Ok, so I fail at frequent posting. :( I think I procrastinated because I knew that I wanted to talk about weight in this post and I knew it would be a difficult one. However, it is one of my main reasons for wanting to have a blog, to chart progress, and hopefully make some friends along the way. I know there are a lot of other ladies out there on the same journey that I am on. Get ready for this, I have a feeling it's gonna be a long one.
So, let's start at the beginning. I have not always been overweight, but it started early, probably around middle school. From this time up through Sophomore year of high school, I was always the friend that was just 10 lbs heavier than everyone else. I was active in several different sports, mostly fall seasons, so during the fall I would lose 10, and then gain it alll back and then some in the spring/summer. After my sophomore year, in 2001, I decided I was tired of this extra weight and did Weight Watchers. By the time I started my junior year, I was down almost 40 lbs and I wasn't the heavy friend anymore. Thanks to staying active, I was able to keep it off for the rest of High School. Buuut then I went off to college in 2003 and gained about 20 lbs. Slowly over the next 3 years the weight slowly crept up on me until I was right back to where I was in early High School. Summer after my junior year in college(2006), again I worked hard and lost about 20 lbs and stayed there to finish out college the next year. Just before beginning my second semester of Senior year, I met my husband Cale, and this is where I began to get eat junk in crazy amounts.
After I graduated college in 2007 and was out in the 'real world' the weight started to pack on again. Living on my own and grocery shopping/cooking for myself for the first time, all control went out the window. I ate junk all the time along with my boyfriend (now husband!). It was frustrating for me because we ate the same stuff and I blew up and he just stayed the same. I continued to gain up until my man proposed in June of 2010. It was at that point that I decided that I wanted to get serious about losing the weight for the wedding. I got on the scale and was floored. I was 20 lbs heavier than I had ever been. I got to work, again with Weight Watchers and by Christmas I was down 30 lbs. I was still bigger by a few lbs than when I graduated from college, but on the day of our wedding (May 7,th 2011) I felt good about myself and felt pretty in my dress.
And this is where it got tough for us. A few months before our wedding, Cale got transferred by his company to Corpus Christi, which is 4 hours away from Houston, my hometown and where we had been living since I graduated from college. However, our wedding was taking place in Houston and I still lived there! So, Cale got a place to live in Corpus that I would move into after the wedding, and I was able to find a job in my field there. So, I move to Corpus for my new job a month before the wedding, we get married and live together for one month when Cale finds out he is being transferred once again, this time to El Campo which is about an hour and a half southwest of Houston. I was upset to say the least. I had just started a new job and did not feel I could leave. So, for the next year, we lived apart. I in our apartment in Corpus and Cale in our family's weekend place that happens to be close to his new job location. So, this was a long background story to explain that I was not happy and stressed, and I am an emotional eater, so the lbs came back on fast. By Thanksgiving I was back where I has started when I began to lose weight for the wedding, and by Christmas I had put on another 10. Shortly after the holiday, our apartment lease was going to be up, so I began to look for jobs near Houston so that Cale and I could live together again. I was able to get almost the exact job I had in Corpus in Houston, and we house hunted and purchased our first home outside of Houston, about half way between downtown and his job in El Campo.
For the next few months it was like newlywed bliss. We had a new house, I had a new job that I loved, and I finally got to live with my husband! So of course, more weight was put on, about another 10 lbs. One day in June, I was looking at facebook and ran across a picture that was tagged of me and my best friends from the previous weekend. I almost died. I.looked.so.fat. I had gone into that Saturday thinking, yeah i'm bigger than I used to be but I look okay. That picture was my wake up call, my 'ah ha' moment. From that day on I decided that I was done being the fat girl.
Now, the next step. How on earth was I going to drop the weight? I was 25 lbs heavier than I was the last time I tried to lose weight and it just seemed hopeless. One day I was on pinterest and came across a pin that linked to a blog. I started reading one blog and that one led me to several others of ladies who were also losing weight and writing all about it. These blogs gave me motivation and tools to begin my journey. Since July 1st I have lost 32 lbs by tracking every.calorie. on My Fitness Pal, doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, running, and keeping the motivation up by checking Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp facebook page frequently. It has been a tough journey, but totally worth it. I have a long way to go til I reach my goal, but now I know I have the tools and the motivation to get there. I just keep telling myself one day at a time.
I have realized some things along the way. I have to work my but off if I want to see results, they aren't just gonna happen if my butt is glued to the couch. It has taken me almost 6 years to finally accept the fact that I cannot eat like my hubs if I want to be slim. I just have to take it one day at a time and make short term goals for myself, I try not to get overwhelmed with how far I have left to go, but only focus on how far I have come so far.
It feels good to get all of that out there, and hopefully someday soon, I will feel confident enough to talk numbers, but for now this is where I am. If you read this, sorry so long! I just felt as if I had to put it all out there and now I can move forward and get to work as I continue on this journey!
