A new start!

Take 3...here I am starting blogging all over again! The thought came to me as I was out on a solo walk the other day. I have been struggling for a while with the things I want to write. I used to do a lot of writing about my family-like an online journal, but I moved it to a new blog to have more privacy. Then life got hectic (with 4 kids, it has to be!). I hadn't really felt the want or the need to blog in a while.

Then,  in January, I made a change. I made a change that I didn't think would work or that I would stick to. You see, I have always struggled with my weight. Mostly with being overweight, well, except for the time in my life when I stopped eating...oh yea, and the time in my life when I purged-a lot. I was young then, and never very sure of myself.

In 1996, I met the most amazing guy! He quickly became the love of my life. We were engaged 4 months later and married in December of 1996. He was the first guy who I felt valued me for me. That was incredible, and all of the eating disordered stuff from the previous 9 years had quickly fallen away. The problem was, I have these genes-you know the ones...the ones that give you this propensity to gain weight. Couple that with 7 pregnancies (I have 3 beautiful babes in Heaven), hypothyroidism, and years of dealing with my parents' illnesses and deaths, and my weight skyrocketed.

Actually, it skyrocketed in the first blissful years of marriage. Y'all, I had no idea how to eat. I was just enjoying being married and cooking to my heart's content. Then all of the above stuff happened. I rose to my highest weight and stayed there for THIRTEEN YEARS! I was what I called "The Great Maintainer". I have a husband who loves me no matter what, and at some point, I stopped trying to lose. The reality was that some of my health issues made it hard to lose weight no matter what I ate and how much I exercised.

Fast forward to January of this year. Something changed-I am still not sure what, but something definitely changed. I had a group of girlfriends (none of whom have/had as much weight to lose as I did/do) who said with me, "Let's do this!" (I could never do this without the support of my hubby and these ladies!) So, I started, and 27.9 pounds later, I am feeling great and ready to write about it.

I still have 75ish pounds to go, so I hope you will join me on this ride. I know I am going to get there, and I hope you will stay with my on my journey to health and wellness.