Biggest Loser??

So I've struggled with weight almost all of my life. When I was in eight grade, I weighed just over 200 pounds. Yeah.. not pretty.. My mom's church was participating in something called the Weigh Down Workshop where you learn to listen to your body to find out when you're actually hungry (not just wanting to munch) and when you're full. I lost 60 pounds in less than 6 months. It was awesome!!!

Now, four kids later, I'm back to where I was in middle school... :( After having my oldest, while I gained 50 pounds during pregnancy, I was able to easily lose 35 pounds of it and was ok with that weight/size. Then came babies number 2 and 3. Amazingly, I had no problems losing all of their baby weight as well, keeping me at 15 pounds more than I was before I got pregnant. But still comfortable at that weight.

The 9 months before I got pregnant with number 4, I gained 30 pounds.. yes.. 30 pounds.. and I didn't really realize it until I got pregnant and weight the EXACT SAME AMOUNT beginning that pregnancy as when I DELIVERED baby number four.. Yes, that's just crazy!

Thankfully, I was able to lose all of the last pregnancy weight, but my weight was still where it was when I delivered #3. Then came the losing of my father and oops -- I've gained 10 pounds...

So, that brings me to today. For the first time in my life, I'm actually purposefully trying to lose weight, and now that I'm closer to 30 - it's actually kind of hard!

I've started excercising at the office by walking around our 'circle' (which is one mile) at least 3 times a week. For Christmas, my mom bought me Zumba for the Wii - so I've been trying to do that as well.

As far as eating goes, I'm TRYING to not go back for seconds, and to be mindful of my body (when am I really hungry vs. being snacky). I've realized that the afternoons are the hard part for me. It's my sluggish time of the day and I feel the desire to munch. To combat this, I've scheduled my walking breaks during this time. It's helped a lot! I have a lot more energy than usual and hopefully it's helping me get to a more healthy weight.

So far I've lost 2 pounds. I have small stepping goals that lead to a larger goal. First goal was to lose 12 pounds, so I have 10 pounds to go. After that my goals are 10 pound incriments.

While I'd love to see this weight off NOW, I know that realistically I've got to make this a lasting change, so if it takes 6 months or 12 months to lose it, then that's what it will take.

I'm hoping that in my posting this here, I'll keep myself accountable and honest.. We'll see how this goes!