The youngest of seven, my parents owned a restaurant and I learned at a really young age
how easy it was to get fountain drinks and candy bars without being noticed! My mother is an excellent cook and we
always tell her that she just isn't happy unless she is making someone fat! Her favorite saying is...''A little bit
won't hurt you.'' Little does she know how devastating that little bit can be. I went from being an almost
skinny toddler to a 329 pound adult! AND...I still love food as much as I ever did! I am just hoping that I will
be able to find a way to turn this around and get this weight off for good!
I have been a member of Weight Watchers off and on for many years. I would go on the program,
lose some weight, get a boyfriend and then start gaining my weight again! This was a pattern that I followed through
much of my twenties. I was never below 175 pounds during that time, but I felt good about myself. It seemed like once
I had a man in my life, I immediately started to take care of him, and would forget about taking care of myself.
That is still a problem today. At 25 I got married, pregnant and divorced all within the span of a year. Left
on my own to raise my son I turned to food to help me through. And it did. I could do anything as long as I could
curl up with my best friend (food) at the end of the day. So I ate, and I gained. This went on for about 5 years! The
scales found me at my then all time high of 260 pounds! I joined Weight Watchers once again and the weight started to
come off. When I was 32 I met the current (and last) love of my life, my husband Ken. I had dieted down to
a svelte 180 pounds and was really proud of myself. We had a whirlwind relationship and were married 6 months after we
met. Slowly the same old habits started creeping up. I was too busy taking care of everyone else to take care
of me, and the pounds started creeping up as well. By January 1st 1999 I weighed in at 309 pounds! I had actually
gained 129 pounds in the 7 years we had been married! I still can't believe that I gained that much! At that point
I decided that I needed to do something about my weight and I joined Nutrisystem. I lost 63 pounds during that time,
( approx. 7 months) but then Nutrisystem went out of business and I was suddenly on my own once again trying to maintain
my loss and continue losing. Needless to say...I lost the battle. Not only did I gain my weight back, I gained
more. The scales now saw me at 329 pounds! This was about the same time that I bought my first computer and got
online. I met some wonderful people on a diet message board called Friends Supporting Friends. The past
3 years I have been doing Weight Watchers on my own and with the support of my friends at FSF I have managed to
lose 50 pounds. Slowly but surely, right?? Then, this past March I stumbled upon a weight loss site
by a wonderful woman named Gretchen. She has been a wonderful inspiration to me and I feel like once again I can be
successful at losing my weight.
Fast forward to January 2004...here I am back up to 297 once again! Seems like I just couldn't
keep that 50 pounds off! I am so discouraged ... will I ever find a way to lose weight and keep it off??
Well...maybe I finally have! In April of 2004 I stumbled upon a copy of a February Woman's World magazine
that had a diet in it called the G.I. Diet. I decided that I would check into this diet and even try it, just to prove
that it wouldn't work! So far..it is working fine!! LOVE this way of eating, and love the fact that I am losing
weight!! This time, I am going to be successful at losing this weight! Keep checking back and reading my story!
Being accountable is a major key for me to losing my weight! I know I can do this!!
January 2005 I weighed in at 247 pounds!! YEAH!! The G.I. plan helped me lose 50
pounds in 2004! I am so excited and ready to knock off another 50 pounds in 2005. My goal for 2005 is to be under
200 for New Years Eve! Check back as I post this year to see how I am doing!!
January 2005 Here I am weighing in at 295 pounds! I have almost GAINED the 50 pounds
that I lost in 2004. I am so disappointed in myself, but know that I can't change the past, I just have to move
forward and make sure that I do better in the future. I still believe in the G.I. plan and feel that had I stuck
to it after having my foot surgery, I would be a lot smaller going into this new year!
