Weight Loss Struggle and Journey

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Hey y’all… I know that you’re here today expecting a delicious recipe from us. Well… this is not that day. There is something on our hearts that we want to share with you. We feel like you are our friends that we can confide in and trust to be our soft place to land.

Vicki’s Story

I sometimes feel that Jennifer and I share one brain. We are typically on the same wavelength, especially matters of our blog, friendships, home and our weight loss struggles. Jenn approached me a couple of weeks ago about going public with our personal stories. I felt like I was having a panic attack. I started sweating and making a ton of excuses as to why I thought it was a bad idea. Eventually, I calmed down and admitted that she was right. We need to share our stories in the hopes that we will help others as well as ourselves. And we need to be accountable to ourselves and each other.

So here goes… I am overweight and truth be told obese. I tear-up just writing that word…but it’s real and honest. I haven’t always been overweight. When I was growing up and into adulthood I was thin. I could pretty much eat what I wanted whenever I wanted and wouldn’t gain an ounce. I was told by many people that I was “too thin”. But, I had a healthy appetite and a very active lifestyle. The only thing that I could have improved was breakfast. In high school I quit eating breakfast as I was always running out the door to get to school on time.

 When did my weight start becoming a problem? The first surge in my weight was soon after I got married. We left Florida for my husband’s new career and we moved to Houston, Texas. I didn’t know a soul. As soon as we moved into our first apartment, John left for five weeks for New Employee training. Suffice it to say I was totally miserable. It was the days before cell phones and home computers…calling long distance was very expensive. My new best friend was Blue Bell Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. I ate a lot of it to stuff down my feelings of sadness and loneliness in those five weeks…and I gained 20 pounds! Now as shocking as that sounds, my 5’7” frame was only 145 pounds! What I wouldn’t give to turn back time.

How did I handle this weight gain? Mind you – this was a very healthy weight but being that the weight came on so quickly it was a shock to me and everyone that knew me. I started doing Fad Diets…and I jumped around from fad to fad… Cabbage diet, Dolly Parton Diet, The Hilton Head Diet, The Grapefruit Diet – this list could go on and on. Needless to say, because of this constant nonsense and yo-yo dieting I kept gaining weight because I was perpetually keeping my metabolism in a state of shock and deficit. I wasn’t eating enough food for years, so when I did eat something no matter what it was my body held onto it and stored it as fat. I also crippled my thyroid because of my foolishness.

I honestly didn’t know any better. So…for many, many years now I have gained 5-10 pounds a year. Way no fun. I’m fortunate that my overall health is very good. But, I’m not dumb…I know that I must change a few things in my health journey. My thyroid condition makes losing weight very difficult…my 2 pound loss is someone else’s 10 pound loss – but, I am determined to find the magic formula for myself. 

Vicki’s first month Goal: 

• Lose 8 Pounds
• Eat Breakfast Daily
• Move more: Do yoga 4 days per week and walk 3 days per week

Jennifer’s Story

 

When mom and I first toyed around with the idea of really putting ourselves out there and being vulnerable, I was all for it! For so long I have hid behind excuses when it comes to weight loss and I felt like speaking about this with all of you would help not only to motivate me, but would also hold me accountable to my actions, as well as hopefully inspire others.

I have always been what I like to call big boned haha…it’s my way of making myself feel better. I’ve always pretty much fluctuated between being a size 10 to 14, and for about the past few years, I’ve stayed at a size 14, but I feel that my poor pants wish they were a 16.

Food, for most of my life, has had this power over me and is definitely my drug of choice. I recently read an article about how sugar is more addictive than cocaine, which blew my mind. I am hands down a sugar addict and always have been. I am at a point now where I am drinking at least 2 cokes a day, probably some sort of sweet in the afternoon (like a scone from Panera), and then at night ice cream. Not to mention all of the hidden sugar I am eating throughout the day too.

I am tired of feeling powerless to my situation and was ready to make a change, but like most changes it is scary. Doubts start to cloud your mind. What if I mess up and fall off track? What if I don’t lose any weight? What if I fail?

I’ve always been the kind of person where if I’m doing really well and eating healthy and then I eat a bowl of ice cream I immediately think “Well, I messed up and ate bad, so I might as well continue to eat bad for the rest of the day, week, month.” I like to spiral out of control lol. I have to realize that if I have that bowl of ice cream it is not the end of the world and for my next meal I will make better choices.

I am also an emotional eater…especially when I’m stressed, which unfortuntately is more often than not. In my mind I think I need food to make myelf feel better, when in reality I am doing more harm. I am tired all of the time and have no energy. When I get home from work I don’t really want to do anything and on the weekends I am such a homebody. I am definitely ready to take back my life, so that I have more energy to do the things I love.

This is an exciting new chapter for us and I can’t wait to be on this journey. There will be ups and downs, successes and struggles, but I know with the support of each other, family, and friends, we can achieve not only our weight loss goals, but also live happier, healthy lives.

Jenn’s first month Goal: 

• Lose 10 Pounds
• Stop eating out so much
• Move more: Walk 5 days a week

We feel your pain Cam…

 

Thank you for letting us share our weight loss journey and struggles with you. Can you relate? We would love for you to follow us in this process of discovery. We will be giving a monthly update the first Wednesday of every month. If you too are struggling, please share with us so that we can offer encouragement.  We would also love to hear some success stories and tips. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Until tomorrow,

XO~ Vicki and Jenn