I have only been a "changed" person for about 5 weeks but I already have a pretty good list!

Do you remember when....
Breakfast was fast food?
Soda was the only thing I ever drank?
Dessert was the rule, not the exception?
Eating was something that started when I woke up and stopped when I fell asleep?
The "good" food was hidden in stashes in the cabinet?
I would blame the ice cream being gone on DH?
I would feel tired and groggy all day?
I could only do 2 minutes on the eliptical?
My 2 pair of size 26 jeans hung in the closet most days because they were uncomfortable?

Wow! I'm sure I could think of more but just this list keeps me inspired. What about you guys? Maybe you have some "remember whens" that I don't have yet but would love to work toward??!!

Oh yes! I had to take an afternoon nap almost daily!

I remember when breakfast was 4-6 cups of coffee with 4-6 tablespoons of sugar per cup....along with creamer....no actual food until about noon!

Dinner was fast food for 3-4 nights a week. Or, when cooked...dinner was mostly meat and pasta or potatoes....very little veggies were consumed by this family! Any vegetables that did make it onto the table were swimming in butter or some type of sauce.

Watching TV meant eating a whole bag of microwave popcorn by myself...hubby wasnt allowed to share, he had to get his own bag! Or, a big bowl of ice cream...and that would not be sugar free!

A bag of Hershey kisses was hidden in my desk drawer and the whole bag was consumed almost every day.

Wow! I have made some big changes!

That is a good list you have there.

I remember most of the same things.
I remember skipping meals to try to lose weight.
I remember thinking a chef salad with a huge scoop of ranch dressing would help me lose weight.
I remember not thinking for a second about the nutritional content of what I was putting in my mouth.
I remember making middle of the night trips to the store to get Mt. Dew, because being out of it equated to being out of food.
I remember that fast food was my way of life.
I remember crying and being depressed and changing clothes a dozen times to try to find anything that looked decent to wear.
I remember lying and saying "I'm sick at my stomach" to avoid having to go to social situations because I felt too uncomfortable to go because of weight.
I remember loving buffets, because I took the "All you can eat" as a sign that everyone Pigs Out there and I liked to Pig Out.
I remember not going to my kids school functions because I was too tired.
I remember not being able to play with my grandkids.
I remember basically just letting life pass me by because I was too tired and too big to want to do a darn thing.

I remember when...

-I didn't eat Breakfast.. ever!

-Exercise was unheard of. I lived by the phrase, "I don't believe in running unless I'm being chased."

-Fast food was a meal for at least one meal a day 5 days a week.

-I would buy a box of a dozen donuts, eat half on the way home from the store and hide and eat the other half over the next 24 hours.

I remember when...

I never ever ate breakfast.

Thought coffee was an appetite suppressant and used it as such.

Ate no earlier than 8 pm at night, usually was between 9 and 10 and then straight off to bed.

Parking as close as possible to where I was going, just so I did not have to walk.

Going through the drive thru for lunch and ordering two lunches and eating one on the way back and one later, or going to a parking lot and eating both at the same time (that hurts to admit)

Thinking that only "good food" was high in fat and calories.

I would get up in the middle of the night and have a snack (thanks Dad, for the good habits)

I would seek out buffets, so I could get my moneys worth!

And yes, finally, letting life pass me by because I was too embarassed to go out and be in it! NO MORE!

Wow, I could fill a lot of pages with this one. Lucky for you guys I'm pressed for time.

I remember when:

- I would eat one meal a day. It was just one very long meal, lasting all day long.
-I would be tired and groggy all day long (seems to be a popular one)
-I would never exercise
-I would go to the store and purchase a bunch of junk to eat during the course of one day. That was my way of planning.
-I would fry all my foods, going through tons of oil a month. I now have the same bottle for months and months.
-I would spend more time lying/sitting on my couch then anywhere else.
-Taking out the garbage was a big task for me.
-A single serving of ice cream was a 1/2 gallon.
-I was always worried about social events and my kids school functions.
-I was always worried about chairs and seats and fitting into them and subsequently breaking them.
- I was miserable, beyond belief miserable.
-I hated waking up in the morning to start another day. Just too much to bear. Too hard. Too difficult.

Okay, I think I've remembered enough for now. Good thing to look back on though when I'm in the mood for something caloric.

Thought of a couple more...

I remember when..
- I would go to at least 2, sometimes 3, fast food joints and get meals at each, laying out my food, sitting in front of the tv,and gorging myself...

- Getting more than one meal at a fast food for myself just because I thought that if I ordered the 2nd pop then they would think the food wasn't all for me.

- Getting a couple meals and eating one in the car on the way home and the other in front of the family.. that way they wouldn't know I got so much for myself...

Oh my gosh, ME TOO!!!

I remember breakfast was a fry (fried eggs, hash browns etc), lunch was a sandwich with fries and ketchup and dinner was a pizza and garlic bread.

I remember when being vegetarian meant no meat but also hardly any vegetables.

I remember when strolling for 5 minutes was considered exercise.

I remember going clothes shopping and blaming the makers because they didn't fit properly.

I remember one meal a day.

I remember when I ate everything I cooked even if it was double portions.

I remember when I had a TV and would sit and watch it for hours and hours (I got rid of my TV 4 months ago)

I remember finding nothing to fit.

I remember not being able to see my feet and having trouble painting my toenails.

. . . going to the fast food joint and buying enough to feed the 'family' at home . . . the family of me, myself, and I. Now, I do a lot more cooking.

. . . eating as late as possible, because you know you won't stop until you go to bed and then you have to get up and take an antacid because you can't sleep. Haven't had a GERD attack in 14 months.

. . . always having a second helping of the main course because that was going to be better for me than eating dessert. Now I eat dessert ( FF/SF jello with a blob of Cool Whip) almost every night.

. . . and many, many, many more.

So many of your statements ring true.

I remember begging off on some family time because I felt like such a loser because I couldn't keep up with them.

I remember dreading having to purchase new clothing for any event, because finding clothes that fit was an event in itself.

I remember being winded after a short walk....stroll actually....nothing to strenuous.

I remember my mom offering to pay for me to have gastric bypass surgery, her little way of telling me I was too fat.

I remember changing clothes multiple times before I'd leave the house, always trying to find something that made me look better, thinner, or something.

Wow....what an eye-opener. I guess I realize though that I do want to remember these things, as that will help me in the future to never let it happen again.

OMG! So many of these ring true for me too!

I also remember when...

-I would not give my students recess because I didn't want to walk outside.
-Driving around the parking lot for 15 minutes because I didn't want to walk from more than 3 spaces away from the door.
-Buying a "snack" from the McDonalds by my school after school and "dinner" from Burger King because it was closer to my house.
-Hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock until the absolute last possible time I could and not be late for work.
-Going to bed early so I wouldn't have to see the sad look in my puppy's eyes when we didn't walk.
-Emptying the tote of candy that I keep under my desk to bribe the students with.
-buying a bag of m&m's to use for baking and having none left when I go to make cookies.
-Dreading having to go buy pants.
-Sewing a button on a pair of pants *again* because it popped off when I bent over. (and thanking God it wasn't the back seam that went)
-Blaming the shoe manufacturers for not making shoes with decent soles that would hold up.

We should just make a top 200 list!! But, here's mine--

The sound of bedroom doors closing at night signaled everyone was in bed and it was time for me to eat just about everything in the cabinets.

Seven years of telling the kids we weren't going outside because ___________ which was never the truth, it was always because mom had no energy.

The fact that for over six months I couldn't bend my leg because the muscle in the back was so tight from not exercising and weight I couldn't stand it but was too embarrassed to see a doctor because I knew it was weight related.

Not being able to drive my car without a pile of food on my lap to eat.

Eating until I got sick (or wished I'd get sick).

Rebuying food to replace what I'd eaten so my husband wouldn't know.

I just printed out all the stuff you guys wrote to add to my journal! Honestly, I could have written just about ALL of it! Who did we think we were kidding with all of this outrageous behavior?!!!

OK, that said, here's MY list of transgressions:

1) I would eat a WHOLE BAG of Dove Treasures myself

2) I would eat all the CHOCOLATE Halloween candy my sons brought home

3) I would eat a WHOLE POUND of cheese by myself

4) I would buy two bags of shredded cheese for homemade pizza so that I could eat ONE BAG as I was putting THE OTHER bag on the pizza

5) I went one-for-one with my husband and teenage sons on pizza, burgers, fries, etc.

6) I would just buy bigger pants when mine got too snug

7) I quit weighing myself for about TWENTY YEARS

8) I would order two bacon, egg and cheese biscuit meals at McDonald's and eat them both

9) I never counted calories

10) I thought that it was acceptable to enter middle age being overweight (OBESE!)


Cheryl