So What's my Story?

I've had a few messages on Facebook about my story and how long I've been struggling with my weight. I figured, I could write them all the same answer, or I could just point them here to read my story along with you.

Once upon a time, I was born. In 1977 to be exact. I am the 2nd eldest of 6 kids. During my early childhood, weight was never an issue. I was a skinny beanpole.

In my late teen years, I put on a little weight. Not so much that I was fat, but enough to become self conscious and have my mom talk to me all the time about my eating habits. I was a size 10-12. Oh, what I'd give to be in that size again!!! I graduated high school in 1996. See...here I am.
Directly after high school, I joined the Army. I had 9 months until deployment, and spent some time with the sergeants training for boot camp. But I was bored, despite already having a job, so I started working at Kohl's. Shortly after starting at Kohl's, I met my now husband. We knew right away that we were soul mates (insert the awww's). After 3 months of dating, and confirming that we knew we were to be married one day, I made the choice to not sign my final Army enrollment forms.

We were married when I was 20. My husband had full custody of his 8 year old son, so I became an instant Mom. Our first daughter was when born when I was 21. In order to survive and pay bills, I worked the night shift and my husband worked days. Since my step-son was in school and our daughter was a newborn, I ended up being awake in a catatonic state for 18-20 hours a day.

I ate to stay awake.
A lot.
And so began my "real" struggle with weight.

When my daughter was 9 months, we moved from IL to AZ. I didn't know anyone, but adjusted to our new home, and got pregnant with my son.

After my son was born in 2001, I started my dieting regime. I tried Metabolife, Herbalife, Apple Cider Vinegar, some Chinese tea, Weight Watchers, Curves, and even Isagenix for a week or 2.

Yeah, the diet market made thousands off of me, and I failed to complete each and every weight loss attempt. This is me in 2003 at my brother's wedding.
I am in the purple...why did ANYONE allow me to wear that dress?!?! (as a side note, all the kids there are mine! Aren't they cute?!)

Anyway, so as you can see...I had gained a lot of weight, and wasn't doing a very good job of losing it.

I hit an all time personal best (worst) at 254 pounds, but it never stopped me from trying to lose. My problem was, and still is, that I get successful losing 10-20 pounds over time, but in 2 months, I'd gain 20-30 back.

In 2005, at my all time high, I got pregnant with my last daughter. I'll never forget my OBGYN telling me that I was way too fat. Every time I went in for a check up, I was reminded and scolded for my weight. That was the ONLY pregnancy that I watched my weight with, and when I had my daughter, I was actually 10 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight.
After my daughter's birth, I knew that losing weight was possible. I did my best to watch my eating. My motivation? My sister's wedding. There was NO WAY I was going to do a repeat of my brother's wedding photos.

No. Way.

In addition to healthy eating, I used to work out a lot. I joined a gym, did Nutri-Systems and then Jenny Craig. By the time her wedding came around, I had lost a total of 40 pounds...in about 11 months. Here is our picture at her bridal shower & me with my youngest at the wedding.



So, fast forward to today...I've been able to keep MOST of the weight I lost off, but feel like a yo-yo when I step on the scale. Try as I may, I cannot seem to dip below the nasty 200 number or freaking size 18 pants. It drives me crazy.

So, when I heard my Aunt telling me how much faith she has in Isagenix, I thought I'd give it another try. After all, in all honesty, I didn't give it a fair shot 10 years ago when I tried it, and I defiantly didn't have a personal coach to help me when I needed it.

Today I am more mature. More determined. More controlled. More deserving.

Today, I truly believe that I am worth the effort. ME. I am worth the end goal and I deserve to be healthy and happy. Of course for my kids and husband, but also for ME.

So, here is the last of my before pictures. I feel confident and determined that I will never cringe at my picture again as I do so to every single one in the past.

This WAS me struggling with my weight.


I cannot wait to show you how I look in 6 months!