my big ol' belly. Kowing that I am not getting any younger, I started eating better, lost 7 lbs. on my own before joining Weight Watchers on Valentine's Day, 2011 for the  THIRD time. But this time I committed my struggle with weight to God and I know that HE is my strength!!!!
       You see, I was leaving God at home when I joined the other times. This time I have created my own Food journal that includes Scripture, A Daily Food Diary and a Prayer Journal. I will continue to blog and share my journey until I reach my goal. I hope you will join me. As I write this, I am proud to say that I now weigh 186.6. Thank God!!! I will get there. 150 here I come!!!