My name is Julia, I'm from California, and I'm new here. My friend GraceNote told me about this space and I am very excited to be here to share my journey and support others in theirs.
A little bit about myself: I'm 29 (turning THIRTY on March 9th), I'm a full time student majoring in Sociology with one quarter left before I graduate and move onto a teaching credential program. I absolutely love living in a small beach town, living by the sea is very important to me - a walk along the ocean uplifts me and makes the world better! I am very blessed.
So my weight loss journey stories are as followed...
First one: I was in my early 20s and I was gaining 10 lbs every single month one summer. I was working out too, I didn't understand. I went from my usual 140s up to 170s. In hindsight my body changed...I couldn't eat like I did as a teenager without any exercise and not be effected by it. I maintained this weight gain for a very long time. I joined Weight Watchers at the end of 2007 and lost all that weight within 8 or 9 months. I maintained that weight loss for about a year. Life was great for a while but then life changed a bit: it was more stressful, I was drowning in school work, I could no longer maintain that lifestyle and quickly gained about 15-20 lbs. QUICKLY.
Second and Third: I rejoined WW to try to lose about 15-20 lbs I had regained but I figured I could do it on my own so I canceled my membership. I gained even more weight but it took me a long time to lose just 10 lbs and I was so upset that I made the choice just to quit.
Fourth and lifestyle change concept UNDERSTOOD: I rejoined Weight Watchers in September 2011 after a horrible summer of health issues and I did not realize I was now 207.4 lbs! My heaviest EVER! This time around I did not want to create a meal plan or a workout regime that I knew I could not do for the rest of my life. I knew that it was going to be hard because the weight would come off slowly and it has but the time was going to pass by anyway so why not be a little bit smaller and a little bit healthier? I'm down almost 30 lbs and I've been dealing with and coming to terms with behavioral issues. It has really helped me be more successful!
I am coming to realize that I really love to be active. I want to be FIT while keeping my curves, I want to be a runner, I want to lift heavy weight, I want to sweat, I want my muscles to burn, I want to be sore, etc. BUT! I need balance. As much as I bring it in the gym or out in nature when I get my sweat on...I NEED to do better in the kitchen.
I love the support from my meetings, I love having people that I can talk to face to face that understand how hard it is. I hope to one day work for the program but in general I hope to be able to give back to others what has been given to me and that is encouragement, confidence in others abilities, and letting them know that they are limitless.
Let's do this!
FitHourglass (Julia) here.
