See that girl up there? Yep, that was me, just last year.

This picture was taken the day my mom and I joined Weight Watchers (read last week’s post).  I was at my heaviest and to say that my weight was out of control would be an extreme understatement.  As soon as we came home from our first meeting I asked my mom to take a picture of me.  I knew that in the future I would want to look at this picture to remember where I had been.

When at my heaviest I never allowed full length pictures to be taken of me; I never wanted to admit that I was as big as the pictures showed. When you are that overweight your mind plays tricks on you.  I’d see a picture of myself and I would pretend it was just a bad angle or that I was having a bad picture day.  I would actually delete any picture that made me look….well life-like.

With each season’s  change,  instead of trying on last years clothes, I would just buy new ones.  I allowed myself to get bigger and bigger while making excuses for it or pretending it wasn’t happening.  Along with my denial, I feel that my outgoing personality held me back.  Instead making changes to my lifestyle, I would make light of it or even joke about it.  While my high self esteem never wavered at this weight, it definitely made me more comfortable than I should have been which allowed my weight to continue to climb.

When I finally took the first step of getting healthy I had to take a long hard look at myself.  What was I doing to be this weight?  What obstacles were in my way that needed to be removed? What were my excuses that were keeping me overweight? Only after being honest with myself could I truly make the needed changes.

Two BIG changes needed to happen in order for me to lose weight; I had to eat less and exercise more.  Not one or the other or just a little of both but instead a full fledged decision to make healthier choices throughout the day.  Instead of sitting on the couch I got up and moved.  Instead of eating the plate of spaghetti, I chose to instead eat a lean protein with lots of veggies.  Each healthy choice that I made made me stronger both inside and out.

Today, I’m down 95 pounds and still going strong.  I have much more to lose but I’m excited to see what more my body can do.  I hope you stick around and continue with me on my weight loss journey and perhaps start your own.  I’d love to continue to lose with you and hear your own story.

Feel free to leave a comment below!

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you’ve probably seen how I’ve struggled with my weight.  I was average weight in high school and college but soon after I got married my weight started creeping up.  Late night meals, eating junk, and finding out way too late that I couldn’t eat what my husband did definitely helped me pack on the pounds.  By the time we started having kids, 8 years into our marriage I was overweight, no I was obese.

I have tried over the years to lose weight but after about 20 pounds I would just stop and gain it all back.  It was a battle that I thought I would never win.  I felt defeated, scared and and completely unequipped to get healthy….until last spring.  I’m not sure what it was but something clicked for me and I had had enough.  My mom and I joined Weight Watcher’s in April of 2013 (read my announcement on my Couponing with Rachel Facebook page) and right away I felt like this time it was different.

My mom and I had been previous members but our encouraging and highly spirited leader, Lynn was new to me.  I loved that I she gave out her Facebook information to help you stay on track during the week and gave you support however you needed it.  We stayed after our first meeting and I remember telling Lynn that I wanted to be a success story.  I WAS going to be a success story!  I was bound and determined to get the weight off and didn’t want to give up.  For me, to be bound and determined to lose weight wasn’t a body thing, it was a head thing.  I knew my body could do anything, it was my brain I had to convince.

In November of  last year I reached my 50 lb mark at Weight Watcher and was elated! I received my 50 lb charm and shared a little about my journey with my Weight Watchers group.  It was the first time that I had lost a significant amount of weight and it felt so good!  Eating right and exercise TOGETHER made a huge difference on my weight loss.

Me and my trainer, Suzy!

After the Christmas holidays I felt like I was starting to slip and wanted to be sure I was staying on track so I hired Suzy a personal trainer from My Best Fitness Friend.  Since then I have made some drastic changes and have seen the weight just fall off.  Now before getting too excited, it doesn’t actually FALL OFF just by itself.  It’s a lot of hard work and dedication.  Saying yes to healthy choices AND making time for myself to go to the gym has made a huge difference!

Each week I’ll be sharing a tip or giving you a peek at my weight loss.  It’s going to be a struggle for me since I find that this topic is hard for me to share about but I hope that it will inspire you to making your healthy choices.  If I can do this ANYONE can!

Note: Next week I’ll be showing my BEFORE picture (see that post HERE)…you won’t want to miss it!!  I actually GASPED when I saw it recently!

Want to “PIN” this?  Click HERE!

How to gain weight on a cruise:

Step 1: Eat whatever you want
Step 2: Don’t go to the gym (nope, not even once)
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2

Learning how to lose weight I’m still trying to get down, but knowing how to gain weight, I’ve got that in the bag.

Recently my family and I went on a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas. While I’ve been doing great in my weight loss journey I was dreading have less control over my food options and more access to those tempting, carb laden meals. Of course, my cruise did offer a variety of fresh fruit and a salad bar at just about every meal but with the variety of other options I gave in.

I found it very difficult to say no to 24 hour pizza, free room service and self serve ice cream along with other delectable favorites such as a daily Asian buffet, carving stations, chocolate fountains, and a full dessert area. I don’t even like sugary foods but with delectable treats such as chocolate melting cake, crème brulee, and tiramisu, it was hard not to take just a bite of just a few.

One thing that I love about cruising is that all of your meals and most entertainment are all included in one price.  I mean who doesn’t love have someone cook you meal after meal and best of all there being no clean up.  Unfortunately, enjoying it too much and having the mentality of “well I already paid for it” can be a huge downfall.

Attempting to eat the price you paid for your cruise (believe me, I tried) will cause you to not only overeat but you will also find yourself eating items that you would never eat at home. I mean seriously, I was eating things I wouldn’t of eaten at my highest weight.  So, instead of focusing on all the “paid for” healthy options I focused too much on the “paid for” unhealthy options.

One thing I did notice about eating all this “yummy” food was how I felt towards the end of the week.  Ughhh….  I was bloated and sluggish and couldn’t wait to get back to the gym and my regular eating habits.

So where am I now?  A week after returning, I’m happy to share that while I still have all the happy memories of my cruise I no longer have the many pounds that I put on.  After a week of healthy eating I’ve lost all the weight (and it was a lot!) that I gained on the cruise and I’m back on track.

If you’ve gotten off track, jump back on board! Don’t let your past mistakes determine your future goals!

Chubby, chunky, fat, pleasantly plump…call it what you want but these terms are something I no longer want to be.

I haven’t always been overweight.  I remember the days of being thin (thinking I was fat) and blending into the crowd.  OK, perhaps I’m a little too boisterous to blend but I definitely looked more like others in the room.  During those days, I never worried if a chair would hold me, didn’t worry if I’d fit on a ride, only walk by plus sized stores and overall didn’t appreciate how healthy I really was.   Once I got married, that all changed.

Of course, my weight is not my hubby’s fault, though it would be nice to blame it on someone else.  As a newlywed, I ate late at night, didn’t count calories and tried to keep up with my husband’s never ending appetite.  Unfortunately, he had an awesome metabolism, I did not.  As gaining weight often does, it crept up on me. As the seasons passed I would go up a size or two a year while always making excuses for why I was buying larger clothes.

Once we started having children, my weight only continued to go up.  I was frustrated, angry, and overwhelmed.  I was scared of the effort I would need to put in and attempted to push it to the back of my mind.  That all change this spring when my mom and I  joined Weight Watchers.  I even posted a picture on my Couponing With Rachel Facebook page in hopes of chronically my journey…eventually.

Sharing my journey takes a leap of faith because while sharing my love of coupons is fun, it’s not quite as personal as my weight.  It’s scary to put it out for the whole world to see but I’m finally peeling back the layers (figuratively and litterally 🙂 ). I hope that some of you may find strength in a normal person like me losing weight and will start a journey of your own.

So how have I done so far?  As of today, I’m down a total of 46 pounds.  I can see that 50 lb goal on the horizon and I can’t wait to get there!