Howdy. I found this site on accident one night while watching P90x commercials and looking for before/after pics of people who'd lost weight from the same starting point as I am at and are built similarly. It reminded me that there are women & men out there with a much tougher challenge than I face. It reminded me that folks with much more to lose do it everyday and make me look like a big ol' wimp. That there is the most strength inside some of the most unsuspected people. And it motivated me to get moving. If all of these beautiful 300 lb women can post their awesome and inspiring 150 lb pictures, I can get off my *** and do something, too.
Since I got pregnant I have been on a journey to do as many things more naturally as I can. From my food to health remedies. But, somehow - 2 years after she was born - I am still overweight. I know part of this is due to my lack of exercise, but it is frustrating because I eat healthier than most people I know. This time last year I had gotten down to around 135. October of last year, even after quitting smoking, I was down to about 130. Sometime around January (AFTER the holidays) I started to put the weight back on. I am now up to 150 on my 5'3" petite frame. I had finally gotten back down to a size 9 and am now back up to a size 11/13. This is after 28 years of never being more than a size 7 and that was really heavy for me. A size 3/5 and between 105-115 were my "healthy/normal" range.
When I was little my grandpa used to tell me that I was so skinny I could stand in a rainstorm and not get wet.
My heavier friends always gave me a hard time about being so skinny. It definitely got old and I was always frustrated that they seemed to give me grief because of how thin I was. It was like they wanted to make me feel guilty for still being in good shape. To this day, I am very careful not to say things to my thinner friends, like, "Oh, a size 3; must be nice." Especially knowing that as I got older, genetics were going to work against me.
Now I have a child that looks up to me.
She has some crappy genetics - health wise - being handed to her. Nothing that can't be prevented, but she needs a role model for that. My maternal gpa died of heart disease. My paternal gma died from a variety of health problems related to morbid obesity. My MIL suffers from obesity and diabetes and various other health maladies. There are various other family members that bring obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc to the table for my daughter. I make the healthiest choices for her that I can. Whole grains, lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies. Meanwhile, when we go out to eat - which is fairly often - I find myself fighting to keep people from handing her fries and chips. One of the biggest offenders is my MIL. Even with all of her health issues, she scoffs at me and my newfangled healthy food ideas.
So, with a husband and mother-in-law around that make me out to be a crazy person for the healthier choices I am trying to make, a 2 year old daughter who needs a good role model, life in a part of the country where obesity and diabetes run rampant and health food is only starting to become noticeable, and a figure I desperately need to get back, I set off on a journey and hope this site can help me get to my destination of 110-115.
Thanks for being here, ladies. (And gents, as I've noticed a few of you!)
The name says it all
Dhani 
