And so the Journey Began...

The reaction of shock I get when I tell someone that I use to weight 320lbs is a priceless gift to me. I have embarked on a journey (of better health) that has changed my whole life and paid out so much more then I had ever imagined. I am beyond thrilled that my success of becoming a healthier person has inspired so many around me and that is why I have decided to start my blog.  I am a 34, a stay at home mom of four vibrant children (Bailey 8, Summer 5, Hannah and Zachary 2) and a proud military wife. I have lived a truly blessed life with the only exception being one enormous battle with the monster called food and my total lack of enthusiasm for exercise.  Looking back at pictures of me at my heaviest seems so unreal. I remember how that person felt (embarrassed, uncomfortable and very unhappy) but it’s weird how I don’t remember being that person. I don’t remember seeing myself as that big and I was big, tipping the scale at 315 and a size 26 (at 5’9” tall). I remember being afraid to stand on a step stool for fear I’d break it or not fitting in a chair. I remember having trouble breathing and keeping up with my little girl had become almost impossible. I remember not fitting into a single item in my closet and the dread of the department store dressing room but I never really was aware of how big I had allowed myself to become. Oh and the excuses one can come up with to attempt to explain away the fat. One of my excuses was the fact that I have Hashimoto’s disease (better known as Hypothyroidism) that slows your metabolism, often causing weight gain and another being that lots of women in my family are overweight so it must be genetic, right? Of course I was full of everyday excuses as to why I didn’t have time because I was too busy with the kids, or I didn’t get a good enough sleep, or the kids were being cranky.  Excuses, Excuses, EXCUSES! They drive me crazy these days. I’ve learned that there just isn’t room in life for excuses as to why you can’t take care of yourself.  Something has just clicked with me and I truly look at life and how I want to live it in a totally different way. Now this didn’t happen for me overnight, it was all baby steps and it didn’t really begin because I saw the need to loose the weight but because I was scared into it.  My journey to weight loss began when I was pregnant with my second child (Summer). I had been experiencing some awful headaches and had recently had an abnormal eye examination; the diagnosis was pseudotumor cerebri  (or benign intracranial hypertension), essentially increased spinal fluid on the brain. A disease that is most often found in Caucasian females who are overweight and the major risk being the loss of my eyesight. I was terrified! What would I do if I lost my vision? It was explained that the condition was caused obesity and that it may resolve itself if I lost some weight. So there it was, I must loose weight and my journey began.