My Story
I wasn't born abnormally large. I was a thin child until about the age of 7.
I was in gymnastics one day and on the uneven bars. The coach was not paying attention to me and when I went up to turn over the high bar for the first time I fell off, hitting the bridge of my nose on the lower bar. I never went back after that. I joined the Brownies instead.
I got lazy. I would ride my bike down to the corner store and spend my allowance on candy. Watch TV. I never remember how much I weighed. I just remember the dr pointing out I was fat and how come? My mother and grandmother were skinny as rails. My father pointed out one day that the rolls on my stomach were called spare tires. My mother bought a book when I was about 12 called Helping Your Child Grow Slim. She never talked to me about it, just left it laying around everywhere. She did a great job keeping all junk food out of the house. Everything was boiled. No sweets, well, once in a great while. We could never afford to go out to dinner. Maybe that's it, I didn't get to eat any junk so whenever I could get it, I had to have it all.
When I was in the seventh grade I remember I got walking pneumonia and everyone was so happy for me because I lost 15lbs. Then I went to Weight Watcher camp in the summer before my freshman year of high school. It cost my parents $3,000 for 3 weeks. I felt terrible when I gained it back. My parents split up my sophomore year. I tried to fast or become anorexic (there was no way). I loved food. Food helped me get through the rest of high school and I gained more weight.
When I went to college I was quite heavy - 211lbs. Then I added the freshman 15 or so and gained more my first semester. Then I fell in love with the first man who ever paid any attention to me. He said "you are so well proportioned, if you lost weight you'd look great". ( Smooth talker ; } ) So then I started smoking cigarettes right away which helped to curb my appetite and took one thing away at a time. First I cut out dessert, then I stopped going to the cafe for lunch and ate a turkey sandwich, cut down my portions and started walking. Over the course of two years I lost 62lbs (from when I started counting) and was down to my thinnest weight ever 140lbs. I kept it off for 5 yrs or so until I met my husband.
I quit smoking soon after we met. He never asked me to but, he was a nonsmoker and I just thought it was time. Over the course of the next 10 years or so I lost and gained 30 lbs or so over and over. I got over 230lbs at 9 months pregnant with both of my children and lost it. I tried Metabolife, LA Weightloss, fasting, Atkins, Carb Addicts Diet, eating only one hour a day. I am so tired of it. Now I'm back up pretty high 223 lbs. My kid's friend has made a comment about me. I need to change now for my kids sake, and for mine. I want to be proud of myself again, not embarressed.