Hi all- I am new here but very excited to have found this forum of inspiring, amazing ladies (and guys!) to help me along this journey!
My name is Lisa- I got engaged to my wonderful fiancee Jonathan on April 9th, 2011- this was an amazing moment, followed by overwhelming insecurity and that "rock bottom" feeling. See, I had somehow in the last 6 years or so, let myself get from a size 8/10 up to squeezing into a 24. On that day, I finally felt all 298 pounds of myself, like a wrecking ball it hit me.
I was going to have to put on a wedding gown in front of over a hundred people, and I had absolutely NO desire to.
Jonathan has loved me from high school, and all my weights and sizes in between- he wants to marry me no matter what size I wear. I, however- hated myself more than ever before on that day. My weight struggles have pretty much been life-long. I was a chubby kid, struggled with maintaining a size 14 in high school, lost 65 pounds on LA weight loss and got down to a size 8, had gallbladder surgery and quickly put those pounds back on. Then, I got pregnant in early 2007 and gained another 35 pounds. Jonathan and I broke up for a year, moved back in together, went through serious financial issues... all this stress kept the pounds packin' on.
It all lead up to that day- what should have been one of the happiest moments of my life- and all I could think about was how disappointed I was in myself, and how ENORMOUS I felt. I started my diet and exercise plan about a week later- using our wedding (like many other women) as motiovation. It was like something inside just snapped- I decided, cold turkey- to give it all up. Soda, fast food, cheese (oh how I love cheese!), fried foods, etc... and all without a diet plan. Scary, I know!
We are saving for a wedding, for God's sake- we can't afford fancy diet plans with meal replacement bars and shakes... plus I have a young family to feed, and my daughter cannot live on slim-fast. So, I started googling (is that a word?). I looked up healthy recipes and started learning to cook for my family the healthy way, because dinner time is always my biggest fear. I can eat fruit and yogurt for breakfast, a "Smart One" for lunch... but dinner
??? scares the bejeesus out of me. It has to be yummy enough for a 3 year old and a picky 27 year old man, but low fat enough for me. It has been... fun. Yes, actually fun. I cook with chicken broth and low fat oils, PAM, etc... instead of butter. I incorporate veggies into EVERY meal-sometimes a couple of different veggies. We eat a lot more chicken and hardly any red meat.
I am 100% committed to make this work for good this time. My daughter deserves a healthy, happy mother who will live for many many years- and I am on the road to making that happen. Today is Wednesday, June 8th- and so far I have lost 28 pounds. I am elated at my results- averaging 3.5 pounds per week... but know I have a long road ahead of me. A road that I will not walk alone thanks to the support of my family and my new found buddies at 3FC. Good luck everyone- if I can do it, I know ANYONE can!!!
New here- ready for a BIG change in my life!
