My Story, with Pictures!

I figured I'd better have something here that tells the beginning of this story, so here goes.

I've never considered myself to be skinny, just active (and big-boned). Looking back at pictures from high school, I wish I still had that body! I certainly wasn't the skinniest in school, but wasn't chubby by any means. I was on the swim team and was very active, so even though I ate like crap I kept a decent figure.

In college I gained (like everyone else) a bit, and the spring of my senior year, mom suggested we do WW together, in preparation for my wedding (about 6 weeks after graduation). She did awesome, became toothpick-ish, and made lifetime. I was living in a sorority house, working 30+ hours/week at a restaurant, and on the campus meal plan... needless to say, I DID NOT DO WELL. Even if Core had been around then, I would not have done well. I had 18-20 pts/day, and wasn't terribly motivated- after all, I was ok with how I looked/it wasn't my idea/I wasn't paying for WW.

After we got married, we moved halfway across the country so I could attend the grad school of my choice. (Hubby decided that while we were there, he'd go to school too!) We weren't concerned about our weight, and enjoyed some of the fabulous local eateries. We 'updated' our wardrobes as needed, and really weren't bothered if our pants went up a size (or were just tighter than they had been).

We moved back home after 2 years and back to the restaurant I went, but this time I was management, which meant that I got to eat for FREE. Then we found out that I was pregnant, so I ate even more- discovered that I LOVED melted butter on my crab legs (I'd never eaten them with butter before!)... and I was drowning them in butter. By the time DS was born, I'd gained over 50 lbs and topped the scale at 203. Ouch. It was while I was pregnant that I decided that I hated being fat and would never allow myself to become this big again. It sucked and I hated how out of shape, awkward, and yucky I felt.

I lost most of the weight over the next year, staying home with DS and paying more attention to what I was eating. I tried for a while to count points on my own (doing WW but not paying for it), but that didn't last too long. When DS was about 16 months old, I went back to work at another restaurant... again as management, again eating for free. This restaurant had a big focus on the bar, and on wine, and encouraged me to have a glass of wine with my meal. Over time, I was drinking quite a bit (and still coming nowhere close to what my bosses were drinking!!!)- still at no cost to me. Drinking calories- excellent, right?

When DS was two, I realized I just couldn't handle this job (terrible hours, excruciating ownership) and I quit to once again be a SAHM. I realized that I'd gained weight working there, and had again tried to do WW on my own while I was there, but it just wasn't happening for me. A few months after I left there, I was pregnant again. I didn't gain as much this time, I think mainly for two reasons: I had a toddler to chase at home and I wasn't eating high-fat, high-calorie restaurant food for 2 meals/day. I don't remember how high my weight got with pregnancy #2, but I only gained 30-35 lbs. (Only?!?)

When DD was 4 months old, I realized that I'd had it and I had to lose some weight. Now. The very next day I went to the nearest WW location and signed up on 9/12/06. I weighed in at 173. I really did pretty great, journaling constantly and eating tons of veggies. Hubby was out of town a lot for the first month or so, which really helped- I didn't have to worry about making "real" meals for dinner... often I'd have a bowl of sauteed veggies and call it good. I hit my 10% on 11/3/06, hit my WW goal on 1/9/07, and made Lifetime on 2/20/07. My last good WI was on 3/13/07, I weighed in at 134- a total of 39 lbs lost. 2 weeks later, (3/27/07) I was 137.4, and my next WI was on 4/30/07- 140 lbs. Actually, it was 140.4, but she felt bad for me and recorded it as 140 so I wouldn't have to pay for being more than 2 lbs over goal.

And that was that. I didn't return to WI, and I didn't count points. I got on a kick over the summer, got my blog active again on Roni's site (re-doing it after her crash!), and was pretty good for a while- even exercising almost every day. I wasn't going back to WW to WI until I was closer to my goal weight, because I didn't want to pay. Needless to say, I never went back... until now. I signed up for a monthly pass again, and went back on 1/3/08- weighed in at 158.8. According to the weight tracker on WW's website, I haven't weighed that much since 10/17/06. Ouch.

I weighed in yesterday (1/10/08) at 155.8, so I lost 3 lbs my first week back! My current goal is to lose 2 lbs per week until the end of February- that'll get me down 14 lbs, bringing me within 4 lbs of my WW goal- I think it's doable, I'll just have to be very careful about what goes into my mouth. I'm going to do the Calendar Girl's Club to help motivate me... putting a sticker on my calendar every day that I stay on plan. Because I'm doing Core, and because I know that even on Flex I didn't always eat well (even if I was within my points range), I'm going to consider myself as "on plan" if I use 5 or fewer of my 35 weekly points.

And now, as promised, the pictures:


2 wks before DS was born... yes, it's a pregnancy picture, but look at the chub I'd built up!


January 2005- DS was 18 months, I was working again and had gained quite a bit- no idea what I weighed (l think my face looks every bit as big as that pregnancy picture!)


May 2005- still working, still pretty chunky for me- but I was trying to watch my diet by this time


July 2006, 2 months after DD was born- check out the muffin top!


September 2006, 4 days after starting WW


April 2007, just over goal


May 2007- I was comfy in public in the swimsuit!!!


I LOVE this picture- I think this shows how much I lost! (I almost look like a teenager again!)


September 2007: Here you can tell that I'm getting bigger again- this picture actually grossed me out, knowing how much I'd gained back!

Whew! I think that's way more pictures than I'd planned on sharing, but I think they do a good job showing the fat-to-skinny-to chunky transformation that I'm working off again.