Hi girls!! I'm ready to get my butt in gear!
I've been an on-again-off-again poster around here for a few years, but have been pretty much MIA for the last year or so. I moved to a new town and started veterinary school last summer/fall, and my life has been pretty much insanely busy over the last 9 months! I'm now free for the summer, and job opportunities are thin on the ground around here, but I'm planning to take advantage of the time to get our poor old house in shape, as well as doing the same for myself!
Anyhow, where to start? The last 10 years, in a flash - I've always been chubby, but was generally healthy and active in high school. Graduated high school at 160 pounds, believing myself to be utterly obese. Gained 10 pounds the first year, another 10 before graduation. Left college at 180, straight into a PhD program. Stress and inactivity meant another 20 pounds over the first 2 years of grad school. Got back together with my now-husband, decided grad school was wrong for me, and moved to Kansas City at 200 pounds. I looked over my weight loss attempts yesterday and realized I gained over 30 pounds in just 6 months after moving in with my husband and his roommate. By the time we moved here last summer, I was 240 pounds.
Over the last year, I've made a concerted effort to balance my eating habits, though it's been a struggle. I've wavered between 225 and 235 over the last several months, through dealing with first year VM classes, planning a wedding, and dealing with my mother's serious illness. I'm now doing well, at the low end of that flux, and ready to keep things moving in the right way.
So - 4 years of college - 20 pounds. 4 years of grad work - 20 pounds. A year living with the man - 40 pounds. And a year of veterinary school - lost 10.
I've made plenty of "serious" efforts over the years, and never managed to lose more than 10 pounds at any given time. And almost always end up gaining back more than I take off. I'm tired of being fat, tired of the slow gain, tired of being tired. And I want to finally get things orchestrated so that I feel comfortable having a baby and bringing up a child in as healthy a manner as possible.
Anyhow, I'm feeling good - we've got a great gym membership, a bike-and-walk-friendly town, and a great farmer's market in town. I want to use the summer to get things really moving and get a great set of habits established, so that when I return to the slog of classes in the fall, it will be easier for me to continue to have success.
So, sorry for the long-winded posting - I have a bad tendency to write far too much! Here's a picture from our wedding 3 weeks ago - I had a great dress which made me look and feel amazing, but I'm ready to take pictures that I don't want to toss out due to a bad bulge or double chin. I want our kids to look at our wedding pictures and not even recognize us because we've each lost 100 pounds and stayed healthy.