Growing up, my family always lovingly referred to me as “the junk food queen”. I have to admit my favorite holiday was Halloween. I could hardly wait to walk thru our never-ending neighborhood to gather my loot; anticipating the sorting, trading and finally gorging on all the sweets my efforts produced.
You might have assumed I was a chubby kid growing up according to my professed love for sweets, but that assumption would be wrong. In fact, I was very thin from childhood thru my teenage years, avoiding all sports and exercise and hating to ever break a sweat.
I tell you this because that is how the body works. Our bodies will compensate for our abuse until there is a breaking point. Mine came during my first pregnancy when I packed on the weight, reaching over 200lbs on my petite 5’2” frame. This lead to my first exercise program: running and cutting calories to lose the extra pounds. I repeated this exact scenario for my second pregnancy and it worked again but at a much slower pace.
Fast-forward to my mid 30s and the stresses of life and having a teenager can be seen taking a toll on my weight again. So I go into action and work up to 6-8 miles of running five days a week along with cutting my calorie intake to around 1300 to 1400 daily. After a few weeks I jumped on the scale and was in total disappointment that I hadn't lost one pound! I thought I must have overlooked something and decided to keep a journal.
I discovered one of the most useful FREE tools on the internet that I still use today that helps me maintain a healthy life. At the time of my weight crisis, I kept track of my eating and calorie intake using FitDay . My journal confirmed I was keeping on track and still wasn’t losing a single pound. Concerned, I contacted my doctor for her opinion on what I was doing wrong. With a copy of my FitDay journal in hand, I explained my situation to my doctor. My doctor looked at my journal and knew exactly what was allowing me to languish in my obese state.
Continued in Part 2 and before and after photos in part 3
