The Last Pounds Must GO!

Hi, my name is Denise but you can call me Tink if you'd prefer. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 35 and I have been married for 18 years now to my wonderful husband. We were married when we were both 17 years old. We have a 14 year old son who's the best kid around. I gained 75 pounds when I was pregnant, the day I had my son I weighed 203 pounds.

Since becoming pregnant my weight has been up and down over the last 14 years. Mostly up, but down a time or two. I've actually lost 80 pounds 3 times in the last few years only to gain it back and then some each time.This time I hope will be my final and last attempt at reaching goal and staying there for the rest of my life. The last 3 attempts I never got to my goal.

To make a really long and boring story as short as I can I'll try to sum up the last  few years as quickly as I can. My mother-in-law called me the day after Thanksgiving in 2005 and asked me to take her to ther emergency room. She was admitted and they kept her there for 7 days. I stayed with her day and night only to leave the hospital daily for no more than 2 hours so I could come home, shower and get a fresh change of clothes. After 7 days of staying with her in the hospital I had lost 12 pounds, yes 12 pounds in 7 days. It was ironic really. The day after Thanksgiving I woke up and I weighed and I wrote it down on my wall calendar - it was my highest weight ever. I was 236 pounds and miserable. I was almost numb to the fact that I had gotten so large. The next thing I knew I was throwing on some clothes and rushing to my MIL's house to take her to the E.R.

She was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic and also having high blood pressure. She was given a diabetic diet to follow and the day I took her home from the hospital I decided I didn't want to spend my time in any kind of medical facility at any age. So I already had a great jump start to the weight loss. I had dropped 12 pounds in only 7days, the trick now was seeing if I could keep my motivation up long enough to see some more weight come off of me. I started by cutting out real Cokes and switching to Diet Cokes, I also started buying everything I normally bought - the big difference was I was now buying the sugar free versions. I also started watching what I ate. I stopped frying all of the foods I cooked. I started baking and broiling and grilling.

 I've always loved veggies, but I would smother them in butter until they had drowned basically. So I stopped adding butter to my cooking. Then lastly I started watching my portion sizes.

It was very hard for me to eat less. I had for the past 14 years eat whenever and whatever I wanted without a second thought to it. That's how I became obese. I just didn't care. But after seeing my MIL in the hospital, it pretty much scared me. I didn't want people touching me, and poking and prodding me all the time with needles and pushing pills down my throat. I didn't want to end up with diabetes or high blood pressure. So I got my butt in gear and I started making very small changes in my lifestyle. It wasn't easy but I took it day by day.

I'm like anybody else, I'd have really good days and then I'd have a day (or several in a row) where I thought I was going to eat the kitchen sink if only I could just rip it off the wall.  So I ate better and cut out real Cokes and watched my portion sizes. I lost 50 pounds in about 6 months. I didn't exercise at all. The weight was just coming off.

Then my cousin asked me to join Weight Watchers with her. I did and I LOVED it. I did the Points system, I lost an additional 30 pounds making 80 pounds lost. I've since stopped going, and I even stopped following the plan.But I have maintained my weight loss of 80 pounds for the last 6 months on my own.

 I'm just not motivated enough to go to the meetings right now or to start exercising. So I've made a decision. I've got an appoinment this Friday with a diet doctor on ( 2-23-07) and I'm going to ask him for Phentermine (37.5)

I've taken it before and I didn't have any side effects. The only difference between taking it now and taking it back years ago was I wanted it to make me lose 80 pounds in 4 months without changing any of my eating habits, this time I've already lost the 80 pounds on my own plus I have changed my eating habits and I'm just wanting some help with the last 37 pounds. I have already changed my lifestyle, but I fear if I don't get the last bit off of me and quite quickly- I fear that I'll get discouraged and fall back off the wagon and head back to 236,  and I never want to go back there again! Ever!

 So my goal is to lose 37 pounds by August 15th (my 36th birthday) I know I can do it. I'l be updating this blog often so check back if you want to see my progress. Just for the record, I do plan on getting some physical activity in. I'm buying some roller blades in 2 months and I'm going to start walking my dogs when it gets warmer. One of my dogs is very obese and she's only 3 years old. I don't want her to die at a young age, plus she is developing breathing problems. But until it warms up, I'll be using my treadmill at least 3 days a week. I'll be starting this activity on 2-26-07. I'm not sure how much or how long I'll be able to walk, but it's a start. I'll post on here to keep you informed.

Things you need to know wbout me:

I have some tattoos and I'm getting another one here shortly. I have 11 piercings. I love movies. I love music, I love concerts. I love both of my rescue dogs and both of my rescue cats. And mostly I love my wonderful husband and my wonderful son. They mean everything to me. I want to be around for them for a long, long time.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'll be writing again tomorrow. Just to keep myself honest I plan on posting my weight EVERY SINGLE DAY. I'll also be putting some pics together throughout my journey. I'll be having my husband take pics of me this Friday (2-23-07) when he gets home from work, because that's the day I go to the diet doctor and start on the Phentermine.

Wishing you all the very best,

~Tink~