I grew up as a "chubby" girl. My older sister was skinny, pretty, and popular at school. I was chubby, plain, and a bookworm. I had friends, we were the nerds, or band geeks at school. I liked guys, but guys didn't like me. My dad made me play soccer to lose weight, but it didn't really work. I played soccer for over 8 years, but I was still a chubby girl. My mom put me on this diet and that diet, but I'd just sneak food into my room and eat when she wasn't home.
I graduated from high school at 147 lbs. I remember immediately following graduation, looking in my yearbook and finally realizing just how heavy I was. [Of course, now, I would LOVE to be 147 lbs!] That summer, I did what I always did when faced with a problem ... looked up the answer in a book. I read about healthy eating and exercise. I learned the benefits of eating from the food pyramid. I cut out junk foods, and exercised at least an hour a day. By Christmas, and the end of my first semester in college, I went from a size 16 to a 7. A 7! I couldn't believe it! I couldn't remember ever being a size 7.
I continued to exercise daily and eat healthy, and maintained my weight until I got pregnant with my son at age 20. I truly believed in "eating for two" during my pregnancy, and ballooned to 198 pounds. It took me until his first birthday to "wake up" and get back on track with my healthy eating and exercise. I was again able to lose weight, this time getting back to a comfortable 9/10.
I began having troubles in my marriage, my husband was abusive and cheated on me multiple times. I began to turn to food for comfort, and when I got pregnant with my daughter at 25, I was a size 14/16. I didn't learn my lesson about "eating for two" and on the day I gave birth to my daughter, I weighed in at 213 lbs.
My marriage got progressively worse, until I finally left my husband, filed for divorce, and moved to Wisconsin. I've been here now for 2 years, and my daughter just turned 4. Everyone tells me it's natural to turn to food for comfort and to have gained weight during the past 6 years, I certainly felt disgusted with myself and had a horribly low self-esteem.
I turned 30 in July, and knew that it was time to start taking better care of myself. The wounds from my marriage had healed, and it was time to get back on track. However, even though I successfully lost weight twice before, I couldn't get started. I wasn't motivated, and found a million excuses to continue to turn to food for comfort.
I don't know exactly what snapped me out of this funk, but I am here today, motivated, willing, and eager to get the real Michelle back. I have been successful in the past, and will be again, dammit! Watch out world, I'm on my weigh!!
The Plan
I'm kinda doing a combination of different eating plans, but for the most part, I'm following a common-sense diet. I'm also going to try to eat 5 - 7 smaller meals a day (when I started this blog, I ate just one meal a day).
For exercise, I walk 5 times a week on my lunch break, rain or shine. I'm hoping to add cardio/aerobic videos to the walking once I get into a rhythm. My doctor told me that I need to do at least 1 hour of good cardio 5 days a week to lose weight.
* updated within last 24 hours
