First Place 4 Health - Weight loss journey

When I was born the doctors were concerned because I was so little. They were worried I was underfed. I was on the low end of the weight chart for most of my early childhood. And then I hit 4th grade...it is weird for some reason that year we had two pictures taken one at the beginning of the year and one at the end. At the beginning I was skinny and slim faced by the end my face was round. Two things happened my 4th grade year. The first I hit puberty but that only brought a little weight. The second we learned we were moving to Maine from Alaska. I'd lived there since I was two I didn't know anywhere else. My mother was very very connected to her church and had a hard time with this move. Because of this there was a lot of emotional eating in our household. Lots of baked goods, high fat foods, and lots of trips to McDonald's and Mister Donut. Our trek from Alaska to Maine included lots of stops at McDonald's and Dairy Queen and very little activity.

Since then I've struggled with my weight. I was always heavier than most of my friends. In high school I had some luck losing weight but I gained it back my senior year. Then in college I lost some weight. But when I got into the relationship with my now ex-husband I gained a lot of weight due to emotional eating and unhealthy meals. I will say this I'm excellent with maintenance. I've remained within about 5-10 pounds of that weight. I've had several 10-15 pound loses but then I have 10-20 pound gains.

This time is different. So far since January 6th I've lost 6 lbs and every week I've had a loss. And here are some of my thoughts on why...

• I'm leading the class so I want to be a good example
• I'm not making drastic changes but I am making changes
• I'm trying to sneak in activity 
• I don't feel deprived
• I've almost completely given up my Coke drinking addiction (I occasionally have a kids Coke at a fast food resturant)
• I'm getting balanced with mind, body, spirit, and heart
• I'm doing Bible study daily
• I'm putting more faith in God and myself
• I'm putting Christ first in my life
• I'm putting myself first

I'm hoping the success continues because J and I are planning on meeting the end of this year and I want to knock his socks and possibly other articles of clothing off. Both of us are getting healthier...he's lost 20 lbs since he left.