Total Weight Lost
Approximately 70 pounds
How Long Did it Take?
1 year over the course of 2 years (pregnancy right in the middle)
Why I Wanted to Lose Weight
Are you kidding me? I was out of control!! Not paying attention to what I was doing to myself...I had all the bad habits and I had just become a mother. What kind of role model is that? Not too mention I was always sick, complaining about stomach problems, it was just ridiculous.
My Exercise and Diet Journey
I was always an athlete in high school - could eat whatever I wanted! Got to college, met my husband who's Italian and likes to cook, bought a car, stopped moving, but kept eating. I ballooned to 220 pounds which is my heaviest non-pregnancy weight recorded. I looked at myself in the mirror one day and thought, what have I done to myself?! My health was entirely out of control and I now had a daughter. It was time for a change - and that's when the Biggest Loser show started. It was inspirational.
I'm a web developer, so I started a little website for my friends and I to weigh in each week because I was determined to make this weight loss stick and have fun while doing it!
I started on the treadmill walking, which was difficult to say the least. I think I cried the first time because I couldn't believe my health had gotten so out of control. Walking ALONE wasn't cutting it, so I tried E-Diets to help me relearn how to eat the right foods and when. Walking and watching my diet, the weight started melting off. 6 months later, I was down 40 pounds to around 180, but then I got pregnant. Eh, I kinda gained some weight back, but 6 months after my second child was born, I started my Biggest Loser Challenge back up...I was not done! I was back up to about 190 when I started again, but walking was easier and the diet I had stuck with. I added running into my regime and I was hooked. Another 6 months and another 40 pounds. 150 was my goal for the 6 months which I reached while winning my Biggest Loser Challenge. That was 2 years ago.
Lessons learned
- Walking + diet = key
- I continue to watch my diet every day. But, I do splurge now and again and that is also essential, not to feel like I am depriving the body of anything. Generally, I eat the same kind of foods every day, it's routine for me now, but if I want to splurge, that's ok.
- I watch the scale every day, however, I don't obsess about every little pound and usually fluctuate a few pounds between weeks. If I notice a little gain, I pay more attention to my diet and exercise.
- Water is the fountain of youth.
