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About Author Hi, my name is Julie and I am the creator
and author of exercise4weightloss.com. I wanted to
take some time to talk about my own
ups and downs with weight loss and exercising. This is a long
page as my story has different ups and downs and I start from the
beginning. So, I apologize ahead of time for being so wordy, but I wanted to share with you my experiences so that you can hopefully learn from them. The Early Years Growing up I was always within my normal weight range, not too skinny but by no means overweight. I did not have to watch what I ate and did not have a set exercise routine. I was a very active child, so was always involved in a sport, gym class or just played all kinds of games for fun. Being so active was probably the main reason I never had to watch what I ate. I was a typical teenager going to all the fast food restaurants and eating the junk food with my friends. After I graduated, I got a good job in an office and became a lot less active. I still did not need to worry about my eating habits too much, but I did gain 10 lbs within two years of graduating. I was still within my normal weight range, so did not worry about the extra pounds. Married with Children Then, I got married and got pregnant. During my pregnancy with my oldest son, Michael, I gained a whopping 50 lbs. My doctor warned me about having to lose this extra weight once the baby was born, but since I had never had to worry about weight before, I really did not pay close attention. Needless to say, once Michael was born, I had an excess of 35 lbs to lose on top of the 10 lbs I had gained after graduating. So, this is where my ups and downs with weight problems began. I was not prepared for the change to my body or my metabolism with giving birth to a baby. I was able to drop 25 lbs within one year. I thought it would come off much more quickly, but being tied to a desk job did not help and I did not include an exercise program at this time. At this point, I was now 20 lbs heavier than when I graduated high school. Then along comes baby number two, my son Jonathan. With this pregnancy, I watched what I ate a lot more closely, but try as hard as I could, I still gained 35 lbs. After having Jonathan, I was now 40 lbs heavier than when I graduated and 30 pounds over my normal weight range. I now had two small children to run after, so was a bit more active but a lot more stressed. They are only 19 months apart, and I was only 23 years old when I had Jonathan. I did not join any weight loss programs at this time, as my mind set was that I was still young and would be able to do this on my own. I would drop a few pounds, gain some back, then drop some more. This yo-yo of losing and gaining weight played havoc on my metabolism. By the time I got pregnant three years later with my third and last child, daughter Kristina, I was very disgusted with myself and had an attitude of “I don’t care if I gain weight”. And believe me; I gained weight with this last pregnancy. I gained a total of 62 pounds – a lot of excess weight. It was after I had Kristina that I knew I needed help. I could no longer lose weight on my own as I never really learned what was right and what was wrong when trying to lose weight. My Greatest Success So my hunt began for a good weight loss plan that would teach me what foods to eat and how to lose and keep the weight off. It was at this time that I joined Weight Watchers. I weighed in at 189 pounds, and at only 5’3” this was considered obese. I attended the weekly onsite meetings which was the best experience I ever had. There were people like me struggling to lose weight. The ages varied from younger than me to older than me, but all with similar situations. I joined Weight Watchers with a coworker, so we would attend the meetings together. This really helped me to stay on track and attend the meetings. We also started walking the stairs in our office building during lunch and also joined a local gym and would do weight training a few times a week. By changing my eating habits and adding exercise, within 11 months I reached my goal weight of 130 lbs. I actually dropped down to 127 lbs, so 3 lbs below my goal weight. I was officially a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and this was one of my proudest days. I thought to myself, I know what to do now so there is no way I would ever let myself get this heavy again. Well, I did learn what I needed to for my current lifestyle and I did keep the weight off for over 4 ½ years. I continued to attend the Weight Watchers meetings as I know I need this extra support. Gaining Again You are probably asking yourself right now, why is she struggling with weight again if she already reached her goal? Well, life is life and as with everything else, changes happen. In 1990, my company located in Denver, Colorado merged with a company in Michigan. I was asked to participate on a project team to implement a new accounting system. The economy being what is was back then in Colorado, I decided the best thing was to accept this project. For the next 16 months, I traveled each week to Michigan. I left each Sunday and did not return home until Friday. This was the most stressful time of my life. The project was demanding and required 12 to 14 hours a day. I lived in a hotel room, so nothing but restaurant food or room service. I could no longer attend the Weight Watcher meetings as they were during the weekdays when I was in Michigan. My kids missed me tremendously and it put a huge strain on my marriage. The other problem was I never learned how to continue my good eating habits while on the road as this was never my lifestyle before. So, with the change in eating (always eating out) and no longer able to attend the meetings or the local gym, my total lifestyle changed for the bad during these 16 months. At the end of the project I had gained back 40 of the 62 pounds I had lost. I was then asked to relocate to Michigan for a job, which I accepted and had to uproot my family to move out here. This unfortunately was the turning point of my marriage and it was apparent that it was deteriorating. Although we hung in there for 10 years after we moved here, it was a depressing and stressful 10 years for both of us. We grew apart but stayed together for the kids, which with hindsight was probably not the best decision. Anyhow, not to dwell on this, my point being that stress is a huge factor for me. It is one of my emotional eating red flags, the other being boredom. And I was extremely stressed and bored. End result was total devastation to my weight. By the time me and my ex husband decided to separate and get a divorce, I was now a whopping 225 pounds. The heaviest I had ever been and the most depressed and disgusted with myself. On the Losing End Again I was on a mission to lose weight once again. And I was extremely determined. I bought myself a treadmill and joined the local gym. I was eating salads again everyday with my lunch and dinner and was cooking healthier meals. I began getting back out in the world, making new friends and taking time to talk to neighbors I had never really knew. I met some really good friends and was enjoying life for the first time in many years. This change in attitude and my eating and exercise habits began to show good results. Within 1 year of filing for divorce, I was down to 162 pounds, a loss of 63 pounds. I still needed to lose 30 more pounds to be where I wanted to be. Up Again, Another Curve Ball I then met the love of my life and have been together ever since. Unfortunately, Doug loves to cook and is a great cook. So instead of losing those 30 extra pounds, I gained 10 pounds with his great cooking. I now had 40 pounds to lose. Then, life threw me another curve. After 28 years with the same company, they did restructuring and about 100 people were unemployed, including me. Since stress is one of my emotional eating triggers, and this was again an extremely stressful situation, I gained 20 plus more pounds. So, once again I find myself with over 60 plus pounds to lose and again in the obese category. My Final Journey Since beginning my weight loss program May 1, 2008, I have now lost 15 22 pounds (updated 10/20/2008). This is much slower than I would like, but at my age, let’s just say 40 something, my metabolism is much slower. I am using what I learned from my Weight Watcher days and my hours of researching online. I use a weight loss journal daily and record my calorie intake and exercise calories into my excel calorie intake chart. I’ve created goals, meal plans and exercise plans. I do this at the beginning of each week. I review my results each week and adjust if need be. I am not trying to lose weight quickly as I want to make this my final weight loss journey. My main goal is to once again be able to keep the weight off once I’ve reached my goal and never have weight loss ups and downs. My ultimate weight loss motivation is this web site. It is a big step for me to share with the world just how overweight I am as I keep these things very private. By sharing with you this personal information I am in turn motivating myself to do well. Let's face it, who wants to share with the world their story if it's not successful so I plan on being successful. Additional articles Best Weight Loss Plan - Weight Watchers Weight Loss Motivation Exercise
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