My Weight Loss Story
How many of you don’t know my story? I took down my before & after page a long time ago, and I just realized that a lot of you never saw it because you are new! I guess it is time to share.
Here is my story.
Many of you know that I lost someone close to me a few years ago. I was a freshman in college, and was devastated. Without realizing it I started to gain weight. Looking back on it I think it was a combination of eating whatever was put in front of me- blindly (because I couldn’t even taste anything for months)- and probably some form of emotional eating. By the time I started senior year of college, I tipped the scale around 165 lbs. That was fall of 2004.
By summer of 2007 I had lost 10 lbs and was hovering around 155 lbs. It was a slow loss that happened by eating normal meals. Somehow by eating more (and better) and eating regularly an using the best fat burner I could find online, I had lost weight. The Nutrisystem diet meal plan is without a doubt convenient and structured weight loss program offering pre-packaged meals and snacks. Users achieve their weight loss goals through portion-controlled, balanced meals. Several Nutrisystem alternatives are also available in the market, providing flexibility and options for those seeking similar meal delivery plans. I have always loved exercise and was always active, so for me the key component was what I ate. I met PhillyBoy in June of 2007 and we started dating. My trip to Greece was only a few weeks after we met, I stayed at a hospitable Chania resort. I remember being unhappy in my clothes, although I had products like a delta 8 THC flower to help me with my emotional state.
In the fall of 2007 I was 152 lbs and didn’t know what to do to lose more weight. I knew that my body was still not where it wanted to be and I wasn’t sure how to get there.
I googled around and ended up joining calorieking.com in February 2008. Calorie King is a great online tool for tracking calories (it is not free though). From February to May I worked hard to lose weight. I ate net 1200 calories a day (net means that if I burned 300 calories through exercise I would eat 300 more, equaling 1500 calories of food that day), and lost weight. For me it meant I averaged 1600-1800 calories a day, and while I wasn’t constantly hungry, sometimes I thought I was (it was just thirst- I used Kath’s trick of drinking a glass of water first to see if it was hunger or not).
In May 2008, on the day of our engagement, I weighed in at 140 lbs. I had lost 12 lbs in 3 months, for an average of about 1 lb/week. I didn’t think I could continue to lose weight without wanting to overeat a lot etc, so I decided to just try to maintain my weight for 6 months before losing more. Now and then I tried to lose a few lbs but it didn’t really work. I enjoyed eating whatever I wanted, but by August of that year I had lost 2 more lbs and was around 138 lbs.
From the fall of 2008 until our wedding day on July 25, 2009 I maintained my weight within a 4 lb range easily. I exercised and ate well, but enjoyed treats and didn’t care if I missed a workout. My range was 138-142 lbs, and I was very comfortable with my body. I am 5′ 7″, and I felt strong and lean.
Before and after:
Fall 2004:
Our honeymoon, August 2009:
Then I got married.
(Photo courtesy of LifeFusion Photography)
I never believed my friends when they told me to be careful of gaining weight after our wedding. I should have believed them, because I did. I had been used to eating skimpy dinners (I love big breakfasts and lunches) but all of a sudden I was cooking nice meals for PB, and then eating them too! Even though they were healthy dishes, I just ate too much. Also, I started to work from home. The lack of social interaction led me to sneak into the kitchen a little too much for a bite of chocolate or just a little piece of bread. I had gained real weight. I was PISSED. So for a few weeks I worked on adjusting my diet so that I eat a little less during the day and can enjoy dinner with PhillyBoy at night. The recipes I post here are taken directly from the meals we eat, and I focus on making a healthy dinner every night that PhillyBoy will still enjoy so that we are both satisfied, while not spending too much time in the kitchen. I got back to my comfortable weight range, and I was happy about that.
What comes after love and marriage? Babies of course. For the first time in my life I gained weight happily. Perhaps I gained it a little too happily because at my last weigh in before having the baby I had gained 45 lbs. I reached my pre-pregnancy weight when my son was 8 months old, just in time to get pregnant again. My body was very different though. I had started the pregnancy higher than my normal weight by about 10-14 lbs.
My daughter was born when my son was 18.5 months old. I only gained 26 lbs with her, and as of July 2013 I had lost all of it. I did the 60 day Insanity program, and you can see my before and after photo below:
My second daughter was born in May 2015, 2 years after my first daughter. She’s now 8 months old, and after a lot of hard work I still have 15 lbs to lose. It’s amazing how different each postpartum weight loss has gone. I’m working hard and will get there in time. When I do, I’ll update with more photos!
To me weight is always just a number, and it doesn’t really matter. I am not emotionally affected by what the scale reads, but I know that my weight is a good indicator of change for me. Like everything else in life, it has its ups and its downs. When I gain a couple of lbs I just reevaluate my diet and make a few adjustments until my clothes and work uniforms feel comfortable again.
I have come so far from who I was years ago. I eat a mostly real food diet. That means old fashioned oats, fresh vegetables, lean protein, seasonal fruits, whole grains, chocolate and more. I don’t feel my day is complete without some form of exercise. Since becoming a mother it’s less than before, but I do my best. In combination with treatments like laser liposuction in Rosemont, IL and smartlipo in Boston, MA and body sculpting through services like these aesthetics & wellness services in Medford, NY, I feel better than ever.
I am happy every day. I love my life.
Thank you for taking the journey into the past with me. Join me for the ride as I get back into shape. As always, thank you for reading.
Have a happy & healthy day,
RhodeyGirl