"It is a shame for a woman to grow old without ever seeing the strength and beauty of which her body is capable." - Socrates
Getting Off The Couch, One Inch At A Time.
I spend my days on my couch. I work from home, and my “desk” is my ottoman. From this couch, I make the $$, answer the emails, answer the phone, watch a toddler play, and flip channels. Every. Day. I get up from the couch to make food, play in the floor with the toddler, chase the toddler out of the kitchen, and make the occasional trip to the bathroom. Around 5ish every afternoon, I get up to make dinner, bathe the toddler, and spend some quality time with him before his bedtime. If it is pretty outside, we go outside to play for a little while. By 7:30, I am back on the couch again. I think we can all see why I am 50+ pounds overweight.
Here is the history of Jess, in weight and pictures:
I have always been a heavy girl. The thinnest I ever remember being is a size 10, at the age of 12. I was on the swim team at school, so I was in pretty good shape. I quit swim team my sophomore year in high school, and starting consistently gaining. When I graduated high school, I was a size 14, weighing about 180 pounds.
By the time I graduated college, I was weighing about 220. The heaviest point in my life, to there, was my wedding day. You see, I am a stress eater. Big time. HUGE.
I hung out in the 220 rage until I decided to join Weight Watchers in November 2008. I lost 13ish pounds in 6 weeks.
Then, I found out I was pregnant. =D I had to quit WW and focus on having a healthy pregnancy. I was a teensy bit pregnant in that ^ picture, but I didn't even know it!
I managed to only gain 20 pounds in my first 2 trimesters. That ^ picture is me at 25 weeks. Then, the 3rd trimester reared it's ugly head ....
It was all over! On the day my precious baby boy was born, I weighed in at 236 pounds. That was September 2009.
I decided to breast feed my baby, and this helped me lose weight FAST. By November 2009, I was down to 205ish pounds. See?
Bad, bad hair idea, Jessica. Sheesh!
As soon as I stopped breast feeding in December 2009, the weight started to pile back on. I was happy and focused on my baby, and not thinking about my weight. I found my cake-decorating passion and was baking A LOT.
By Christmas of 2010, I weighed in at 237 pounds. One pound heavier than when I was 9 months pregnant. 32 pounds heavier in a YEAR. Wowzers. Let's look at the picture that brought is ALL into perspective for me. The picture that made me cry. THE PICTURE.
Yeah, I can't believe I am actually putting that ^ picture on the internet. BUT, we must be honest, yes? That picture shocked me into action. No more pretending. That picture still scares me a little. Gosh.
I joined Weight Watchers, again, on December 29th of 2010. I use this as my official start date.
By April 29th of 2011, I was down to 213 pounds, and back in my size 16 jeans. I was feeling pretty accomplished. =)
I am in the middle, there, obviously. With my good friend, Katie, and my handsome husband, Josh. (Hi Katie and Josh!) =)
I got back to my pre-baby weight and started plateauing for sure. I didn't "quit" Weight Watchers. I didn't cancel my membership. I just STOPPED. That was it. I got bored, and I was done.
I gained back 5 pounds between May and August 2011. I had nightmares of having to wear a size 18 again.
I got back on the Weight Watchers wagon on August 14, 2011. I weighed in at 218.8 pounds.
My first "BIG" goal is 199 pounds. When this happens, I will be having a spa day. =)
Since August 14th, I have had a Green Monster smoothie every day (ask me about them!), and I have lost 10 pounds.
This new blog started at this ^ point. 208 pounds.
We'll see where it goes! Thanks for taking this journey with me - much love you guys!
