The Mandatory Story

I wasn’t always overweight, although I’ve thought I have been most of my adult life. I was on the thin side as a kid, and as a teenager as well.

In my 20s I “ballooned” up to a size 8/10, which is where I stayed until I became pregnant with my son. I gained a lot of weight during the pregnancy, and leveled off at 153 pounds on my 5’2” frame afterward.

Thanks to the help of fen-phen, I lost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. After I stopped taking it, I gained 10-15 pounds, and bounced around a size 10/12 for a long time.

Some people blame their weight gain on pregnancy, divorce, etc. I blame my job! :-) I got a new job five years ago, and this one didn’t have an on-site gym! I gained a little. Then I met a great guy – who lived in another state. Stressful long distance relationship followed – and I gained a little more. He moved down here & we got married and I of course wanted to prove what a good wife I was by showing off my cooking prowess – every day. A lot more weight followed!

Pretty soon, I was packing nearly 180 pounds on my frame. I don’t even know what size I was – I wore XL stretch pants. Jeans were a thing of the past!

I got tired of it & joined Weight Watchers, which had helped me before. I saw a little progress – 6 pounds in a year. But slowly I was becoming more conscious of my eating habits (they were pretty bad!)

In 2003 I got a lot more serious. This coincided with a torn ACL in the fall of 2002. The orthopedist told me the best thing I could do to prevent re-injury and possible reconstructive surgery was to lift weights. I took her words to heart and after my physical therapy ended joined the local YMCA.

I began to lift weights and haven’t stopped. I started walking on the treadmill (aka “dreadmill” or “hamster wheel”) and using the elliptical trainer. I lost 13 pounds that year – not very impressive but that’s net. I gained a lot of muscle!

This year I’m down another 6 so far. Last November I got bored and needed a challenge, so I began to train for a triathlon. Swimming, biking, running – first on the treadmill and then outside when it got warmer. I finished my first triathlon this past Saturday – 2 days before my 38th birthday.

What’s next? Well, a bench press competition in 3 weeks. Weight lifting is my favorite athletic endeavor. And I began training for the Baltimore marathon a couple of weeks ago.

I still need to lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 pounds or so. The upper goal set by my doctor based upon a healthy body fat percentage is 140 pounds. It sounds like a lot for my height, but I carry 115 of lean body mass! (Told ya I lifted a lot of weights!)

I want to lose the weight, but I’m not following any strict program. Instead I am focusing on eating healthy food, in reasonable amounts, and moving my body a lot more than I ever thought I would do on a regular basis (at least without a platoon sergeant to make me do it!).

The purpose of this blog is to track my efforts and gain insight into the process. You are welcome to come along for the ride!