The whole story

I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I was never a very active kid, until I was about 16 then I played volley ball and basketball with my church group. I was an overweight a teenager. I was that awkward chubby nerdy kid all through high school, until I hit 17 and I shed a ton of weight. When I met my first husband I was a size 5 and 132 lbs. I had starved myself thin and worked out obsessively. It worked and I was thin for the first time in my life. But that didn't last long. I gained a good 20 lbs by the time I was 19 and at 19 I was also married.

A very bad marriage and two kids helped me pack on even more pounds. At my heaviest I topped out around 235 after the birth of my son. I had gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy, and lost most half of it after he was born. I somehow got down to around 205 before I got pregnant with my daughter and then managed to put on 70 lbs during that pregnancy. I ended up back at 235 after giving birth to her.

Then shortly after she was born I had a horrible gallbladder attack and had to be on a very strict diet for a month before they could remove the stupid thing. By the time they removed it I had dropped about 15 lbs. and then after the surgery I still had to be very careful, and I ended up dropping the rest of the weight. By the time my met my current husband I was 199 lbs.

My husband lived a very active healthy lifestyle and I ended up around 179 the first sumer we were together. I was so excited!

But over time we got busy, and life became more stressful and we had less time to work out and I ended up gaining most of it back. I topped out 5 weeks ago at 197 and that's when I decided I was done. I was tired of being fat and I was not about to go back to that place. That's when I started this journey.

I have since lost 13 lbs. Lots of hard work, and dedication. And I am determined as ever. Someone asked me the other day how I stay motivated. This is how. I look back at these photos and know I never want to be there ever again.