Come on in, take a seat and relax....!
My name is Amy and I am currently living in England for my job, but I have lived all my life in Baltimore, Maryland and plan to go back home in about 2 more years. Just enough time for me to go back and WOW the pants off my friends and family - GREAT MOTIVATION! :)
I've been overweight for pretty much most of my life, ever since the third grade. I'm not sure if its hereditary, or if it was from moving to a new house and school, or just overeating or eating the wrong foods. Probably all of the above ;) The years have been a struggle for me. Im now 31 with a husband and three beautiful children. I remember being young like 12-14 years and my father talking to me about my weight, and threatening to put me in a "FatFarm" and gave me some ugly details about it. I cried. I told him I didn't want to go, but inside I was screaming to him to force me to go. Honestly I was. I was the only one of any of my brothers or sister to have a weight problem and that always made me have such low self-esteem and it really embarressed me. I remember days praying to god crying my eyes out - Why!? WHY ME!? Why did you have to make ME like this?!? After many years and alot of soul searching, I found it made me a better person inside...and I probably wouldn't be the person I am today if this ugliness hadn't of happened to me. I've been on diets ever since I was fourteen or so. I did weight watchers back then ...when you had to weigh everything and blah! thats just what every 14 year old wants to be doing ;) That didn't work so I moved onto University of Maryland Hospital for a special diet program for children. I lost some weight but you had to fast the first day and take those lil stick tests every week to see if you've eaten sugar. I wonder now if they really worked or if they just TOLD US THAT hahah j/k I lost about 30 lbs then and got to around oh geez I dont know 140? I'll have to ask mom - she can remember all kinds of things like that ;) The next main diet I was on was in my senior year of highschool. I had everything to be motivated for - senior prom, graduation, SeniorWeek at Ocean City, and motivated I was but all the wrong way. I ate a cheese sandwich a day, or a pack of crackers, or a salad... I lost 60 lbs and got to 160, started losing my hair too. =:-O!! But only I noticed really and had to take some vitamins and start eating right again to make it stop. Well not right, I soon went back to my eating habits and began hanging around friends that drank, so I drank, and one thing led to another and a year and a half later I gained probably 30 back...Then I met my husband when I was 19, and he loved me for me and we wound up getting married. The pounds came back then with a vengence! The funny part is you dont see it happening, one day its just there and you could kick yourself in the ass for letting it happen. Its sooo much harder to lose than gain - so I did as most of us do - I ignored it! I had three children. After my first Kevin, I lost 35 lbs! WOOHOO! I thought - Hey, 3 more kids and I'll be at goal weight! ;) - HAH! Funny thing was after the lose, I still fit in my old clothes...after my daugher Kerigan, same thing, and then Kyler...thats when the belly finally dropped! So I kicked the diet thing around for a while and finally in March 2000 I decided it was time after visiting a site called DietWatch. I met some people on there and was really looking for a diet buddy. I used the plans and the logs there and things went great - I lost 25 lbs in about 6 wks. I went home to Maryland for vacation and that was the end of that. I returned here to England and my job just started the evening shift...so I just didnt bother. Now, after talking with my new diet buddy Ginny the past 3-4 weeks, I'm finally motivated to change my life! She is doing weight watchers and she really has me hooked! I officially started August 20, 2000. I'm having trouble making myself eat to get up to the amount of points I should be having - ISN'T THAT SOMETHING!?!? I dont feel hungry often and here I am trying to find more things to eat to get up to 29 points - and thats my MINIMUM! Argh! Its great though - its so flexible and you can eat just about anything! I log everything I eat - Drink at least 12 8oz glasses of water a day - do aerobics 4x a week and walk the other days - I write in my journal - and update our web page. I did make a Weight Loss Chart and its the best thing I ever could have done for myself. Its Yellow, HUGE, and hanging in my kitchen for me to see all the time. I just cant wait to see that line drop to the middle of the page and see that I'm halfway there! I've also hung my slogan "YaGattaWanna" all over my house hahah On mirrors, above tv's, but hey it keeps me reminded that if it is meant to be, it is up to me.... and I have to want it very badly, or it wont happen. I was going to make my goal 160 as when I was there before I was so happy. I decided to make my goal 135, the minimum for my height. I have never been below 160 as an adult and it has been my wildest dream to be skinny. After seeing all these men and women lose two and three hundred pounds and reading their stories - I KNOW I CAN DO IT TOO! Its just going to take alot of hard work, determination, and the support of my friends and family. Especially from my diet buddies here at Losing2gether. I owe them plenty for getting me to where I am today :)
Its just the beginning, but I'll add pictures every month or two so you can see my loss.
Enjoy and feel free to email me! Amy |
