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Introduction Text I have been overweight/obese for most of my life and even as a child had never been considered skinny or even normal. I went through a brief period in high school when I was a normal weight, but was not able to maintain that. I am the mother of 3 wonderful kids and along with each of them came a c-section (yes, that's THREE c-sections). I always seemed to get back to pre-pregnancy weight after each child, though I was still overweight/obese. When I found out I was pregnant with my last child, I was already 235 lbs-my highest weight EVER! After I had her, I did lose some of the weight but not much. I was always one of those people who absolutely hated exercise. I had every excuse in the book (didn't want to ruin my hair, hated sweating, hated being out of breath etc.). For some reason, I wanted to just passively lose the weight without doing any real work. I always hated being fat though and I began to let that dictate my social life. I wouldn't go to events because I was embarrassed; I avoided seeing people I hadn't seen in a long time because I didn't want them to know how big I'd gotten. I was literally tired of stuffing myself into clothes when I decided to join sparkpeople in 2006. Though I semi-logged my food for a couple of weeks, I never took it seriously. It would be almost another year before I'd actually get serious about losing the weight. In January of 2007, a co-worker of mine had bariatric surgery and she weighed less than I did! . Something about that turned on the light bulb in my head that I needed to get my s*** together! I wanted to prove that you could lose the weight without resorting to surgery. I started the day after Valentines day. I told myself, "if you stick with it, there's no way you'll stay fat forever". I only had one goal at the time-STICK WITH IT. I couldn't lean on the crutch of 'diet & exercise doesn't work' if I had never really given it time to work. I bought a scale and weighed myself. I was 228 lbs. I started tracking my food everyday and initially I was keeping my calories at or below 1600 per day. I started walking everyday after work, and walking the stairs during lunch breaks at work. When the weather was bad, I wouldn't walk but I didn't want to quit either, so I started to buy workout dvds. Eventually I bought a home elliptical so I could do something similar to walking when the weather wouldn't cooperate (I live in Cleveland-the weather almost NEVER cooperates!) Between February and August, I'd managed to lose 28 lbs. I began to think about my final goal. The BMI scale states that I should weigh between 130 and 154 lbs. (at smallest in high school, I was 147) but I thought that may be too low. So I set my goal at 170. I honestly thought that I'd be where I wanted to be at that weight. I just discovered recently that's not the case. I made my goal of 170 this year, 2010 but I'm still not done. So for now, I'm focusing on losing inches rather than pounds. I still exercise most days (usually 6) and I actually love it! I am always looking for new and challenging ways to workout. I never thought someone like me would love to workout. I know it sounds like a cliche, but if I can do it, ANYBODY and I do mean ANYBODY can do it!

Now that I am at my goal WEIGHT, I am still in pursuit of my goal BODY. So I will continue to work on my trouble areas and I will never stop eating healthy or working out! This is only the beginning! Short term goals (2-3 months) 1. get to 158 and MAINTAIN IT! I have been gaining and losing the same 5 lbs for far too long! 2. get a flat tummy WITHOUT SURGERY! Not only can I not afford it, I don't want to be operated on again (3 csections was enough!) Long term goals (3-12 months) 1. Get various personal training certifications! 2. wear a bikini in public 3. run a 5k, then a 1/2 marathon, then a full marathon

As of May 2, 2011 I am back doing the fitnesspoynters workouts and eating plan. I lift weights 5 days a week (alternating body parts) and cardio 5 days a week (2 days of steady state, 3 days of HIIT) I don't consume any artificial sweeteners, caffeine . trans fat or high fructose corn syrup. I don't eat dairy (not for weight purposes but it does HORRIBLE things to my skin) Lots of H2O (I try for a gallon a day) Recommitted Goals 170- 165- originally met (GOAL)- 6/21/10 current waist size: 28.5 goal waist size: 26.5

I am 33 years old born and raised in Cleveland, OH. I married my best friend on 5/29/10 and I am the proud mom of 3 biological kids and one wonderful stepson (who is almost and ADULT!) :)

I love to shop and read. In case anyone is wondering I am 5'6" and have a large frame, hence the reason for setting my goal weight at the upper range of the bmi scale :) My favorite movie is Friday

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