I will apologize in advance for this
lengthy post.
Dear Weight:
We’ve had our ups and down,
literally. I did not realize how bad
things were for the longest time. Or
maybe I did and I just didn’t want to admit it. You were my protection, my comfort and the bane of my existence. However, I am ready to break up with you. We've been together a long time, but I don't want to be "besties" anymore. For my health and for my family, I need to move forward with removing you from my body. You are doing bad things to me. You increase my risk of heart disease, just to name one. I want to be healthy and live to enjoy many, many years with my wonderful husband and my amazing family.
Here’s my backstory: I started out as a chubby baby, but turned into a
very thin child. Until third grade when
my school was closing and I had to change schools. Then I gained weight, a lot of weight in a
very short period because I was so nervous about going to a new school. This prompted other kids to make fun of me
for my weight. I had some amazing
friends that also moved to the new school with me and made things a little
easier for me.
I was overweight all the way
into high school. The low I remember
hitting in HS was down to a size 3, but overall, I seemed to stick at 125/size
7. Here are some things that I remember
about losing weight in HS…I wouldn’t eat, but maybe one meal per day and it was
whatever I wanted. I lost weight, but it
was short lived and I gained it back when I started eating. Fast forward a few years, I was a fairly new
mom and while I was eating nothing but processed foods, I was cooking at
home. Fast forward a few more years, I
was spending about 2 hours a day commuting back and forth. By the time I got home, I didn’t feel like
cooking so we started eating a lot of fast food for dinner and oftentimes for breakfast
and lunch most days. I rarely cooked at
home at that point and when I did, it was still processed foods.
I remember having a conversation
with my Uncle and basically telling him that my weight was protecting me. I was forced into sex by people that I
trusted. In my mind, I believed that if
I was overweight I would not be put into that situation again. This was, however, a struggle within myself because
I wanted to have a relationship and to be loved, to have a family, just like
everyone else, but didn’t want to let anyone too close to me. This battle lasted for many years and I
finally decided that I would take care of myself if I wanted to be around for
my son. I joined Weight Watchers and met
some great friends. I managed to lose
down into the 150’s and was almost at my mini-goal…and then life got in the
way. I lost my job and was not working
out consistently the way I had been previously or going to my Weight Watcher
meetings. It definitely changed
things. It reinforced that what I do to
lose the weight is what I will have to continue to do when I reach my
goal. There isn’t a magic pill that will
make me lose weight. This is going to
take hard work and effort. I’m not at my
goal weight and recently reached a high of over 200 lbs. I am thankful that I am still learning and
haven’t given up on myself or my weight loss journey. This is a process. I appreciate those that are supporting me
along this journey. For those that are
also on this journey, WE CAN DO THIS!
I love when I read blogs that bare the soul. I feel connected to your journey more. You can do this, we can do this!
ReplyDeleteWE can really do this!
ReplyDelete