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KGAL,
WOW what a story! We are so similar in many ways, I just wish i could make exercise part of my life and make healthy choices, instead of agonizing and put so much though into it.
Seems like you have some good ideas to help you get to where you want to be. Are you still doing martial arts? Does it help?
Juicy
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Hello Kgal,
Welcome and yes thank you for sharing your story. My story is fairly similar to yours in a sense that I never realized I was "bigger" than the rest of my friends. I thought they were all just "small" for their age. I slimmed out in high school, gained weight back in college and then slimmed out again when I got married... After having two kids I put on the weight again but I am working hard to getting back to a better weight. With eating right (I have cut out all junk food, except for one day a week) and a little bit of exercise I have managed to lose 15 lbs. in about 2 months. It’s been great, still have a ways to go...but I’m working on it! Post often, I’d love to hear more from you..it was nice to read your story.
Bumblebee
Bumble
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Welcome, Kgal. Thanks for sharing your story. Mine is a little different. I was not an overweight child or young adult. I became overweight during the last thirteen years, probably via a combination of psych meds, overeating (which may have also been related to psych meds.), and a total hysterectomy. In ant case, however, we’re all here because of our desire, or need, to lose weight.
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Hi Kgal,
Welcome to the healthy weight center and thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It sounds like you have had experience with the weight loss process before. Having been through this, you are aware of what needs to be done, what works and what doesn't work for you. You have come to a great place to receive knowledge, support and most importantly encouragement. Check out some of the great sections of the site, such as the nutrition, fitness and behavioural education sections. You can also submit a question to our expert using the Ask the Expert feature. Start writing a blog if you'd like and post often!
Have you begun working on your goals? What is your game plan for the next few weeks?
Samantha, Health Educator
The HWC Support Team
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My struggle with weight and living a healthy life began a long time ago. As a child, I remember doctors pointing to charts and saying that I was on the upper side of the average range for weight, and well below the average range for height. Being just an elementary school kid, I figured that meant my weight was on track and my height was all wrong! But I was a happy kid and if I was overweight, I didn’t know it.
When I entered jr. high and high school, I began to notice that I probably had a few extra pounds and I wanted to lose weight in order to look good. At the time, I don’t think I cared about my health; I just wanted to get noticed by the boys. During the summer before my sophomore year of high school and on into the first half of that school year, I began my first weight loss plan. Both of my parents were more than 50 lbs overweight at the time and had joined Weight Watchers. As a shy teenager worried about being judged, I didn’t want to attend meetings but I borrowed their materials and followed the program on my own and with my parents’ (especially my mom’s) support. I went from 135 lbs to 118lbs, my goal weight. That winter, my family went on a cruise and I totally neglected my maintenance plan. But I was an active teen and I managed to maintain a weight around 120 lbs until I graduated from high school two and a half years later.
Like many people, I gained weight when I went off to college. There was no physical activity built into my day anymore (it had been required at my high school), and there was unhealthy food everywhere. I often stayed up all night snacking and working on assignments or went out for extra late-night meals with friends. My focus wasn’t on my health at all, just having fun and doing well in school. I went back up to 135 lbs pretty quickly, but luckily did not go beyond that.
Later on, after transferring schools and majors, I joined a martial arts club that reintroduced physical activity into my life. It changed everything. I lost some weight and met my future fiance. I then went to study abroad, during which time it was easy for me to stay active and eat somewhat well. This I attribute to the entirely different culture around food and activity. After returning to the states and reuniting with my boyfriend, life was good. I even started up my self-directed Weight Watchers plan again and got back to 120 lbs.
But then I graduated from college. I looked for work for months. All I found were temporary positions, or part-time minimum-wage jobs with no benefits. As my job search stretched on and on, I got discouraged and began to let my eating get out of control. My anxiety about my future and sense of hopelessness certainly contributed to my three-year-long binge in which I gained 30 lbs
. I was lucky it wasn’t worse than that. I kept up my martial arts training the whole
time, and even added a couple days each week in addition to that at the gym.
Knowing I couldn’t let my life continue in that manner, I applied to grad school and began a program to study leisure. I was excited about my program and enthusiastic to find answers for myself and perhaps to help others like me use leisure to get active and healthy. During that first semester, I kept planning to start up a weight-loss plan and kept putting it off, busying myself with school work and making excuses.
When school let out for summer, I decided to buckle down. My program didn’t have any money for me to have an assistantship over the summer. It didn’t even offer summer classes. So my summer was wide open. I dug out those same old Weight Watchers materials, and began in earnest at the end of June 2010. I’ve slipped up a few times (the 4th of July festivities and a camping trip got me off track), but I keep thinking that as long as I keep trying and keep getting back on track after slipping up, I will eventually lose weight and be healthier.
So that’s my story, and it has now brought me here. I hope both to be inspired and to offer inspiration. We’re all in this together, really. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. It seems silly to be out there trying to lose weight and feeling alone. We aren’t!
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