100 Pounds or More To Go

Hi,

My name is Sara and I am new to this board but old to the whole weightloss thing.  I am a married mother of 3 and hopefully in the future, mother to another. I homeschool my kids and work part time in the evenings.  I live in the metro New Orleans, Louisiana area. I am 5'3" and weigh 234 lbs.  My goal weight is 145 hopefully being around 165 or less by October 2010. 

I want another child but made the HUGE mistake of getting my tubes tied 4.5 years ago.  I have to have a BMI of 30 or less before my doctor will do the reversal.

I have been over weight all my life.  Been the butt of jokes and called every derogatory fat name in the book.  Even as an adult I still get the looks, especially when at the grocery store.  Out of my 3 beautiful, intelligent and kind children, my oldest two are overweight.  I have to make a change. I dont want them to have the feelings I had as a child.  I also suffer from chronic depression and an anxiety disorder which makes things a little tougher because I am an emotional eater.

I am looking and hoping to find support to help me through it all and be support to others who need it. 

Thanks

Sara

Hi Sara, and welcome to our board!

I'm so glad that you've decided to focus on healthy diet and lifestyle.  Your acknowledgement of your kids' being overweight and not wanting them to go through what you went through is an excellent jumping off point.  It will give you the opportunity to make this a family venture and teaching your kids good habits now will be much easier than them trying to learn it for themselves when they're in the 20s or 30s or beyond.

I hope that, if you haven't already done so, you make Physical Education part of your home school plan.  Make sure that several times a week you are ALL getting up and getting moving.

We've got lots of great ideas and tips out here, and love to have new members - the more the merrier. 

Hope to see lots more of you on the board and hope that over time you see lots less of you in the mirror!

Liz

Sara,

Welcome to the board!  Please share with us your plans for starting this joyrney!

SJ

Welcome Sara!

First, I'm proud of you for jumping in here. 

I too battle depression and anxiety, and my weight definately came from emotional eating...  Listening and being obedient to our inner voice when it says "enough" or "is it worth the calories" is HUGE for me.  Also, finding other things to do when stressed.  Believe it or not, just last year I started to exercise, and it is a big stress reliever.  I never enjoyed physical activity as a child or young adult.  Now I'm 45, and so far have off 74 pounds putting me at 220.  I had off 75, but it happens!  I still have a long way to go, but I don't look at this as a diet, it is a way of life.

One thing you mentioned that I think is HUGE is not wanting your children to feel the way you did as a child.  I was a FAT child.  If you adopt healthy eating and physical activity now, it can make a difference in their future as well as yours.  If you try to do it all at once, they could rebel, so you may want to slowly incorporate items into your lives.  It's a hard one to call, when my family would make comments about my weight, it drove me to eat more. 

Also, if you don't drink a lot of water, now is the time to start!

Blessings,

Cg