I am not selling anything and am not going to tell you about a magic pill or to avoid a certain food altogether. What I can tell you is that it is within each of us to make the decision to change the way we eat and to change our lifestyle and not to be “on a diet”. I do not consider what I(and my spouse-which I will get to)on a diet. We watch what we eat(most of the time)and exercise 3 to 4 times a week usually without fail.

My top non-pregnancy weight was 307lbs in 1998 and my husband Ed was right up there with me at almost 300. We dieted a few times and did lose but always put the weight back. We both struggled with our weight and when you marry someone who loves to eat as much as you and both work 60/70 hour work weeks it is a recipe for 2 very large people. By the way Ed is now maintaining his 180lbs on a 5’10 frame and wears a medium shirt and 32inch waist. Not bad coming from a XXL and 48 waist at his heaviest. I was a 30/32 or 3X and am now a 10/12 and weigh around 170lbs. on a 5’9 frame and would still like to lose a few more.

What caused us to change and to want to lose weight and get healthy? Well you would think that being asked to step on a scale before they let me ride a horse on a dude ranch would have been a wake up call. Nope. You would think having been humiliated on having to get off the coaster at Six Flags because the ride couldn’t leave as the bar could not come down over me would have been a slap in the face. Nope. You would think needing a seat belt extension on an airplane would make me not eat the snacks they gave out 10 minutes later. Nope. Or sweating every time I went to a concert or event where I knew the seats were not going to accommodate my size. Or just going shopping and needing the next size up. Again. Any one of these things should have been my wake up call. And sometimes I did diet my way down to a size 18 which for me was my thin body and at least felt manageable. But I would always gain the weight back. At least when I got pregnant with my daughter I was at the “more manageable” weight. But I packed on a lot of pregnancy pounds(eating for two now but gave me the freedom as if was three or more!)and transitioning from working mom to stay at home mom was not an easy one.

Sleep depravation,hormones,feeling like this child LIVED on my breast then fell asleep on me coupled with “AAAHHH! what am I supposed to do with this new little person now living here?”just made any free time an eating time. Food tastes good,and I wanted to feel good right? At least if I couldn’t sleep I needed something I enjoyed. So instead of losing post pregnancy,I gained. Oh and did I mention on how Ed was eating right next to me my whole pregnancy as a good husband should and I wasn’t cooking much in the beginning so a lot of take out was being taken in. After over a year of gaining I finally got disgusted and wanted to be healthy for my daughter. I joined a gym that had a nursery and started eating right. Then guess what-prego again! I did keep up the good habits for my first tri-mester, but come on ladies you know how HARD is it when you are pregnant not to eat ice cream every day. And pizza and anything else I wanted basically.

So the few I had managed to take off once again veered it’s ugly head. Even though I ate what I wanted throughout my pregnancy I knew once my son was born I would get back on track as soon as I could. So when he was 4 months old and my daughter was now almost 2 ½ I went back to the gym schlepping them 3 to 4 times a week. You know what-my son napped in his carrier and my daughter enjoyed the playtime with other kids. It gave me something to do to kill part of the day and it was a win win for all. I started watching what I was eating and drank a ton of water. The workouts were not intense but I was there and knew you have to take baby steps first. Do you feel awkward when you are almost 300lbs in a gym? Yes. Do you have to let it go. Yes. I just think that the other people there whether thin or heavy are there for a reason-to be healthy and to live longer and would applaude my efforts, not make fun. And once the weight started coming off I got nothing but praise from other gym members as well as even winning 2 Biggest Loser contests that were hosted there.

My husband was kind of maintaining his large(but not AS large as peak)weight but once he started seeing my results and saying on how he needed to fit the gym into his schedule as well he made the first step and made the call to activate his membership. Well you know how men are,_AARRGGGG-once he started eating like me and he was hitting the gym the pounds came off pretty quick and he is at maintenance whereas I am still trying to lose. But the point is we started. If you are with a partner that needs to lose get them involved. It makes things so much easier, and if they don’t have to lose then they cannot sabotage you with evil treats in the house. Should I say the right thing and tell you my main motivation was my health and to be around for my kids? Yes those were my second. My main motivation was ME.I wanted to LOOK good for once in my life. I wanted to shop in a “normal” store that didn’t have a woman’s section. I wanted to feel sexy and cute and to put on a pair of jeans that wasn’t half spandex. This has not always been a downward scale journey for me either.

Please don’t think I eat perfect every day or have not gone up some. Summers are hard for me as well as vacations and holidays just like most people. But no matter how bad or how much I eat I get back to the gym the next available day and don’t let the 5 pound gain become 10 or 20. Don’t let money be an excuse not to join a gym. If you order pizza and Chinese food once a month that would equate a gym membership or even less depending on where you go. Please look around my website and contact me or reply to my blog. I want to hear from you out there and please let me know if there is anything I haven’t covered that you would like to know. Take the journey with me as next year is gonna be here anyway-might as well be thinner and healthier!