Weight Loss Journey

After posting a few pictures on Facebook last night, I had quite a few people want to know what "the secret" is. Well, to be quite honest there is no secret. Weight loss is different for everyone. It's not one magic thing. It truly is a journey. The journey for me was a very hard one. Not the way you are thinking, hard in a different way. Let me explain. It will not be a short story ( I don't suppose any of my stories are.) I have to start this story in 1999 actually. It's hard to tell the end of a story without first knowing the beginning! After a very rough time of anxiety and panic attacks, I began taking an anti-depressant called Paxil. I started on a low dose. I was in college at the time, and I gained about 10 pounds or so when starting the medicine. Not too many months after, I was married and pregnant with our first child. I stayed on the Paxil during pregnancy (because at the time it was not considered "unsafe"). After the baby, I felt like the medicine wasn't as potent, so I upped the dose. This was about the time I quit breastfeeding as well. I gained another 10-15 lbs. at this time too. Shortly after baby number one, was baby number two. I continued to take the Paxil  (still considered safe). After breastfeeding was complete I up'd the dose again and gained 10-15 more pounds. Now, let me intercede here with this. I am not blaming the Paxil alone for the weight gain. I am also blaming the post baby issues here too. When breastfeeding, your body needs more calories. I will be the first to tell you that I did NOT quite eating those 500 extra calories when I quit breastfeeding. I suppose you can guess the cycle for baby number three.... same scenario. Quit breastfeeding, up'd the meds. Gained another 15 pounds.  By the time Jada was 3 and 4 years old I was at the heaviest. I decided to lose some weight, but with the farm full time it was hard. We ate out a LOT of meals. I ate on the road a lot as well. The summer before Jada started Kindergarten, I decided that I should take control of my life! So, I quit taking the Paxil (after being on it for 10 years). It was very hard and I quit taking it cold turkey. I had not had anxiety issues in years, and the only reason I still took  it was because the withdrawal was so awful I didn't want to experience it! I quit smoking. This too was VERY difficult. I don't know which was worse to be quite honest. I decided to start Weight Watchers back up. I have lost 10-20 pounds here and there with there points program and figured that was the best way to go. I lost about 15 pounds by the fall. Then Kevin and I (mostly "I") decided to try for one more little precious one! This is where the "shit hits the fan" so to speak. I had only been pregnant for 5 weeks when I became very sick. Hyperemesis is the term used.  I was so nauseous that I was unable to eat. For almost 12 weeks I could only eat a few bites a day, and even then I would throw up most of it. I lost about 25 pounds over the course of this 12 weeks, while growing a baby inside. I gradually got my appetite back. I still didn't eat much. By the time I delivered Kennedy I was 16 pounds lighter than when I got pregnant! So, if you want to call this "diet jumpstart", I guess you could. Trust me though, this is NOT something I would wish even on my worst enemy! After Kennedy was born I continued with Weight Watchers. When she was about 3 months old, I suffered from some post-partum depression. I lost about 10 pounds during this time as well. I am doing well now, and have managed to keep the weight off over a year now! I run 3 times a week, and eat about HALF the calories I used to eat! The journey will be different for everyone. But, truly, the weigh to lose the weight is to not eat as much! I wish I had a secret pill to offer, or a proven method... but I don't. For now, I am holding my own with exercise and diet! It's a life long journey, that's for sure.