Two decades
of yo-yo dieting exhausted me…
I was 25
& I had a completely unrealistic image of myself. I weighed 79kg & I
thought I was HUGE!
To put it in
perspective - I was wearing size 12 clothes…
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And so I embarked on my first DIET…
I joined a Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centre & lost 16kg.
This put me at the bottom of my healthy weight range at 63kg.
I spent the next 15 years trying (unsuccessfully) to maintain this weight loss.
I hadn’t learned anything, after all I was simply eating the packaged food I was told to eat…
I still had
no idea about good nutrition or the benefits of regular activity.
My early
weight-loss lessons were that fats & carbs were BAD & should be avoided
at all costs!
Every weight-loss
marketing message I received had different advise:
§ low-fat
§ no-fat
§ low-carb
§ no-carb
§ combine foods
§ high-protein
§ don’t eat after 7pm!!!!
And so I
tried them all…I did EVERY ‘diet’ on the planet!
The Atkins Diet, Tony Ferguson,
Lite n’ Easy, Jenny Craig, pills, potions, injections & shakes…
and I joined
Weight Watchers MANY, MANY times…
My weight
fluctuated between 63 & 94kg from my early 20’s to my late 30’s. I
went
from a size 8 to a size 16 & everywhere in between…
When I met
my husband Ben in 2004 I weighed 86kg (I was married previously but that’s
another story for another blog…). What can only be described as a whirlwind
romance saw us married & pregnant within a year!
I resigned
from my corporate position in the city, sold my house & left Sydney!
I was
born & bred in Sydney – I was 37 years old & I’d never lived anywhere
else.
I moved to Hay (in the Riverena Region of NSW), a town with a population,
at the time, of 3,500.
I LOVED my new, simpler, happier life! I was pregnant, I
was happy & before I knew it I’d gained 30 kilos!
Our beautiful baby boy, Logan, entered
the world to the delight of all in March 2005 & I was so
blissfully happy.
I had a beautiful healthy baby, I had a wonderful loving
husband & I had a sweet country home – what more could a girl want?
This photo
was taken a couple of months after Logan was born – I weighed 107kg & I was
wearing size 20 pants…
Seeing this
photo now is heart-breaking because at the time I had no idea that I looked
like that! I don’t recognise that girl…
There is a
trick we play with ourselves – it’s called denial.
I knew that I was heavier
than I’d ever been before but I never acknowledged just how much weight I had actually
gained.
I was down
to 104kg when I discovered I was pregnant with our second baby. I was 40 at the
time so we weren’t mucking around with this baby thing…
I was
determined not to gain the same amount of weight with my second pregnancy so I
started a weight loss support group in our small town.
We would meet once a
week, weigh & measure, share recipes & support each other.
I was
pleased to have only gained 13kg & delivered a gorgeous baby girl, Mia
Rose, in November 2006.
I weighed
113.4kg…
Not bagging country towns but I too gained most of my weight when I moved to Merriwa and lived there from 2002-2007. I think when I moved there I was 70kgs and when I left 8 months pregnant I was almost 98ks (when Stevie was born I was just under 100). For me I think I had given up on men, I was depressed. I didn't realise I was. I made it to my goal in my career, bought a small home there and proceeded to eat comfortably. the bowl of cereal when I got home from work, the small bag of choc lollies of an afternoon when I hit that 3pm low. No wonder I gained so much over the 5 years. it was so gradual though it was easier to not notice and accept when I went up to size 16 and then 18. With my first pregnancy I only gained 10kgs and my second 8 kgs which was lost both times with breastfeeding. I was fortunate in that I had to be on a low GI diet for the first and a full diabetic diet with the second.
ReplyDeleteNow I am happy and fulfilled as a wife and mother but find doing what I need to do really hard. I struggle with my chocolate addiction and with children its easier to give in and eat what they want.
I don't buy choc biscuits or bags of chips or cookies we don't snack but when I get out and go near the shops I have to have a cappuccino and a chocolate.
Its time to get back on myfitnesspal and get organised!
Thankyou for inspiring and keeping me honest as you are blogging. Hope its Ok for me to spill here?
Your story has sent goosebumps up my arms Toni.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading more, your honesty is heartbreaking, but your strength inspiring.