I can remember a time when I weighed 140lbs and wore a size 14 jean, but that was back in high school. Now, I weigh 235-240lbs and I’m in a size 18 jean. So what happened? I had two kids and a lot of health issues develop along the way.
I started my weight loss journey in 2006, 4 years after I had my daughter. At the time my method was seeing my doctor and getting help via a medication that he prescribed. At that point in my life I was already having health issues: I had asthma and a bad back and knee from high school. By 1999, I developed low blood sugar problems and by this point my thyroid had started giving me issues. So I made the decision that losing weight was important to me, because of all of that and because my family has a history of diabetes.
Between the medication I was given and a strict workout routine at the YMCA, I lost a lot of weight. I eventually got down to 180lbs, after weighing in around 230lbs. I looked great and felt great.
Fast forward to 2009, I got pregnant for a second time, but this time was much harder. I had to have surgery during my pregnancy, I was hospitalized several times, I gained and lost weight badly. After I had my son, in 2010, I weighed in at 235lbs. I didn’t think this was bad, it was a doable weight for me to start at, however, my doctor felt I was done having kids to the point that she said if I got pregnant again, it would most likely kill me. Yes my pregnancy was that bad. Obviously I agreed with her, so she put me on a birth control shot till my body had time heal from the delivery. After which, she planned to do a hysterectomy. The down side, I gained another 30lbs off that birth control and I would discover later that I would have a hard time losing it after that.
In 2013, I ended up weighing myself and found out that I was 265lbs, this scared me deeply. I was up to a size 26 in jeans by this point. So with the help of a friend, I started a program. At first I loved it, I did great! I even got off the soda and sugar. YUCK! I got down to a size 18 with that program, but I ended up plateauing and I couldn’t lose any more weight no matter how hard I tried.
In 2016, I slipped a disc in my lower back, it was on my sciatic nerve in my right leg for 4 months, before I had surgery to fix the problem. While the surgery was a success in relieving the back issue, I continued to have problems with my right leg. It would cause me problems with walking, to the point that I didn’t know when it would happen or how bad. I ended up getting a disability placard from my doctor and yes I tried injections, but those didn’t help.
Fast forward to April 2017, it was time for things to change. My leg was still giving me problems and to top it off my weight was back up to 265lbs where I started and so was my pant size. I wanted to lose weight again, this time I was determined to make it happen. I saw my doctor again, since exercise was temporarily out, she recommended that I eat clean and organic for 30 days. She wanted me to cut out the carbs and gluten and eat only lean meats. I started to follow what she recommended, with zero help from medications this time. Unfortunately, I had zero success. What I found was that I needed a structured system, something that would help me along the way to know what to do and when to do it.
Another friend of mine, approached me, she told me about this program that I had to look at. So I did, what I found was this:
I was impressed, because believe me, I saw a lot of different set ups that promoted a lot of things, but not anything like what I was seeing here. So I took the plunge and I went for it. Now it’s important to know that I wasn’t working out at this time either. My asthma, back and my knee were too bad for me to do much at this point, so I focused on just my eating.
When I started it in June, I decided to only do one round with the system. My results? I lost 20lbs and I dropped down to a size somewhere between a 22 and 18. By November 2017, I was no longer doing the system, but I was still eating right and I lost more weight! I was officially down to a size 18 and 235lbs. I was amazed! I lost all that weight, without exercising and with only one round of this lifestyle system and because of the habits I created and the reset I gave my body so it could function like it’s naturally designed to do, I lost MORE weight after! I also found out that I have a gluten issue, which I found out can cause problems with weight loss too.
The best part is that while I have fluctuated between 235lbs and 240lbs, I have kept it off for the last 3 years and I’m still a size 18 today! Now, I still have a goal, a goal to lose more weight, truth be told I want to get down to a 150-160lbs and into a much smaller jean size than I am now. I know my body could use a healthy, proper reset to get moving and that’s exactly what I plan to do. I am also able to work out now, so I am hoping to see even more results this time, than before.
I am currently making preparations for this next go around. I have a list of meals planned out, a list of foods to buy, a gym membership and I am now armed with a Fitbit as well. I have a few friends who are going to walk this path with me and hopefully, in a few more months, I will have some new results to be proud of!
