I'm currently a student (with Master's degree as the education goal, possibly Doctorate eventually, with the career goal of being an instructor at the community college level), but going back to work soon part-time to supplement our income, but still allow me to spend plenty of time with my amazing kids. My wonderful fiance and I are getting married this summer, July 10th. I am so lucky to have found a man who I love completely and who loves me no matter what--including no matter what size I am. He is not the biological father of our twins either, but could not be a better daddy. We met a couple of months after I gave birth and were friends for two years before we started dating. We have been dating for another two years now, and he's the best. However, though my weight struggle started when I was very young, much of what has caused me to pack on the pounds in the last two years has been extreme stress caused by the twins' biological father, who is in prison right now for burning my father's house down, among many other things 
. He has also threated my fiance, myself, and my best friend, and done countless other crazy things. If I seem like I'm glossing over something very serious, I am. I prefer not to talk about this too much, only with close friends and family, and am trying to move on. The reason I bring it up here is because it has been detrimental to my health and well-being to the utmost degree. MOVING ON! 
Lol--I'm very lucky to have a great family and a few great friends, especially my best friend, to depend on. Now, I started my journey in November, when I came to the harsh reality that I weighed more than when I gave birth to my twins 
. This obviously needed to be remedied. Now, I only know what my starting weight was. I have NO CLUE what I weigh now, nor do I care to a degree. I am going by inches. I find this to be MUCH more accurate, and much more encouraging/inspiring. I started out using the elliptical I got from my mom who bought it even though she has a bad knee
and then I started using the Biggest Loser DVDs (I hope it's okay to mention the name brand--I have absolutely no affiliation with them, I only bring it up because that it what has worked for me). I also have tried to maintain around 1800 calories a day. Measurements 11/18/09:
under breast: 44"
belly button: 53"
hips: 55"
At this point, I could not find my natural waist, I wrote down the smallest part of my waist was around 50". I looked pregnant because my stress had caused me to gain all that weigh in my abdomen, and that area, having housed twins, was all too familiar with that shape and willing to stretch to it.
I wrote down my measurements every few weeks, and I would be glad to share those if anyone was interested in the progression, but I've rambled on forever, so I'll just share my measurements from today, at this very moment:
Measurements 3/27/10:
under breast: 38 3/4"
belly button: 43"
hips: 45"
natural waist: 38 1/2"
I cannot express how proud I am of myself. In 19 1/2 weeks, I have lost:
under breast: 5 1/4 inches
belly button: 10 inches
hips: 10 inches
natural waist: approximately 11.5 inches
I will continue this journey with my head held high. I feel so much more powerful, in control, and less depressed. HOWEVER, I would say I've lost only around 20 lbs total if I had to guess. I few months ago it was only 10 lbs. See how much more motivating it is to live by the tape measurer rather than the scale? (For me, anyway). I look so much better and will continue to improve day by day.
As far as my goal, right now I'm working on my wedding dress goal (yes, I bought it too small, don't chastise me!!
), and beyond that, I want to see how I feel. I've always had a large frame, so I won't drop below a size 8 at the very least, it looks ridiculous on me (did that freshman year of high school and I looked terrible--people thought I had become anorexic or bulimic). SO, for my wedding dress, I need to drop my natural waist to 33 inches, another 5 1/2 down. I need to drop six more inches from my hips. This sounds huge, but the inches have melted off this whole time, and I will also use shape wear. I know this may seem crazy, but I would truly, truly appreciate support rather than criticism. I know I can do it, I've already lost so much, and this is just a short term motivation to stay healthy and fit for life!!
