I Lost 50 Pounds and You Can, Too!

It's that time of year where "Congratulations Class of 2015" is displayed all over Hallmark stores, gift shops and photos of college grads celebrating are flooding my Facebook newsfeed. I remember being excited that I was graduating, but besides the literal raining on my day that happened (it was cold and pouring rain), I also felt FAT... probably because I WAS fat. Starting my second year, the weight just slowly crept on, and I slowly got bigger clothes. Senior year, I stayed up late at night drinking wine and eating cheese. I thought I was so cool. I was never "thin" in high school, but probably a size 8 or 10, and around 150 pounds. My college graduation dress was size 14.

After I graduated college, I moved back home to Florida and spent the summer drinking tropical drinks poolside and eating tons of food. I was stretching the limits of the "normal" clothing sizes offered at that time in stores, wearing a size 16. I had heartburn, I was mildly depressed, and I felt terrible about myself. I decided that maybe I shop hop on a scale. I did not own a scale so I weighed myself at the local grocery store (Publix). 189. How did this happen??? What am I going to do?

First thing I needed to do was see a professional.
I did some research and decided that a Doctor of Osteopathy could provide me with a holistic approach to healing myself.

DOs combine today's medical technology with their ears to listen caringly to their patients, with their eyes to see each patient as a whole person, and with their hands to diagnose and treat patients for injury and illness. 

The doctor performed a physical exam and quickly and matter-of-factly said, "I want you to lose 50 pounds". 50 POUNDS?? It seemed crazy. She said I was just eating TOO much, and put a copy of "Cooking Light" magazine in my hand. I needed to count my calories, plain and simple. Exercise wasn't really even discussed at this point. My BMI of 33.5 had me well within the "Obese" status.

BMI	Weight Status
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5—24.9	Normal
25.0—29.9	Overweight
30.0 and Above	Obese

This was long before the day of "MyPlate" apps, so I carried around a little piece of paper and wrote down everything I ate. It was tedious, and annoying. I spent way too much money at Whole Foods buying every sort of high-fiber, low cal food I could find. I had just started my first job and it was full of "Bagel Fridays" and "Birthday Cake Celebrations". I always brought an alternative food with me. My coworkers started noticing that I was losing weight.

Shortly after, I moved back to Virginia. I found another DO there to guide me through my weight loss. My heartburn was gone and my mood started to lift. I continued to write down my foods and carefully pack a whole day's worth of snacks and meals. If other people ate cake, I had a pear. My pants size starting dropping from a 14 to a 12 to a 10. About a year after I started eating healthier, I was down to 150 pounds and wearing a size 8. My body was telling me to RUN! I started running, all the time. I went to the gym. I did Tae Bo in my living room. I did Pilates. I stopped having to count every little thing. 

At a year and half after starting my weight loss, I was now wearing size 4/6 and weighing 135 pounds. So I LIED. I actually lost 54 POUNDS. Around this time I moved to the DC area and started a new job. I played soccer for my company's corporate league. I met my husband. I ran ALOT more. I did some 5Ks, and several 10Ks! My weight dropped to 130 pounds. 125 pounds. I was wearing size 4. For my Halloween Party that year I wore a Snow White costume that my grandma made me in 7th grade. Yes, now I was the same size I was in middle school. Yay!

 

Right after I got engaged, I started a program at work called "Naturally Slim", where you basically avoid sugar, and only eat enough to fill you up. It took incredibly restraint, but pounds just flew off. The lowest I have weighed since MIDDLE SCHOOL was Christmas five years ago. Shortly after that, my husband and I ran in a 10 mile race, during training I ran up to 12 miles, the longest I have ever run.

 I was 119 pounds (that is 70 pounds less than I was six years earlier), but I couldn't sustain that. My weight slowly crept up to about 125 for my wedding day. I weighed a little bit more than my lowest but I felt like I was in shape. On the morning of my wedding, I got up at 8am and went to the gym in my hotel and lifted weights and then ran around downtown for 30 minutes. I felt great.

After our wedding, my hip started acting up and I ended up having surgery, which didn't really seem to fix the problem. My running slowed down drastically. My weight hovered in the 130-135 range basically ever since! When I got pregnant I was 135 pounds, now I am back there again. I was so paranoid during pregnancy about weight gain. As you now know WHY, because I have struggled with weight in the past. I gained a total of 28 pounds during pregnancy and I felt like that was a good amount for me. If I got pregnancy again, I might try to keep that closer to 25 pounds.

 

 Just before this past holiday season I was down my pre-pregnancy weight - at 130 and feeling great. Unforunately due to drinking too many IPAs and sitting on my butt too much I have gained that weight back and now I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight. Ideally I would like to be back 130, and

I am hoping that my new FitBit will inspire me to walk more and make that happen. I also added in my Workout Wednesdays (this week I worked out Mon, Tues AND Wed!). I am trying not to let my past weight issues prevent me from enjoying my life or seeing how lucky I am to be a wife to a loving husband and mother to such a wonderful little baby girl!

I hope this story inspires you. I hope this story makes you makes you want to eat healthier. 

I hope this story inspires you to walk a little further today. 

I hope this story makes your weight loss goals seem possible. 
YOU CAN DO IT!

Check out this great blog about weight loss:
http://www.foodlovemefoodhateme.com/