[BrandNewJen]

Hey everyone... My name's Jen... I've been with 3FC for a while under different names... Jokesbyjen, JustLaughatLife... I'm a 25 year old married woman who is successful in EVERY other part of life except when it comes to my own health.

I'm now (as many of you are used to seeing) heavier than I ever have been in my life. I am recently married (May 2007) and with comfortable love comes comfortable eating habits. I want to lose this weight once and for all, for myself, for my husband, and for the healthy body I want to have when I'm ready to get pregnant in a year or so...

My weight journey through life... a synopsis...

~ Always been the "big girl" as a child, but I've always been the athletic, strong girl who convinces people I'm not fat but big and strong.

~ I weighed in during second grade at 100 pounds (I knwo this b/c I had a traumatic experience during math class when it was "learn weights and measurements" day when my idiot teacher made everyone get on the scale... the ONLY time in life I've ever been made fun of to my face about my weight")

~I'm a tall, broad shouldered, muscular person (6'1") so I've always managed to carry my weight well.

~ I'm not adverse to exercise, having played Varsity Basketball and Volleyball through highschool, even though I was a "huge" size 18.

~I met my husband in 2003, during my sophomore year. I had spent the summer before exercising and dieting b/c I had a MAJOR crush on a classmate of mine who was a professional body builder. My workouts worked... I lost 35 pounds in three months (in a HEALTHY way) and got down to 215pounds. That is the LOWEST I've been in my adult life.

~ I met my husband in Nov 2003 and we hit it off... we dated for 4 years and got married in May 2007. During the time we dated I gained back all the weight I lost PLUS more... At the time of my engagement I was 294 pounds. I was able to diet down to 267 pounds for the wedding, JUST fitting into my dress in time. Still, woulda liked to have been much thinner, que sera...

~ Now, just about 7 months later, I have ballooned up again... EVEN MORE... my current weight is an embarrasing and horrid 302.4 pounds. UGH.

My husband eats like a PIG and has horrid habits. I match him. I gained 87 pounds while we've been together. He gained only 25. Isn't life grand??

He promises that he won't bring me home "treats" anymore and if he wants to eat bad he needs to go it outside of the house. I'd love for him to lose weight too, but this time I've got to concentrate on ME ME ME for once.

Here we go... I'd love to lose 87 pounds over the next year. I'd be really really happy if I could get back to 215, how I was when I met him. I felt EXTREMELY sexy and confident and could shop at "normal" stores when I was that weight. I know with my body shape and size that I will never be a size 4... but I'd be happy just not shopping in the plus size stores ever again!!!

[mandalinn82]

Hey Jen!

We got married just about the same time (I was a month earlier)...congratulations!

You've got your goals, which is a good start...do you have a plan to get you there? If so, we most likely have a forum for it, so keep looking around! You might also want to look at the "20-somethings" area.

Can't wait to hear more from you and see you around soon - keep posting this time for good!

[BrandNewJen]

My plan is simply healthy living. I've tried WW... and I'm *kinda* following that path except not doing the counting thing down to a T... when it comes to snacks and other things, I know the point values for a lot of those things.

When I lost that 35 pounds a few years back, I did it through consistent dedicated exercise 5 outta 7 days a week and just cutting back on the portion sizes (which are HUGE in my case) and cutting out a lot of the fatty/high cal foods.

That should get me started at least... then, if I plateau, I can look and see what other tweaks to make.

My eating had just gotten OUT OF CONTROL... at one point I was downing a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, a big jar of fudge, and a can of spanish peanuts in TWO sittings. Just out of control portion, not caring what went in my mouth. 4 slices of large pizza for dinner??? Ridiculous. I've never been a fast food person, but in the last 6 months I was finding myself in the drive through more and more.

Just need to make my life HEALTHY... all around. Cut out the bad, add in the good. I liked what one person said on here that they needed to feel FULL and have their plate FULL when they sat down to dinner. They did this by amping up the amount of veggies they served. Which is very clever and what I plan to do as well.

My husband weighs about the same as me and is 3 inches taller. When he weighed in and told me his weight I was like "oh my god, I'm as big as he is and he's a guy"...

I'm all pumped up for this. I've got my gym membership and the crap is cleared out of my house and the veggies have been brought in. Here we GO!

[mandalinn82]

Jen - that might have been me! If not, it's what I do...lots of veggies, big full plates, yummy delicious food.

You sound like you have a great plan! Maybe you want to look at the Whole Foods Lifestyle area? Might align well with your current goals.

[NightengaleShane]

Hello again, then, Jen! Oh... look, I rhymed!

"With comfortable love comes comfortable eating habits" -- I FEEEEEL you THERE! I gained all my extra weight while in a long-term relationship with someone who is a great cook. I felt comfortable eating more, so I just kept eating whenever I was hungry (and plenty of times when I wasn't!) until I blew up to a size that was unhealthy for me. I also am in a relationship with someone who has horrid eating habits... but with a fast metabolism, unlike me!

I, too, was that "big girl" in middle school... I was chubby (not overweight by BMI standards but I was bigger than my peers for sure) and very athletic - I played basketball, softball, and lacrosse... I rode my bike, played sports in my spare time, and always passed those fitness tests... I could out arm-wrestle a lot of boys... but the fact remained that I was still chubby! I would flex my arm muscles and say "HEY! Look! I'm BUFF!" because it was very important to me for others to know I was big because I was STRONG, not FAT!

I just found myself smiling and nodding to a lot of the things you've said... you need to keep coming back this time!!