My Story

Here is my story...
I was fit for the first 23 years of my life. I weighed 120 lbs from 8th grade through college graduation (I am 5'4"). I played sports through high school and even studied Exercise and Sports Science in College. I feel like I have no excuse, but I ended up overweight, "obese". I had been diligent throughout my early life to not follow in my family history footsteps. My grandmother was morbidly obese and passed away too early from congestive heart failure and complications of diabetes. My mother has struggled with weight most of her life as well.

Shortly after graduating from the University of Florida I started gaining weight. Not much at first, but within five years I had gained 30 lbs. (weighing in at 150 lbs if we are keeping track). I worked hard for a couple months and lost it. I was 28 and happy. I met my future husband and as happens I let go of my workout habits. I followed the pattern of gaining back all the weight and more. By the time of our wedding I was up to 173 lbs. and we had our first child a few months later. I was happy that I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight very quickly, and I was too tired to do much about the rest.

I really wasn't all that concerned about my weight at the time. When my daughter was 6 mos. old we moved from Vail, Co., where I had been for 8 years, to Fort Collins. I didn't know anyone, and it was winter. I was depressed. I ended up gaining even more. By the time we started trying for baby #2 I was tipping the scales at 194 lbs.

This picture (2010) was my wake up call. I didn't even recognize myself. It is still really hard for me to look at. I came home from this trip and joined a gym. I lost 11 lbs. in the first month, and got pregnant immediately. (We had been trying for a year). I worked out 5 days a week the whole pregnancy and managed to only gain 20 lbs. That meant that I delivered at 203 lbs. Again I lost all of the baby weight in two weeks, and once I had my six week all clear checkup I was back at the gym. 

I haven't really stopped since. I have ignited the fire inside. I am an athlete. My motivation is never wanting my kids to hear me say "I am fat". Some Days are harder than others, but so far so good. I am halfway to my goal, but I know I am healthier now. In the next three months I will finish the journey I started in 2011. I hope you enjoy following with me. Thank you for reading my story.