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| 13 years old - summer before 8th grade |
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| 14 years old - summer before 9th grade |
In 9th grade, I wanted to participate in a trip to Europe, and you guessed it, the fundraising was selling chocolate bars, which again, I didn't sell, but I ate them. I began the school year around 160lbs and finished it off around 172lbs.
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| I am in the red shirt - summer before 10th grade - 15 years old |
As the high school years continued, I slowly kept gaining weight. Because I was self-conscious, I didn't participate in school sports and I ended up quitting my extra curricular activities because of it. I was a baseball player and I was taking karate.
The summer before 12th grade my family went to Disney World in Florida. I was so embarassed of my weight. In all the photos I tried sucking in my stomach so I wouldn't look "fat", but you can only "hide" so much. After the trip, I hated looking at every photo because I just felt fat in all of them. I was approximately 180-ish when I went on that trip.
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| I am on the right - Disney World - summer before 12th grade - 17 years old |
Once I started 12th grade, in October 2005, I hit my highest weight of 184lbs. It was awful seeing a number like that. I started looking online for "quick fixes", diets, exercises, anything to get the weight off. A few weeks later I got pneumonia, and was sick for weeks. As a result of being sick and barely eating I lost 10 pounds. I managed to maintain that weight for the remainder of high school.
In September of 2006 I started University, and even though I lived at home and had healthy food options, I was the typical student and ate all the junk sold on campus. But somewhere between going to school and working, I lost a few pounds by the end of the school year. I was about 168 pounds after my first year.
At this point in my life I decided I wanted a change, and moved out of my parents house, 3 hours away into my boyfriend's parents house and lived in his basement with him. (My now husband). From the age of 19-21 I did lose a few pounds, but I wasn't trying to. At 21 he proposed to me. I then decided that I wanted to be the bride that loses all this weight and fit into an amazing dress. This is when I joined a gym and hired a trainer. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned. I was looking for the trainer to teach me how to do this and to push me further than ever before, but that isn't what I got. My starting weight with her was 161lbs, and I never really budged from there. I was very disappointed, and once my time was up with her, I quit going back to the gym because I was too discouraged.
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| Age 20-21 - hovering around 160-162lbs |
At the age of 22, I weighed in at 162lbs. My fiancee and I were living on our own, but due to financial reasons had to move back in with his mother so we could pay off some debts and get back on our feet. I decided that I wanted to go back to school. It was a hard blow to have to give up our independence from being on our own, but I felt I was ready to get back on my feet. June 30, 2010 that all changed when I found out I was pregnant. Surprise!
That was a whirlwind of craziness after that. Within 6 weeks we got married. I was still going to school and that was pretty stressful. I ended up stopping 2nd year 1st semester because the stress was too much. Being my first pregnancy, I was wanting to do everything "right" as I am sure all first time moms go through. I was eating better, being strict on my junk intake, caffeine intake, etc. I only gained 22 pounds with my daughter and I was pretty proud of myself for that. But after she was born. I quickly fell back into old habits, and from her birth to the age of 2 I maintained my weight hovering between 160-166lbs.
When my daughter was 2, I decided enough was enough and I started doing the Insanity program. Wow, is that crazy! My starting weight was 162lbs. I did the first 3 weeks, and lost a few pounds, but had to stop because it was just too hard on my knees, and I was starting to have issues. That was a frustration, and I stopped working out and eating healthy all together, and fell back into old habits.
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| April 2013 - Starting Insanity |
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| May 2013 - A few weeks into Insanity |
August 16, 2013, surprise number 2! I was pregnant again! I was 166lbs. We had just bought a house, and actually the day I found out was the day we closed on the house! Talk about stress! This time, I wasn't so careful about my eating. This pregnancy I found I had quite an appetite, and I never felt full. The one difference of this pregnancy though is I dreamed about losing all the weight after I had my son. It was all I could think about, obsess about. I wanted the weight off. When I was about 25 weeks pregnant I started looking into the paleo lifestyle. I had a friend who switched to it, and was having great benefits to her health and her weight, and I was intrigued. I tried making the switch, but I found it too difficult with all the pregnancy hormones raging. I gained 30 pounds this pregnancy.
After I had my son, oh my goodness my appetite was insane! I legitimately ate 8 bowls of cereal a day on top of breakfast, lunch and dinner. The hunger was unreal, and I found a bowl of cereal was just the easy way to go. Once I hit the 6 week postpartum mark. I had enough. I was done with this craziness. I was ready to make a change. On May 24, 2014 I weighed in at 171.6lbs. That was the day I decided to do this once and for all.
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| June 1, 2014 - My starting picture for Whole 30, one week into my journey 169 pounds |
May 24 is the day I switched to paleo. Cold turkey. I stopped eating bread, cereal, pasta, dairy, anything that wasn't paleo and unhealthy. On June 1st I decided to do a Whole 30 (see whole30.com for more info). Those 30 days changed my life I started at 169lbs and ended at 161.6lbs. After that, I was hooked on the paleo lifestyle. I did attempt 2 more rounds of Whole 30, but I had a hard time sticking to it because I just wasn't ready to be that strict on myself again. I did continue to maintain a paleo lifestyle and was pleased not only with the weight loss, but the health benefits as well.
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| July 1, 2014 - After picture for completing Whole 30, 161.6 pounds |
On October 15, I got down to 152.4lbs. I decided I wanted to up my game and hired a coach who would give me a customized nutrition plan and workout plan. That was the best decision I have ever made! He is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a trainer/coach. He is what I was looking for when I had my trainer at the gym a few years ago. He offers 24/7 support and I am being educated on how to do this and to understand why I am doing it.
One of the first conversations we had he asked me about my goals. What was I hoping to attain at the end of all this? That was a really good question. And after taking a few days to think about it, I decided that I wanted to compete in a figure competition. (There will be a blog post about this at a later time going into more detail of my decision). Having a goal has changed everything. I am not willy nilly trying to drop a few pounds and eat healthy for the heck of it. I am doing it with purpose. Everything that goes in my stomach has a reason. Every workout that I do has a purpose. I have re-joined a gym, and it feels amazing to walk in there with the confidence of knowing what I am doing, pump my iron, do my cardio and walk about knowing I just pushed myself as hard as I could.
As of last week I weighed in at 142.2lbs. The LOWEST weight I have EVER weighed in my adult life. I am so pumped that I have the support from a coach, the love and support from my husband, who helps with the kids so I can go to the gym and workout. I may have been on this journey for a while, but I have entered a new chapter, and now it is only beginning! I am so excited to be in the best shape of my life and to reach my ultimate goal!
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| November 11, 2014 - 142.2 pounds |
