Hey, all. Welcome to my first ever blog. The purpose of this for me, and for anyone out there, is for weight loss motivation. I'll use this space to journal about my attempts, and struggles, with losing weight. Feedback and sharing your stories with me are most welcome!
I'll start with an introduction.
Hi. I'm Melissa. I'm 34 years old, and I weigh (as of this morning) 263 pounds. I'm 5'6" tall, giving me a current BMI of 42.5. That's bad. This, I do intend to change over the course of the next 12 months.
Like so many other women, I am many things to many people. It seems, though, that the weight issue affects every aspect of my life.
For starters, I'm a wife of 8 years, to a wonderful man. He loves me despite my weight issues, and thankfully never makes snide comments to make me feel bad about myself.... But I know he'd be happy with a little less of me! I'm also a Mommy to two sweet children. My daughter will soon be 6, and my son turns 4 in a few days. It's no surprise that two pregnancies and the stress afterward helped me tack on the last 40 of the pounds I have gained.
And, most people upon first meeting me would be surprised to learn that I'm a physician. Yup, a doctor. I'm a doctor who can't make herself lose weight. So a lot of good it does for me to tell someone else they need to shed a few pounds! Just further motivation for me to get myself on track and lose this junk while I'm young and still otherwise healthy.
The next pertinent story, I guess, is where did all this weight come from? After all, we must know where our challenges come from in order to tackle them.
Like a lot of American's, I've prettymuch always been heavy. I don't remember any point in my life where I felt thin. Though, in looking back at pictures of myself as a child, I didn't really start getting out of the normal zone until I was in junior high. I think that since I always had a "big" image of myself, I just lived up to that. No big tragedies or sob stories. I like to eat. Always have. I know genetics plays a big part, as well. Most of my family members are at least a little heavy. I think I have them all beat, though, and there is just no excuse for that.
I graduated high school at 180 pounds. Then went off to college, and kept on gaining. I found myself as a 20-year-old college sophomore weighing 225 pounds. Wow. So I took up running. I hate running, but I did it. Dropped back down. Stopped running. Gained more weight. I fluctuated up and down through college and medical school. I met my hubby, got married, then started Residency. As anyone who has done it will tell you, Residency is stressful! I was working 80-hour weeks, and driving 2 hours a day in addition to that. Fast food was often my only choice. And forget finding time to work out! At the end of my first year of residency, I was back at 225 pounds. Then I got pregnant. Add another 20. Then 20 more. When I finished my 3 years of residency, I tipped the scale at 265 pounds. Then I got pregnant again! Both of my pregnancies, mind you, were planned and happy. But I should have worked harder at shedding some weight before stressing my body that way. Thankfully, I had two healthy babies, with no complications due to my weight. Most heavy women are not so lucky. And since my second baby came after residency was over, I only gained 5 pounds during the entire pregnancy. My personal "worst" was 270 pounds on the day I delivered my son.
So, here I am, almost 4 years later and less than 10 pounds lighter. Time to tackle this gorilla head-on.
My food plan is simple. Plan ahead, buy only healthy ingredients, and stay away from junk. No fast food, no concentrated sweets. Drink lots of water. And by "lots", my goal is 100 ounces per day. My exercise plan is 3 days per week of weights (cardio warm-up first), and 2 days per week of pure cardio. I'm sure this will change as I find what works for me, but it's a good start.
My plan for today is a trip to the gym: 30 minutes of cardio, then a weight circuit. I plan to weigh in every Friday, and hope to lose 1-2 pounds per week. 3 would be nice, but I'm not pushing it.
Welcome to my journey. Won't you join me?
Melissa
