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Introduction Text Hello to Everyone! SparkPeople has served me well. I started this journey in May 2011 and officially using Spark since July 2011. My successes and setbacks all recorded here as the journey continues with maintenance. I hope to continue to work through this with the help of fellow Sparkers and possibly help others along the way. (Updated January 2020) A quick rap up of 2019 - I dropped an additional 15 lbs after all these Spark years last year which took me 25 lbs lower than original goal of my start in 2011. I followed Bright Line Eating rules of no sugar/flour and limiting other foods. It felt wonderful and finally took me to the “normal” BMI range. However, it only lasted about six months. BLE was not totally sustainable for me. I fell back into some rebellion and emotional eating. The trip back up the scale was fun but the destination disappointing... So, I’ve been up and down Rezooming this start of 2020 down a couple of pounds. I’m still on shaky ground, but my foundation is solid and I am moving forward, positively and hopeful for managing what I have worked so hard for, a health and happiness in a right-sized body. Never stopped Sparking going on 9 years! Celebrating success! (Updated August 2018) Still Sparking after 7 yrs! Maintaining a loss of 54-64 lbs! (Updated 6/27/16) 5 years on my Spark journey as it continues...maintaining for 4 years now...has it been easy? Not really... Has it been worth it? DEFINATELY!!! Far from perfect and ideal but oh, so much better than 50 lbs ago! (Updated 6/6/14) After close to 3 yrs I have finally hit goal! Learning maintenance is a continual journey... (updated 2/14/12) I've been a Spark member since July 2011 and have lost about 40lbs with another 15lbs to go. Right now Feb 2012 I am at a turning point. As soon as I started to feel really good and peak at a 40lb loss and no longer in the obese BMI range I regressed. I gained 7lbs and just couldn't find the umph! I had at the beginning. But I am still frequented Spark on occasion in search of better days to come without gaining and losing the last bit of weight and MOST OF ALL, MAINTAINING. (JULY 2011) I am setting out on yet another weightloss journey. I Have about 50lbs to lose and most importantly, maintain the loss. At 47 years old its as much a matter of feeling good as looking good but hope to do both. Hope there's a few of you out there who can inspire and cheer me on, and hope I can do the same for someone else. My highest weight ever I believe was about 235 but I've held it at 229 for the last year or so. I decided to give it another go in April 2011 by addressing emotional eating, compulsive/binge eating, and food addiction. By July 2011 I was 223. That's when I joined SP to really work to get the weight off. It's been 8yrs since I started this journey and have lost 65 lbs and feeling great... It all began here: July 13, 2011 222lbs 47lbs to go July 20 219.2 -4lbs July 27 216 -3lbs Aug 3 213.8 -3lbs Feeling really good at this point, but starting to worry about if I can keep it going. August 10 213.5 maintained - 38lbs to go August 17 212.4 Okay...unexpected -1lb august 23 209.6 great! but unexpected -3lbs August 31 207 oh yea!!! -2.6 lbs 32lbs to go Sep 7 208.6 that's my first gain- so mewhat surprised Sep 14 209 scale is moving up Sep 21 214 Hell! Sep 28 209 Oct 4 207.4 Thank you, Lord! Oct 11 206.8 Hallalujah! Oct 18 202.4 More Hallalujah!!! Back on track Oct 26 200.8 Come on Onederland! Nov 2 197.4 WooHoo 2's are GONE...Feeling great! Nov 9 197.0 awesome but fighting emational Nov 21 193.5 AWESOME! Made it through Vegas -got massage! Nov 30 195 OK Post Thanksgving Dec 7 196 Don't want to go there Dec 14 195 Still up but in goal range Dec 28 193 lbs survived the holiday! Next goal Mar 1 - 10 lbs in 10wks - gooo...me! Jan 3,2012 189 YES! YES! YES! Ahead of schedule so hoping to stay steady...clothes are fitting perfectly! Jan 10 189 maintained Jan 17 & 25 Did not weigh in - feeling too comfortable - self sabotage - trying to refocus... Feb 8 196.5 Gaining...:(. Told myself that I can't let this happen but cannot stop the runaway train! STAY TUNED... Feb 22 198 Fighting the never-ending battle of self- sabotage Mar 6 193.6 better but not confident Mar 21 196 Mar 28 196. Felt I had a good week but scale does not show it. Will continue the work.... MAY 2, 2012 OMG Forgot to keep tracking weigh ins here! 195.5 Maintained almost 2 months 20lbs to goal.... June 14, 2012 204lbs Not excited about this at all but staying positive that I will keep a positive attitude and keep working at it. June 21 199.5 back on track and feeling positive again ONE YEAR SPARVERSARY! July 11, 2012 196 lbs of a healthier me! Not the weight I planned on when I started this journey a year ago but still down 33lbs from last summer. I call that a success. Still moving forward... July 17 191 lbs. Snuck in a weigh in because I was feeling it! Officially weighing in only monthly now August 8, 2012 185 lbs. YES! YES! YES! September 4, 2012 182 lbs. I DID IT! October 2, 2012 181 lbs. YES! A loss is a loss! And this is 18 lbs less than same time last year! October 29,2012 179lbs. Yay! Into another decade 1 1/2 yrs into this December 4, 2012 178lbs a pound is a pound especially when it's a loss! Yay! January 2, 2013 184lbs I did it...I will undo it! Still a success and down 5lbs lighter than one year ago! Jan 29, 2013 185.5 moving in the wrong direction...Do NOT like moving my ticker in the wrong direction. Lessons to learn.i Feb 26, 2013 185 not my dream # but after a wild scale of a month - maintained! March 4, 2013 187 up up up so will weigh weekly here! March 12, 2013 186 lbs Down 1 lb for a good week! March 18,2013 186.5. Up by 1/2 lb but may be PMS April 2, 2013 190 lbs. not happy with self April 8, 2013 188.5 a loss is a loss - have been working at it April 15, 2012 186.5 Down 2 lbs yeah! Headed in the right direction! April 22, 2013 185 yes steadily downward April 30, 2013 184.5 a loss is a loss -1/2 lb May 6, 2013 181 lbs - 3.5 yes, finally! May 13, 203 180 lbs down 1 lb woohoo! May 20, 2013 180.5 okay just holding my breath and hoping its PMS June 2013 185 lbs. pre and post vacation...not soo bad... July 22, 2013 184.5 Gotta shake this July 29, 2013 -1.5lbs = 183lbs Shaking this plus...8lbs lighter than last year! August 5, 2013 -3.5 lbs = 179.5 lbs finally back to the 170's Sept 2013 184 lbs. 170's did not last long...:( October 2013 189 lbs and NOT HAPPY! Planning on losing 10 lbs for birthday cruise in Dec.... December 2013 pre-holiday and cruise 184 lbs and scared for post holiday weigh in January 2014 192 and not happy about it! January 16, 2014 -2 lbs. 190. Thank you Spark Friend for fatloser.com motivation February 13, 2014 183 lbs. Headed in the right direction. March 3, 2013 181.5 going DOWN...WooHoo! Recommitted to reaching goal! March 26, 2014 -5.5 = 176 lbs. New Year 12 Week Program worked Almost at goal and 10lbs lighter than this time last year! May 2014 172 lbs I HAVE FINALLY HIT GOAL! It has been 3 yrs since I started this journey! June 2014 174 lbs MAINTAINING! July 2014. 175 lbs struggling to find maintenance and be BINGE free Aug, Sep, Oct 2014 Balancing at high end of range and tipping over 178-183 Dec-Jan 2015 182 lbs over goal but still soooo proud - lighter than last year Feb 2015 182 lbs Still maintaining on the high end...still less than few of last 3 yrs WooHoo!!! March 2015 175lbs BACK IN THE SADDLE! Feels awesome! April 2015 169 lbs and livin' it!!! May/June 2015 163-167 hit all time lows of new goals! Beach Vaca! July 2015 Up to 173/175 due to binging...emotional eating Nov 2015 184.6 lbs Up! Up! Up! Not good.struggling to find maintenance and be BINGE free Feb 2016 180 March 2016 174 Yearly Maintenace! April 2016 179 is up but reworking it! May 2016 175 good but goal is now 170... Train Trip July 2016 175 lbs 5 Years on Spark! Oct 2016 184 whoa!!! (My last teaching year) Dec 2016 172-175 Better! Spring 2017 179 RETIREMENT BEGINS - How will life/weight change?!?! Summer Pre Vaca 2017 169.8 Lost 9lbs STURGIS Trip Sept 2017 170 hovering and happy! October 2017 168 is the trend...love the feeling of a new middle six...its been a year since I've seen a middle eight...that's how long it took to reset a new set point of middle seven...now working toward setting the middle six for the remainder of 2017...!?!? November 2017 - 170-172 back to a middle seven but still below 175 - hoping to just maintain until I get my act together December 2017 Trending at 170.10 Nice! January 2018 post Holiday 170-168 Feb 2018 - 169 - barely holding the middle 6 but doing it! Mar 2018 - 168 - holding the middle 6! April 2018 - 168-172 Beware of the middle 7 creeping in! May 2018 - 165 great month with focus on dropping a few for Vaca! Austin/Texas Hill Country Motorcylce Trip June/July 2018 165 great job even with a nine day Vaca in June and Happy 7th Sparkversary to me! Maintaining a lower weight! August 2018 173 poked it's a nose at me after an emotional summer but...it's already coming down. Middle 6 is the goal. Sept 2018 173 has remained w/ uptick of the scale and scary eating...moving on to work for the middle six and sane eating Oct 2018 175.4 UP! Trying BLE strategies for food freedom... Nov 2018 164.4 Yep! That's right! To be continued... Feb 2019 150.6 yep! Still BLE for maintainence. Now what...? March/April 2019 upper 150’s range w/ special occasions and binges, but I’m in it to stay for now! Established my own Bright Lines June/July 2019 153-155 Struggling but maintaining new lower range Aug/Sep 2019 164 UPtick. Not fun. Summer binges and explosions Still 10 down from last year... Oct/Nov pre holiday 166 - lost the 150’s range - achievable vs maintainable??? Jan 2020 173 Ouch! Up by a near 20lbs from same time last year post BLE - enjoyed the trip here but not the destination! Good news is I’m still under original goal, whatever...right now goal is middle 6 Feb 2020 -3 lbs 170 but struggling...Let’s Spring forward and March on!

I wanted to lose about 50lbs in 6 months when I started Sparking July 2011. After 2 years of Sparking I maintained a 40 lb loss. Rounding out year three I finally hit goal of of 175 lbs with a 57 lb loss and this has been the longest maintenance I have ever experienced in my lifetime. Since retiring in May 2017, I've changed up my eating and exercise routine and have lost a few more pounds - now working on staying under 160lbs... I call this my success story! Never could say that before Spark experience. So much new knowledge, inspiration, and motivation found here. The journey continues... I want to feel better physically and look better, too!

I'm following: - my own combo plan using everything I’ve learned over the years - tracking w/ lower carbs regularly eating lots of fruit and veggies. -belong to a small ladies fitness club - yoga 2x/wk and weight training class 1x/wk and new AquaFit class 2x/wk and I am also a regular outdoor walker as weather permits. I have been flexible but consistent with regular exercise for years.

I am 56 years old, live in rural Louisiana, married 37yrs, mother of two grown children, and now a grandmother of five. I worked as a school teacher and librarian for 30 years and now Retired. Life is good! I've been Sparking since 2011 losing over 75lbs and maintaining A new lowest adult weight. The journey continues daily!



Add a Link A decision made about how much to weigh is a decision made on how to live. (KANOE) I have decided.
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