Thanks a lot for the welcome!
Vija - Good to "see" you! I'm so glad we are doing this together. I know I have a challenge ahead getting healthy and fit, but we can do this together!
So here's some background info about me...
I'm 32 years old (will be 33 in January) and DH and I have been married for 12 years. We have three awesome little boys - DS8, DS6, DS2.
I have also struggled with my weight most of my life, but the first time I really put on the pounds was when we were trying to have our first baby. I'm an emotional eater and this was a really stressful time in my life, including fertility drugs and a miscarriage. I packed on about 60 pounds with a couple of years. My weight held pretty steady (well +or- 20 pounds) throughout all pregnancies. Then a couple of years ago I found myself in a very stressful job situation and began gaining again, about another 30 pounds. And from the time I left to August 2007 I packed about 40 more. Wow, that really adds up, doesn't it?
So for the last year I have been trying to get my life back together. (I may go into that more at a later time.) I have had several "false starts" where I would lose a few pounds and gain them back plus a couple. And then in August I decided I just couldn't do it anymore. Not the dieting, but living the way I was. I was exhausted all the time and just felt so fat and out of control. I always worried about what people were thinking about me when we went out. It came to the point where we had to start sitting at a table in most restaurants instead of being able to request a booth as we usually did.
Then came the real eye opener. We took our older two boys to Six Flags in mid-August. Many of the rides geared toward the younger kids were very difficult for me to get in and out of and some I couldn't even fasten the seat belt, but the employees still let me ride. Then on a mini roller coaster, I was asked to get off because I could not lower the bar far enough to lock into place. How humiliating...
That was enough to really make me face the fact that it had gone far enough. Since that time, with the huge help of friends I have made on WISH, and specifically through the Biggest Loser 3 challenge on these boards, I am almost at a 30 pound weight loss.
My goal is to eventually get back to the weight and size I was when DH and I got married, and possible smaller, since I was a little bigger than average even then.
As I have said before, I know it will be a challenge. There are good days and bad days, but I must remember to just keep going...
