My Story Part I

As a teen, I was fit.  I played sports and excelled at them too.  I was healthy, and I felt good about myself.  When Jason and I were engaged to be married, we both expressed our desires to remain healthy and in good shape.  Never in a million years did I imagine that I would gain so much weight.

Once I got pregnant with child #1, I did not know what to expect afterward.  Shortly after she was born, I dropped all of the baby weight.  I received compliments and felt great!  But then the weight started to come on, and I didn't even realize it.  The defining moment was when I saw a picture of myself.  I was horrified at what I saw.  So I buckled down and started working out for a while.  I lost weight, and then I got pregnant again.

#3 and Me after church. He's handsome!

I remained active throughout pregnancy #2, and once again, when she was born, I dropped the weight within the first few weeks.  Like before, it didn't take long for the weight to come back on.  It took me a long time to realize why.  My body stores calories when I nurse.  So I gain weight.

There was 5 1/2 years between #2 and #3, and during that whole time my body went on a weight loss, weight gain roller coaster.  Finally at the beginning of 2009, I felt like I was getting it together.  I was losing weight, eating right, and feeling great.... then I got injured.  I tore my meniscus (aka a very painful knee injury).  That one incident changed my life; it set in motion a string of events, leading me here, not fully recovered from surgery, but needing to lose weight in order to recover.

For three months, I was unable to do much house work.  I spent most of my time sitting around.  I got out of the habit of doing.  I cooked less, cleaned less, and even interacted with my kids less.  The one thing that replaced these things were fast food, over consumption of the internet, more unhealthy snacking, and more sitting around.  I was always tired.

As a result, I was unable to get pregnant again.  Like I said before, "there was 5 1/2 years between #2 and #3."  So when #3 was in the cards, I promised myself that I would not gain weight when he nursed.  I was going to be careful.  Well, I failed.  There came a point after he was born where I didn't even look to see how much I weighed.  I avoided cameras (still do) and videos as best as I could.  I didn't even know what I looked like fully, as we don't have a full-length mirror.  I could just feel my clothes getting tighter.  I stopped wanting to go out, and I began telling myself hurtful things.

All of these things have lead me to this day, this point, where I feel I've hit rock bottom.  I'm ready to change, but I can't do it alone.  That much is evident.

So why do I share my "sob story" with you?  Because, we all have them, and in order to change, I feel like I needed to get it out there.  It is part of my honest weight-loss.

Own it and share it with me!  Email me or comment, and let's move past it together.

Happy losing!

Evelyn Campbell Curtis

My Story Part II