294

 Me the week before Mend-a-body


The name of this post is 294 because that is the number I saw on the scale in September of 2011 and a number I will never see again! Here I am, my very first weight loss blog. Not sure if anyone will actually be interested in reading it, but for me I can always look back and follow my journey all over again and stay accountable for the choices I make, which are not always good.

Here is a little background. I am 34 years old and I have been trying to lose weight my whole life. I have always been the chunky kid, the plus size teen and now the over weight adult. I have done a lot of diets, some have been successful, some have not and some I just gave up after a while because I got tired of always dieting. Every time I would lose, gain, lose, gain and so on. Each time putting on more and more weight. I did birth a couple of children that contributed to this as well.

Last September my beloved Pepere (Grandfather) died after a sudden 2 week illness and it rocked my world. I don't have a large family, I don't have siblings, I don't have a lot of close friends, but for 34 years I have had this man in my life that has been more of a father to me then anything else. I was extremely close to him and for him to be just gone in 2 weeks just broke me in half.  But at the same time I felt....inspired. He had lost 115 lbs over the last couple of years and kept it off. This man was constantly counting calories and fat and only on holidays would he let himself cheat. If at 79 years old he could do it, so could I! He would always ask me, "how is the diet going?" He knew I struggled and he wanted me to succeed.  When he died I made the decision to take control of my weight.  For me and for him!

So that is what I did. I have been skeptical of a lot of diets, programs, whatever you want to call them because I have done them all. Weight Watchers, Tops, Jenny Craig, low fat, low carb, no taste...on and on. Yeah they all worked for a little bit, but could I eat like that the rest of my life?  Some yes, some no. In 1998 I found a low carb diet called Somersizing by Suzanne Somers. I lived alone at the time as a single 21 year old. It was the time of my life. I Only had me to worry about and I'm so glad I had those years to just get to know me. I joined the gym, I started this program and I lost 70 lbs over a year and half. It was however very restrictive and expensive to do. Then I started dating someone in 2000, got pregnant in 2001 and 2005 and it's been all down hill since then. Eating that way was just not easy with a family or on the budget. I gained most of my weight back and when my newborn baby was diagnosed with a terminal illness and passed away at 11 months old I just gave up and didn't really care. Fast forward to September 2011. There I was 294 pounds! I was sad, miserable and just feeling awful about myself. I have been over weight all of my adult life. As I approach 35 I know that I don't want to be this way anymore.

For the last year I had been hearing about this weight loss program called Mend-a-body Solutions. I was again a skeptic. Another diet, another "program", too much money, not interested. I dismissed it and said "Eh I will go back to Weight Watchers". It was an excuse to me to be able to what I wanted, but had to keep track of points. I did keep track...for a couple of weeks. Then I stopped and just started guessing how many points I had. Then I stopped looking them up completely and I had no clue how many I was actually using. The whole point of WW is to track your points!! I couldn't even do that!  It worked for me in 2010 for 6 months, then I just fell off and the 30 lbs I lost just crept back on. In May of 2011 I decided to rejoin WW since they had revamped their points system. I went to one meeting and tracked for one week and was done and quit. Last summer I said screw it and ate what I want and gained all the weight back and then some and was almost at 300 lbs. I am 5 foot 9, but still, that number was not good. Then I thought of Mendabody again when I saw my friend Christine's picture on her facebook page. I couldn't believe how thin she was! I wanted that to be me.

When I made the promise to my grandfather in the Heavens that I would lose the weight,  I joined Mend-a-body Solutions. September 19th I started my journey. I started a  Biggest Loser Competition for 6 weeks and focused on getting healthy. Oh and I won, by default, but still, I had lost 20 lbs that first 6 weeks on the program. The first week was very hard. I was detoxing from sugar, carbs and caffeine. I was grumpy, irritable and wasn't pleasant to be around at all.  But the support I had from the other members of Mend-a-body was amazing and kept me going. My coach would listen to me piss and moan about all the things I couldn't have and supported me when I felt frustrated as well as my back up coach Julie.

I am not perfect I do not always follow it to a tee, but 3 months later I have lost 35 lbs, I feel better and I know that I eat better. My body actually craves fiber rich vegetables and I actually really enjoy eating good food. I don't feel deprived. I still have carbs, but good carbs. I still have sweets but low sugar sweets. I still have a cheat here and there, but I get back on track. Over the holidays I did take a week off and just kind of ate whatever. I felt like crap, but I told myself I would get right back on track. I gained 4 lbs from Christmas to New Years. I ate soda, chips, dips and crap. With the New Year I feel rejuvenated and more focused.  I have started exercising this week. I haven't had a diet soda all week and I have lost those 4 lbs I gained. I feel good that for the first time I was able to get right back on the wagon and continue on and not say screw it like I always have in the past. All my life I start things and never finish them! Not this time. It is easier when you enjoy eating good food and losing weight doesn't quite feel like so much work. It was worth every penny that I paid.

My goal is to reach 170 lbs. Then from there I will see how I feel and if I want to continue to lose more. But for now that is where I am at. I have a long way to go and right now I am making smaller more achievable goals. My goal from September was to lose 35 lbs by Christmas. I did that the week of Christmas! Now my goal is to lose another 40 lbs by the middle of May. I know I can do it! I have the support of my friends, my Mend-a-body peers, the coaches and my family. Oh and I found that I really do love to cook and come up with lots of MAB menus! It's really fun actually.

This blog isn't about Mend-a-body or what you should eat or shouldn't eat, but it is about what works for me. There will be days that I slip up I'm sure, but this is about reaching a goal and losing half of myself. The half I don't like!

I will be sharing recipes on here, pictures of what I am eating and journaling this adventure. I hope you will all follow along. I hope I will inspire others to do the same. If you would like more information on Mend-a-body Solutions, feel free to go to their website or contact me and I can send you information to contact one of the many Mend-a-body Coaches.

Tiff

Here I am today a work in progress!