Monday, June 05, 2006

Thanks For the Invite, Jules!

Julie invited me to join your community, and I'm excited to be a part of this group. I can definitely use the support. I am just starting my weight loss journey (AGAIN! :::rolling eyes:::) About two years ago I lost 20 pounds and was feeling pretty good about myself, but I've gained all that back and more. About 30 pounds more, to be exact.

As you can imagine, I feel horrible about that. I have reached an all time high with my weight, and have decided that things must change! I've started and failed so many times in my attempts to eat more healthfully and exercise that beginning again is scary for me. I do feel more resolved than I have in a long time, though, and I'm hoping that I've finally hit the food addict's equivalent to "the bottom". (Oh God, please!)

I live in Washington State, am homeschooling my four children ages 15, 12, 8, and 2, and have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 19 years. My current weight is 237.4 pounds. I hope to reach 225 pounds by the end of July, (Oh my, that seems so far away for so little weight lost!) and my ultimate goal is to weight 165 pounds.

Thanks for having me along for the ride!

10 comments:

Mom2the6Rs said...

Welcome, ~Jennifer! So glad you are here! Most of us live in Washington, too. I am in Marysville. I added a weight loss ticker to the bottom of the page. You can update it and change it around by clicking on the link. Are you following any particular program or just winging it?

Jules

Kristina said...

Welcome Jennifer! I'm so glad that you've joined us.
I know what it is to be at your highest weight ever. I was just there five months ago, in January. I weighed in at 255 pounds, for crying out loud. So I know EXACTLY how you feel. I was dejected, and negative about my self image... but not anymore. I've already dropped 57 pounds, and am feeling fabulous!!!
Jennifer, if I can do it, so can you. I'm here pulling for you .

Kristina

Chickadeeva said...

Hi Jennifer!

I'm so excited for you to be here. There are so many success stories for you to enjoy here, and we let ourselves cheer for SMALL and Large victories. Getting through ONE meal is cause for a dance.

I have known a couple of these ladies "when" there was more of them to love. They're not only lighter in pounds but in heart.

I'll be looking for more from you!

SueAnne said...

Welcome Jennifer! This is a great place to be. Be sure to post your highs and lows, so we can lift you up and encourage:) (I tend to hide during the lows- not a smart move)
SueAnne

Pink Slippers said...

Hi Jennifer, glad to have you here! This is a great place to be for encouragement and support. I look forward to sharing your journey with you...
Take care,
Tina

~Jennifer said...

Thanks for the welcome~!

I'm not following any particular program, just trying to do what has worked for me in the past, only now it's not working! Probably because I keep taking side trips back to the old country. I used to recover after two days of overindulging a lot more easily than I do now, apparently. :(

I'm drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, shooting for 10 or 11. I'm eating whole grains, avoiding refined flours and sugars (except in my morning coffe and an occasional treat), and making a point of eating breakfast, as I am a notorious breakfast skipper.

I know I need to add some regular exercise to my "plan" but I really struggle with that. Right now I'm struggling with the whole thing. After a week of doing well foodwise I'm up two pounds, which has to be my weekend "break". :::sigh:::

Debbie said...

Jennifer welcome along the ride to a slimmer you. We're all here for you and on the same ride. I started at 260.6 and am down to 183.4. It's taken me a long time (4 years) but I'm sticking with it. You'll be down to your goal in no time. We're all pulling for you.

Mom2the6Rs said...

~Jennifer, is it too early in our cyber friendship for me to give you advice??? Well, here goes...I think you need a PLAN, not a "plan". There are so many good ones out there, (Prism, W.W.), and it is such a load off our busy mommy minds to just follow what other brilliant people have put together for us. Why reinvent the d_mn wheel? Okay, maybe it is really too early in our blogging friendship to use pseudo swear words, but bear with me. I have just seen it over and over. If people don't follow a plan, it can all be so chaotic and we are truthfully not being honest with ourselves most of the time.

Well, there it is.
Jules

~Jennifer said...

Oh, I know you're probably right, but the whole plan thing creates a really yucky reaction in me. Something like fear. Something like I feel tied down, deprived, punished. I don't want to count calories. I don't want to count carbs or fat grams. I don't want to assign my food points. I just want to have a normal relationship with food. WAH!!!

I'm serious. I've failed every single plan or routine or whatever that I've attempted, not just for weight loss, but for trying to get my house organized, write a book, learn Spanish. You name it, I've failed it.

:(

Mom2the6Rs said...

Oh Poop! Disappointments are so hard to deal with, especially when they come from our own inadequacies. But you know what, I think we all have failed at a lot of those plans...until...until the day comes when we get so serious with what we have to do to succeed. Like the lady who has been a chain smoker and tried to quit all her life, but has failed, until her doctor tells her there are pre-cancerous cells growing in her lung that have shown up on the xray and if she wants to be at her daughters wedding the next summer, she better quit, so she does.

I have been "trying" plans since I wrote into Focus on the Family at age 17 when they had a guest on who wrote the book "Free to be Thin". I just rarely made the true commitment to myself to have any success.

I did once on Prism 8 years ago. Then I had a baby and Post partem junk and I went back to not liking the woman in the mirror and giving her lots of emotional numbing treats....

I believe in myself again, and I feel unstopable. The plan is not what I am being faithful too, though I follow it. It is ME that I am being faithful and considerate of each time I put something in my body. Isn't that an amazing thought, to be able to be considerate to your own person?

I think, if we are truly honest, the plan doesn't fail us, we just jump ship because we are scared to win, we are scared to succeed, we are scared to LOVE OURSELVES ENOUGH to really fight for our own lives! As christian women, especially, we give and give and give our lives to everyone but ourselves...we consider this honorable, but when we poop out too early, I have to wonder who have we left in need because we treated our own miraculous lives as dung?

Geesh! I have got an attitude tonight! My husband is out of town and my kids seem to have multiplied overnight...sorry if I am coming across so brash.

Whatever path you walk here, Jennifer, I will cheer you on. Just make sure you take the time to really #1 be honest with yourself and #2 put yourself at the top of your list.

Jules