Trifecta of Gain

In my introduction post, I mentioned how my journey with weight has had its mountains and its valleys. My most recent journey began in the summer of 2010. It truly began with a picture.

I love baseball and one June evening, then Baltimore Orioles outfielder/DH Luke Scott was speaking at a local event. I purchased tickets and enjoyed the evening. Afterward, I waited for an autograph and picture with Luke. My excitement over the event turned to embarrassment when I saw myself in the picture.

The photo that forced me to acknowledge I needed to find the strength to change. Also, I did some really weird curly thing to my hair that evening.

After struggling the rest of the summer with feelings of disgust with myself, but in August I finally felt determined enough to do something. I joined Weight Watchers and acquired a gym membership. My first moment where I truly felt like I was finding some success was in October. One of my best friends was getting married. I had my last fitting for my bridesmaid dress just a few weeks into my new lifestyle. When I put the dress on the day of her wedding, I was ecstatic. It was loose! I could feel a huge difference between my last fitting and wearing it that day.

The calendar turned to 2011and somehow, almost remarkably, I stuck with all my new habits. By that summer, I was down about 50 pounds. It felt like a whole new me. In fact, in early September, I started a new job. I felt like it was the first time that people just knew Heather the person and not Heather the fat girl.

Over the next few months, I lost another 5 to 10 pounds. At the end of that year, I met Tim, my now husband. Starting a new relationship did wonders for me. Within that first month of “can't sleep, can't eat” feelings, I dropped another 10 pounds. At that point, I weighed less than I had since around middle school.

I took this photo to send to my best friend before leaving for my first date with Tim. I can't wait to get to that point again.

As you can guess, after the newness of our relationship wore off, those 5 to 10 pounds came back on pretty quickly. As Tim and I started spending more and more time together, I started counting WW Points less and less.

Tim had ran his marathon a few months prior to this and had then taken some time off of running. He was feeling burned out and dealing with shin splints for awhile. His love of running encouraged me to start a C25K program. We worked at it together which helped keep the weight in check since I wasn't following any eating program. We did a 5K in June of that year. I did pretty bad at it, but that's another story for another day.

Tim and I were married at the end of July. Thankfully at that point, I had only put back on about 10 pounds and didn't have any issues fitting into my wedding dress! I think I had a few nightmares about that scenario...

It fit, it fit! And the wedding was everything I ever dreamed it would be.

But then I entered what I have titled the Trifecta of Gain. I had read about the “Newlywed 15” the apparent older sister to the dreaded “Freshman 15”. It definitely hit me, especially as I continued to make worse choices with my food, with little to no exercise. At this time, I also was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder and a benign tumor in my brain. On top of that, the beginning to this school year was intense. I work with students who are in a self contained special education room. While I love what I do, there were numerous moments in the fall where I did not think I could keep it up. By the end of 2012, I had gained a total of 30 pound back of what I had lost originally!!

The good news? Everything is looking up—except for my weight! I decided to save money and go with calorie counting on My Fitness Pal instead of Weight Watchers. I also started to do some Zumba—videos only. I'm embarrassed enough to Zumba in front of both my husband and my dog! And most recently, I'm giving the 5K training again.

The result? Since January 6^th, I've lost 18.8 lbs. Despite the two steps forward, one step back approach, I'm really thrilled with how I'm feeling and that when Spring rolls around, I'll be able to fit into my cute sundresses! I was really worrying about that a few months ago... And I'm not the only one making progress on this journey. Tim has lost almost 30 pounds since mid-January and is eyeing a half marathon in a few months. He's always looked great to me, but I love how much healthier we are both becoming.