My Weight Loss Journey..the prologue

I've been battling my weight since I had my first child. I gained 60 pounds during my first pregnancy, and had a 7 lb 11 oz baby. You don't have to be a genius to know that math doesn't add up. My mum and I joined weight watchers and I lost 30 pounds, and by the time Ashlyn was 18 months old I looked and felt great. By the time she was 2 old I was pregnant with Alex, and so the cycle began again. We knew our family wasn't complete, and I didn't feel like struggling to lose weight only to gain it again with the next baby so I just dealt with the weight. If I had known our boys were going to be 6 years apart, I may have re-thought that idea.

I am not an amazon, but I'm no shorty either, I stand 5 foot 8 inches tall. My weight sat between 180 and 190 in the 6 years between the boys, I wore a size 16 or 18, depending on the cut. I had always been told that I wore my weight well, which I suppose was a good thing. Dennis and I once joked that I carried it all 'between my knockers and my knees' as that is literaly where my weight sits. From the lower ribcage to the upper thighs...this baby's got back.

My pre-pregnancy weight with both Nathan and Paula was 192, however I managed to put on 20 pounds in the months AFTER I had Nathan, bringing my weight to a lifetime high of 212 lbs at Christmas 2000. I got a 3 month membership to a local gym for Christmas, and went every morning before work (as a schoolbus driver who started at 7 am no less) to spend 3o minutes on the treadmill. By the end of March I had lost 20 pounds. By the end of July I was pregnant with Paula.

Soon after having Paula, I only stepped on a scale once, which was within the first few days. That weight was 204. Life got a bit hairy after that, as we were trying to sell our house, I had a terrible bout of Post-Natal Depression, and Paula had chronic ear and throat infections every four weeks beginning at three weeks of age. We sold our home in Alberta and moved to Ontario, with an 17 day closing...11 days of which I was away on hoildays with Paula. Basically we signed the deal on Thursday, I flew out on Friday, flew back home the following Monday, started packing, had the movers show up a day early on Wednesday, had a garage sale on Saturday with whatever didn't get packed, and pulled out of Canmore on Sunday. So I think it's safe to say that there was some stress involved. Once we got to Ontario, we moved in with my parents. Within a month, Dennis was hired at Honda and took a room in Loretto through the week, so it was just the kids and I with my parents...it went quite smoothly, but I know it wasn't ideal. I definitely gained a few pounds while we lived there. Mum's a good cook and so am I, and dessert every night is just not figure friendly!

My bipolar diagnosis was a relief on so many levels, finally having a reason and an answer for 20 years worth of issues and questions...whew! Little did I know that the fun was just about to begin! One of the most common side effects of so many medications prescribed for Bipolar disorder is weight gain. I gained over 30 pounds in a couple of months!

My weight peaked in the summer of 2006 at 260 pounds. I was wearing a size 24 or 26. It was a real low point for me, on so many levels. I remember finding a set of club chairs I really liked, and was considering buying for my living room. I was looking for cleaning instructions on the tag when I saw that there was a 250 lb weight limit on it. I realized that I was too heavy for a standard piece of furniture! I couldn't sit in those basic white resin patio chairs, my hips were too wide. I realized that when we went to my parents' cottage I couldn't sit in the armchair at the table, the arms cut into my hips and it was quite painful. I had actually reached the point where I was too big for standard sized furniture and fittings. This was a shattering realization. It was time to do something about it.

I began my weight loss journey in July of '06. Breakfast has never been a part of my day, so I started there. I had a meal replacement shake mix in the cupboard, so I just used that as a breakfast...it had to be better than not eating brekkie at all. I changed the way I prepeared and ate food, and joined a gym. I went to various aerobic classes two or three times a week, and succeeded in losing 35 pounds by November 2006. Unfortunately, things came to a standstill at that point, and the scale stopped moving at 225 lbs. Within a month, I had gained 5 pounds back and weighed 23o. Over the course of 2007 I fluctuated between 227 and 233, getting frustrated with myself for not being in control and getting back on the weight loss wagon.

New Years is a time when people make resolutions...and fail. I don't believe in New Years' Resolutions, because it's just setting yourself up for failure. I simply chose to renew my commitment to myself, and it just happend to be near the beginning of January. But it was NOT a New Years Resolution.

So grab a water bottle and join me on my journey. I've had a head start, so get a wiggle on!