My Story

I thought this might be a good start to this site...writing about my weight loss. Where do I start....I was diagnosed with migraines some 30 odd years ago. I had been having them since early teenage years but no one seemed to know what they were. The Neurologist finally prescribed a drug that typically was used for depression but he had found good results in his patients who suffered with migraines. It worked wonderfully but unfortunately one of the biggest side effect was weight gain. I went from 120 pounds to almost 200 in less then a year. Because the drug for that was new it never occured to anyone that it was a side effect. They kept saying I was eating too much.. uh I have 5 small kids who has time to eat??

At that time I started nursing school and doing some research for my drug therapy class I came across the drug and there it was big as ever... side effect weight gain. I went off the drug and it took me several years to get the weight off. About 6-7 years after that the migraines again were really bad so I went back on the drug. I thought this time it would be easier, I could watch what I ate etc. It took longer this time to put the weight on  but on it did come. I was working 2 jobs at the time, the little kids had grown to teenagers and Keith was going to school full time out of town and then working out of town on his breaks.

When we moved to BC I decided to go off the drug again. I had hit 250 pounds and it was very upsetting. This time it would not come off.. it was 40 off 50 on 50 off 50 on and back and forth for years. Then something else was going on with my body that we couldn't figure out. I also was struggling with pain with my spine which I had been for many years (partly due to the excessive weight on my joints and partly due to degenerative discs) and that was getting worse. I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and between that and the degeneration of my spine I ended up having to go on disability from work.

By the end of the first year of being at home I hit an all time high of 312.5. My scales only went to 275 and in my brain I figured that is where I sat. I could only walk with a cane and if I went out I had to use a wheelchair. 2 things hit home to me and I had my ah hah moment. It was Christmas 6 years ago. Our kids were coming over for dinner and I happened to see my daughter drive up to the door. I opened the door and one of my granddaughters came running up to me. I braced myself for her jumping up at me just as I heard my daughter tell her to not jump up as it would hurt my back. That upset me that I could no longer pick up my grandkids. The 2nd thing was Keith had gotten me a Team Canada hockey jersey. It was a 4Xl size and when I put it on I could barely pull it down over my hips. Not good.

We also had gotten family portraits done that week and when we picked them up I saw myself and thought ewwwwwwwwwww!. What I didn't know was at the same time, one of our daughter in laws was also saying the same thing to herself. We ended up starting our weight loss journey together and when we talked about it we realized we were just a few pounds apart when we started and we both ended up losing the same amount of weight in the same time frame. A very close friend of mine had been up at that same time and we were watching Dr. Phil while we were visiting and she was saying she wanted to follow his Ultimate Weight Loss Solutions plan but wanted to do it with someone. I said I would do it with her so we started our journey together. I read his book from start to finish and although I had always said I wasn't an emotional eater (my idea of an emotional eater was someone who pigged out when they were depressed or angry) but after reading it I realized I also was one. I related all family gatherings with food, all friends visiting with food, all movie nights with food. Get the picture? Every event, gathering, social outing had to involve food and lots of it.

I learned why I ate what I ate where I ate it and how I ate it. Once I got my head fixed the rest was history. I knew there was only TWO ways to losing weight successfully. Take in less and work out more. Plain and simple. Who would have thought diet and exercise was the key answer after all those years of yo-yo dieting??? The diet part I could work out the exercise was another story. My daughter lived a 6 minute walk from door to door and that was how I started. One foot in front of the other from my house to house. There was a park bench half way and I would have to sit there on my way and once I got to my daughter's house I had to lay down before I could attempt the walk back. I had to take some painkillers before I started my walk as it was very painful. Then one day I made it all the way there without stopping, then I could walk there and back without stopping. I remember the elation I felt the day I could walk all the way to my bank 4 blocks away without stopping!!! I was on top of the world!! And there was no stopping me then.

Like everything else I do in my life, I don't do something without learning how to do it, study how to do it and then plod in headfirst. I figured out what proper portions were and used things easy to use rather then having to measure every morsel. It was a lot easier to know a chicken breast the size of a deck of cards was easier to put on my plate then to have to weight the silly thing. It was easy to guage a ball sized potatoe then to weigh in grams etc. I also knew that my worst habit was not eating breakfast ever, rarely eating lunch and then from about 4pm till I went to bed it was constant eating. I had to start eating breakfast and so I did. It was hard let me tell you. But I stuck to it. My eating plan was breakfast, then a snack, then lunch, then a snack, then supper then nothing till the next morning. THAT nearly did me in let me tell you. We also had to go through the house and got rid of everything that was not a healthy option. If it was unopened we took it to the food back if it was opened we gave it away or threw it away.

We wrote to our children and told them what we were doing  and to help support us we needed them to NOT bring food with them when we had our movie nights etc. If they had to bring something then to bring a fruit or veggie tray. Definitely no more Costco size bags of Cheetos. I was surrounded by sabotagers. People constantly would say "Oh you can have just one piece, one bite won't kill you, you can diet tomorrow etc". Would you offer an insulin dependant diabetic a pice of cheesecake or a glass of scotch to an alcoholic? I had to get it through my head that this was NOT a diet but a lifestyle change.

Once I got my head on straight my body got on straight. I lost 150 pounds in 2 years and have kept it off for 4 years. I now weight myself still once a week and give myself a 5 pound window. Once I hit that 5 pound mark I look back at my food intake and output and automatically see where I have falthered. But now instead of eating half a cheesecake, I now have half a piece, or if I go to McDonalds with the grandchildren I will share a cheeseburger with one of the little ones etc. I will have to be diligent for the rest of my life. This is my 4th Christmas since I lost my weight that I have not gained the proverbial 10 pounds. That makes me happy.

I still have 20 pounds to lose and this will help me work that off with the help of others who will join with me. I hope that together we can make us a healthier us in 2010, one pound at a time. In closing I would like to add some pictures of me with the hockey jersey that was the pivoting moment in my life. The one of two of us in the shirt is the same granddaughter who had not been able to jump in my arms 6 years ago.