This is an article that was written for the Fat2Fit HQ website in the summer of 2013:
In April of 2004 my father was in the hospital dying from cancer. I felt like my life was out of control and one morning I stepped on the scale and saw that I weighed 252 pounds… and was now closer to 300 than 200. That scared me. So that day I signed up for Weight Watchers Online. I had done WW years before and lost 60 pounds, so I knew the program and knew it worked. Even with the chaos of my life, I knew that my weight was the one thing I did have control over. So between visiting with my dad and spending as much time with him as I could, I worked the program. After a couple of weeks of doing the Online WW, I realized I really missed the interaction of the meetings, so I started attending the meetings with a friend. A month later my father passed away. I was devastated, but knew that he would want me to be happy and healthy. I had missed my regular meeting that week, so as a way to stay on track, I attended a different meeting. And I’m glad I did. I absolutely fell in love with the leader, who was energetic, outgoing, and most of all, fun! And the people at her meetings were incredible. I changed my meeting time and have been going to those meetings since.
That first year I lost nearly 78 pounds, felt great, and was happy with myself and my life for the first time in years. And then it happened. In April of 2006, I met the guy of my dreams. And what happens when I get happy? Well, apparently, I eat! Even though he was extremely supportive of my weight loss, I gained back nearly 30 pounds that I had lost. Because I am an emotional eater, I ate through the happy times of my new relationship, ate through the trials of a son finding his way in the world, and ate through helping my mom move out of the house we had lived in for years. Even though I gained the weight back, I continued to go to the meetings. Because I knew if I didn’t that I would put all the weight back on and I did not want to do that. So for the next three years, I struggled to keep my weight under control.
Then in 2009, I started myself on a walking program. I decided I wanted to walk a 5K without feeling exhausted or getting a migraine. I had walked plenty of 5K’s in the past, but never felt good when I got done. I started walking on my breaks at work and on my lunch hour. I slowly increased the distance and pace. Then in April of 2009 I went with my husband to Salt Lake City because he was running the half marathon. While there I picked up a brochure about the running events at Walt Disney World and one of them caught my eye. A 5K run through the Animal Kingdom, followed by an obstacle course and scavenger hunt. Wow! How fun would that be? And I could walk a 5K, so how hard would it be to train to run a 5K?
Well, I found out! With my husband’s help, I started out slow… I ran for 3 minutes the first day of training. And as someone who has never run any significant distance in her life — Oh man! I thought I was going to die before those 3 minutes was up. But like the walking, I slowly increased the time and distance and within 5 months, I was running 3.1 miles — 5K!
Because life being what it is, that original goal to run the 5K at the Animal Kingdom was changed to running a 13K (8 miles) at Disney’s Hollywood Studio, then changed to complete (with a combination of running and walking) a half marathon (13.1 miles) at Disneyland in September 2010. And to have an idea what I was in for, I signed up to do the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in April 2010. Since it’s combined with the full marathon, the course stays open longer, removing the stress of having to complete in a certain time.
April 2010 became “my” month in regards to weight loss and exercise. I reached my 100 pound loss the April 8th, 2010. It was a major accomplishment and got me down to the lowest weight I had been since Junior High School. A week later I celebrated my 6 year anniversary on WW, and a few days later I ran my first half marathon. It was an amazing feeling to know that even though I took the long road to get the weight off, I never gave up and kept going.
It would be another 4 months before I reached my WW goal weight of 139, a loss of 113 pounds. Even though it was quite the achievement and I was very proud of what I accomplished, it was also a bit of an under-whelming feeling. The reality was, I had reached goal, but nothing really changed. I still had to track my food, attend meetings, and exercise.
Even though I had reached my goal weight, it didn’t end my struggle with my weight. Or with food. I would spend the next 10 months struggling to stay at my goal weight while continuing with the WW PointsPlus program. A member on the WW site suggested counting calories along with counting points to see if I could figure out where my problem might be. She directed me to the My Fitness Pal website. After several weeks of counting both Points and calories, I realized that I was eating too many Points, therefore, eating too many calories. I found that counting calories worked much better for me because I could be more accurate and precise when it came to food and exercise. I felt I had more control over the “calories in/calories out.”
This method worked great for me. I was better able to maintain my weight close to my goal weight. I still had some frustration with the math. It didn’t always work out that “eat less, move more” would result in a loss. On “good” weeks I would occasionally gain and “bad” weeks I would sometimes lose weight.
But I continued to plug away, try to new things, and enjoyed life at a healthier weight. I attended my WW meetings every week and followed the WW program, with the exception I was counting calories instead of Points.
Eventually the occasional binge eating (emotional eating is still a major problem for me) and the constant gaining/losing to maintain my weight, started to take its toll. In April of this year, I had a major eating binge and went to bed feeling terrible both mentally and physically. I knew something had to change.
Several days earlier I had watched the documentary “Hungry For Change” about eating “clean” foods and how sticking to more natural foods could clean out the toxins from your body. I decided that the next morning I would eat as “clean” as possible for the day to see if I could flush out some of the garbage I had eaten that day.
This would be the best decision I ever made. Just one day without the sugary snacks and diet coke and I felt good. So I decided to do it for another day. Two days and most of my sugar cravings were gone; I had energy, and just felt better. If I felt that good after two days, what would a week be like? It was amazing. What was even more amazing is when I weighed in a week later. I had lost 4.6 pounds. In one week. I had been working on losing that weight for months and it came off in one week. Needless to say, it spurred me on to eating healthier, eating a lot more vegetables, fruit, and lean protein. My husband and I started shopping at the local natural grocery stores, bought into the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and eliminated as much processed foods as possible.
In the last couple of the months, I’ve had my ups and downs as I learn what “clean eating” means to us and our lifestyle. For us, it means eating more natural foods, eating less processed foods, and the processed foods we do eat are the “lesser of the evils.” As in, they are processed, but processed with ingredients that we can pronounce and if possible, organic.
I have now been on my weight loss/maintenance journey for nine years. It’s been a constant learning experience. When I gained, I looked at it as an opportunity to find out what didn’t work for me. When I lost, I found what did work. And what worked for me in the beginning, is not necessarily what works for me now. It’s about making little changes over time and being open to new ideas and trying new things. Finding what works for you and making changes you can live with for a lifetime.
Since beginning this journey, I went from a shy, quiet individual to someone who speaks in front of groups sharing my experience. I went from a couch potato to someone who runs 3 to 4 half marathons a year — and it all started with walking a few blocks a day. I went from someone who shied away from new experiences to someone who wants to tries new things. In the last year alone, I’ve climbed to the top of several peaks, went on a 6 mile backpacking trip, and went snowshoeing. And this summer I hope to try kayaking and river rafting.
Losing the weight is only the beginning. Maintenance is as hard (if not harder), so to keep myself motivated and inspired, I listen to pod casts, read blogs, and read books about clean eating, weight loss success stories, and anything else that keeps me going. And I will keep going. I’ve made a commitment to myself to be healthy, happy, and energetic for years to come.
That first year I lost nearly 78 pounds, felt great, and was happy with myself and my life for the first time in years. And then it happened. In April of 2006, I met the guy of my dreams. And what happens when I get happy? Well, apparently, I eat! Even though he was extremely supportive of my weight loss, I gained back nearly 30 pounds that I had lost. Because I am an emotional eater, I ate through the happy times of my new relationship, ate through the trials of a son finding his way in the world, and ate through helping my mom move out of the house we had lived in for years. Even though I gained the weight back, I continued to go to the meetings. Because I knew if I didn’t that I would put all the weight back on and I did not want to do that. So for the next three years, I struggled to keep my weight under control.
Then in 2009, I started myself on a walking program. I decided I wanted to walk a 5K without feeling exhausted or getting a migraine. I had walked plenty of 5K’s in the past, but never felt good when I got done. I started walking on my breaks at work and on my lunch hour. I slowly increased the distance and pace. Then in April of 2009 I went with my husband to Salt Lake City because he was running the half marathon. While there I picked up a brochure about the running events at Walt Disney World and one of them caught my eye. A 5K run through the Animal Kingdom, followed by an obstacle course and scavenger hunt. Wow! How fun would that be? And I could walk a 5K, so how hard would it be to train to run a 5K?
Well, I found out! With my husband’s help, I started out slow… I ran for 3 minutes the first day of training. And as someone who has never run any significant distance in her life — Oh man! I thought I was going to die before those 3 minutes was up. But like the walking, I slowly increased the time and distance and within 5 months, I was running 3.1 miles — 5K!
Because life being what it is, that original goal to run the 5K at the Animal Kingdom was changed to running a 13K (8 miles) at Disney’s Hollywood Studio, then changed to complete (with a combination of running and walking) a half marathon (13.1 miles) at Disneyland in September 2010. And to have an idea what I was in for, I signed up to do the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in April 2010. Since it’s combined with the full marathon, the course stays open longer, removing the stress of having to complete in a certain time.
April 2010 became “my” month in regards to weight loss and exercise. I reached my 100 pound loss the April 8th, 2010. It was a major accomplishment and got me down to the lowest weight I had been since Junior High School. A week later I celebrated my 6 year anniversary on WW, and a few days later I ran my first half marathon. It was an amazing feeling to know that even though I took the long road to get the weight off, I never gave up and kept going.
It would be another 4 months before I reached my WW goal weight of 139, a loss of 113 pounds. Even though it was quite the achievement and I was very proud of what I accomplished, it was also a bit of an under-whelming feeling. The reality was, I had reached goal, but nothing really changed. I still had to track my food, attend meetings, and exercise.
Even though I had reached my goal weight, it didn’t end my struggle with my weight. Or with food. I would spend the next 10 months struggling to stay at my goal weight while continuing with the WW PointsPlus program. A member on the WW site suggested counting calories along with counting points to see if I could figure out where my problem might be. She directed me to the My Fitness Pal website. After several weeks of counting both Points and calories, I realized that I was eating too many Points, therefore, eating too many calories. I found that counting calories worked much better for me because I could be more accurate and precise when it came to food and exercise. I felt I had more control over the “calories in/calories out.”
This method worked great for me. I was better able to maintain my weight close to my goal weight. I still had some frustration with the math. It didn’t always work out that “eat less, move more” would result in a loss. On “good” weeks I would occasionally gain and “bad” weeks I would sometimes lose weight.
But I continued to plug away, try to new things, and enjoyed life at a healthier weight. I attended my WW meetings every week and followed the WW program, with the exception I was counting calories instead of Points.
Eventually the occasional binge eating (emotional eating is still a major problem for me) and the constant gaining/losing to maintain my weight, started to take its toll. In April of this year, I had a major eating binge and went to bed feeling terrible both mentally and physically. I knew something had to change.
Several days earlier I had watched the documentary “Hungry For Change” about eating “clean” foods and how sticking to more natural foods could clean out the toxins from your body. I decided that the next morning I would eat as “clean” as possible for the day to see if I could flush out some of the garbage I had eaten that day.
This would be the best decision I ever made. Just one day without the sugary snacks and diet coke and I felt good. So I decided to do it for another day. Two days and most of my sugar cravings were gone; I had energy, and just felt better. If I felt that good after two days, what would a week be like? It was amazing. What was even more amazing is when I weighed in a week later. I had lost 4.6 pounds. In one week. I had been working on losing that weight for months and it came off in one week. Needless to say, it spurred me on to eating healthier, eating a lot more vegetables, fruit, and lean protein. My husband and I started shopping at the local natural grocery stores, bought into the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and eliminated as much processed foods as possible.
In the last couple of the months, I’ve had my ups and downs as I learn what “clean eating” means to us and our lifestyle. For us, it means eating more natural foods, eating less processed foods, and the processed foods we do eat are the “lesser of the evils.” As in, they are processed, but processed with ingredients that we can pronounce and if possible, organic.
I have now been on my weight loss/maintenance journey for nine years. It’s been a constant learning experience. When I gained, I looked at it as an opportunity to find out what didn’t work for me. When I lost, I found what did work. And what worked for me in the beginning, is not necessarily what works for me now. It’s about making little changes over time and being open to new ideas and trying new things. Finding what works for you and making changes you can live with for a lifetime.
Since beginning this journey, I went from a shy, quiet individual to someone who speaks in front of groups sharing my experience. I went from a couch potato to someone who runs 3 to 4 half marathons a year — and it all started with walking a few blocks a day. I went from someone who shied away from new experiences to someone who wants to tries new things. In the last year alone, I’ve climbed to the top of several peaks, went on a 6 mile backpacking trip, and went snowshoeing. And this summer I hope to try kayaking and river rafting.
Losing the weight is only the beginning. Maintenance is as hard (if not harder), so to keep myself motivated and inspired, I listen to pod casts, read blogs, and read books about clean eating, weight loss success stories, and anything else that keeps me going. And I will keep going. I’ve made a commitment to myself to be healthy, happy, and energetic for years to come.
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