I am so excited!!!!
I am joining the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program!
I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.
I'm ready to change and I'm excited to have Nutrisystem help me on my journey.
For the next four months, Nutrisystem will provide me with their free meal
plan and I will be blogging each week about my successes and struggles
in this weight loss journey.
This truly has been a life long journey,
so I thought I'd share a little bit of it with you.
Well, I guess it's quite a long story :)
But hang in there.
Plus, you'll see more pictures of me in one place
than there have ever been in the history of my blogging life.
I was overweight through high school and into my first year of college.
So not fun to be an overweight teen.
So, I decided my sophomore year of college that I was tired of it.
I wanted to date.
I wanted to be happy with myself.
I wanted a life.
I had a preschool practicum class at 8am every morning,
so I got to campus at 6:00am and the recumbent bike
(and later the stair machine) became my best friend.
45 minutes daily.
I rarely missed a day.
I added in weight training.
I was a machine.
However, I was not eating healthy -
pretty much starving myself on a LOW calorie diet -
so I never really learned portion control to be able to live the rest of my life.
I lost 65 lbs in about 6 months.
Yeah, not so healthy.
I maintained an "ideal weight" for about six years.
During the first four years after the initial weight loss,
exercising was a HIGH priority.
I had no kids.
It was a lot simpler.
I still didn't have the healthiest eating habits,
but I wasn't as strict as I was with myself during the initial 6 months.
My weight fluctuated 15 lbs here and there,
but I was able to keep within the recommended weight for my height.
August 2001
I got married.
Started teaching school.
Moved States.
July 2003 - pre State move
Added a 30-45 minute commute.
It started getting harder and harder to maintain the "ideal" weight.
July 2004
Then I got pregnant.
After trying for a year - with one miscarriage -
that was all I cared about - that new life inside me.
I was too paranoid to exercise.
I started eating whatever the heck I wanted.
I gained 65 lbs by the end of my pregnancy.
November 2005
January 2006
Summer 2006
When my son turned a year old, and I realized I couldn't
blame the baby for the weight anymore, I got serious.
I started attending an exercise group at church 3 days a week,
and walking with a friend the other 2 days.
May 2007
I started counting points,
and for the first time in my life,
I was eating fairly healthy and actually conscious of my portions.
I learned some things.
I lost 45 lbs in a year.
I worked hard and felt good.
We moved cities.
I lost the support of the exercise group.
I lost my walking partner.
It got hard again.
October 2007 - Post move
I let exercise become an every once and a while thing,
but kept up with the points system for a little while.
I maintained my 45 lbs of weight loss,
but couldn't get over the hump to lose that last 20 lbs.
April 2008
Then I got pregnant again.
Hooray!
After only 6 months of trying this time,
I was pregnant.
I still had the irrational fear of exercising,
so of course, I didn't make it a priority.
July 2008
August 2008
This time I was determined not to gain 65 lbs,
so I gained 45 lbs instead,
but starting 20 lbs heavier than before my first baby,
I ended up at the same post-pregnancy weight.
::sigh::
December 2008
March 2009
May 2009
Now I had less time because I have two kids,
plus the one kid I babysit full time.
But I was determined not to wait until Isabella's 1st birthday
to get serious about losing the baby weight.
By her first birthday I was on the right track.
I had lost 20 lbs - not phenomenal, but not terrible.
October 2009
I was running - a lot - training for a 1/2 marathon.
I still wasn't as far along as I wanted to be, but I was
at least on track.
I was meeting a friend at the gym 3-5 days a week.
I was running outside on Saturdays for long runs,
but I was always STARVING!!!
The running and nursing a baby left me always hungry,
so my caloric intake increased with my activity level
and I just couldn't pull it together.
So, I joined a weight loss group at church in the Fall of 2009,
so I was weighing in every week at someone's house.
It helped me to be careful with my food intake.
I lost 10 lbs in 12 weeks, and felt pretty good about it.
I was running, eating okay, and losing weight.
December 2009
Then I started having problems with my feet,
so I gave up the running in December 2009,
and pretty much exercising all together.
After that I found the world of crafting and blogging,
and that, my friends, is where the story goes all wrong :)
March 2010
I was still careful with my food in the spring of 2010,
because I was in a musical production at church,
and was hypersensitive about my appearance.
April 2010 - The Errand Musical Production
But after the show ended,
the summer came.
Lazy days on the beach.
Free cupcakes.
Free chicken, waffle fries, and diet lemonade.
No exercise.
Lots of crafting.
Lots of blogging.
June 2010
October 2010
And now here we are.
May 2011 - Queen Bee Market
Except for the two gorgeous ladies in the picture with me,
I really hate that picture.
Ugh.
But I'm posting it because it is where my journey begins.
I am excited.
I am hopeful.
I am grateful to have this BIG PUSH from Nutrisystem to get me started.
I ordered my first month of meals two days ago - and they should be here next week!!
I've started exercising and my exercise buddy is totally awesome.
He reminds me every night before he goes to bed to get up and swim in the morning.
So every morning I rouse my buddy from sleep,
help him into his swimming suit, find his goggles (again), and head to the pool.
We went every day this week.
Holla!
I hope you'll join me each Monday for my journey.
I'd love for you to share you journeys with me.
Let's do this thing!
Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting http://www.nutrisystem.com/nsblog
Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me free of charge in exchange for blogging about my experience as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. The opinions above are my own.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.
I'm ready to change and I'm excited to have Nutrisystem help me on my journey.
For the next four months, Nutrisystem will provide me with their free meal
plan and I will be blogging each week about my successes and struggles
in this weight loss journey.
This truly has been a life long journey,
so I thought I'd share a little bit of it with you.
Well, I guess it's quite a long story :)
But hang in there.
Plus, you'll see more pictures of me in one place
than there have ever been in the history of my blogging life.
I was overweight through high school and into my first year of college.
So not fun to be an overweight teen.
So, I decided my sophomore year of college that I was tired of it.
I wanted to date.
I wanted to be happy with myself.
I wanted a life.
I had a preschool practicum class at 8am every morning,
so I got to campus at 6:00am and the recumbent bike
(and later the stair machine) became my best friend.
45 minutes daily.
I rarely missed a day.
I added in weight training.
I was a machine.
However, I was not eating healthy -
pretty much starving myself on a LOW calorie diet -
so I never really learned portion control to be able to live the rest of my life.
I lost 65 lbs in about 6 months.
Yeah, not so healthy.
I maintained an "ideal weight" for about six years.
During the first four years after the initial weight loss,
exercising was a HIGH priority.
I had no kids.
It was a lot simpler.
I still didn't have the healthiest eating habits,
but I wasn't as strict as I was with myself during the initial 6 months.
My weight fluctuated 15 lbs here and there,
but I was able to keep within the recommended weight for my height.
August 2001
I got married.
Started teaching school.
Moved States.
July 2003 - pre State move
Added a 30-45 minute commute.
It started getting harder and harder to maintain the "ideal" weight.
July 2004
Then I got pregnant.
After trying for a year - with one miscarriage -
that was all I cared about - that new life inside me.
I was too paranoid to exercise.
I started eating whatever the heck I wanted.
I gained 65 lbs by the end of my pregnancy.
November 2005
January 2006
Summer 2006
When my son turned a year old, and I realized I couldn't
blame the baby for the weight anymore, I got serious.
I started attending an exercise group at church 3 days a week,
and walking with a friend the other 2 days.
May 2007
I started counting points,
and for the first time in my life,
I was eating fairly healthy and actually conscious of my portions.
I learned some things.
I lost 45 lbs in a year.
I worked hard and felt good.
We moved cities.
I lost the support of the exercise group.
I lost my walking partner.
It got hard again.
October 2007 - Post move
I let exercise become an every once and a while thing,
but kept up with the points system for a little while.
I maintained my 45 lbs of weight loss,
but couldn't get over the hump to lose that last 20 lbs.
April 2008
Then I got pregnant again.
Hooray!
After only 6 months of trying this time,
I was pregnant.
I still had the irrational fear of exercising,
so of course, I didn't make it a priority.
July 2008
August 2008
This time I was determined not to gain 65 lbs,
so I gained 45 lbs instead,
but starting 20 lbs heavier than before my first baby,
I ended up at the same post-pregnancy weight.
::sigh::
December 2008
March 2009
May 2009
Now I had less time because I have two kids,
plus the one kid I babysit full time.
But I was determined not to wait until Isabella's 1st birthday
to get serious about losing the baby weight.
By her first birthday I was on the right track.
I had lost 20 lbs - not phenomenal, but not terrible.
October 2009
I was running - a lot - training for a 1/2 marathon.
I still wasn't as far along as I wanted to be, but I was
at least on track.
I was meeting a friend at the gym 3-5 days a week.
I was running outside on Saturdays for long runs,
but I was always STARVING!!!
The running and nursing a baby left me always hungry,
so my caloric intake increased with my activity level
and I just couldn't pull it together.
So, I joined a weight loss group at church in the Fall of 2009,
so I was weighing in every week at someone's house.
It helped me to be careful with my food intake.
I lost 10 lbs in 12 weeks, and felt pretty good about it.
I was running, eating okay, and losing weight.
December 2009
Then I started having problems with my feet,
so I gave up the running in December 2009,
and pretty much exercising all together.
After that I found the world of crafting and blogging,
and that, my friends, is where the story goes all wrong :)
March 2010
I was still careful with my food in the spring of 2010,
because I was in a musical production at church,
and was hypersensitive about my appearance.
April 2010 - The Errand Musical Production
But after the show ended,
the summer came.
Lazy days on the beach.
Free cupcakes.
Free chicken, waffle fries, and diet lemonade.
No exercise.
Lots of crafting.
Lots of blogging.
June 2010
October 2010
And now here we are.
May 2011 - Queen Bee Market
Except for the two gorgeous ladies in the picture with me,
I really hate that picture.
Ugh.
But I'm posting it because it is where my journey begins.
I am excited.
I am hopeful.
I am grateful to have this BIG PUSH from Nutrisystem to get me started.
I ordered my first month of meals two days ago - and they should be here next week!!
I've started exercising and my exercise buddy is totally awesome.
He reminds me every night before he goes to bed to get up and swim in the morning.
So every morning I rouse my buddy from sleep,
help him into his swimming suit, find his goggles (again), and head to the pool.
We went every day this week.
Holla!
I hope you'll join me each Monday for my journey.
I'd love for you to share you journeys with me.
Let's do this thing!
Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting http://www.nutrisystem.com/nsblog
Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me free of charge in exchange for blogging about my experience as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. The opinions above are my own.
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