Over the last five years, I’ve gained quite a bit of weight. Actually a LOT of weight. 110 pounds worth to be exact. Each year’s weight gain can be attributed some type of big event going on that year.
Year 1 – Getting Married.
Year 2 – Start a new job and get my hours drastically cut soon after.
Year 3 – Starting a new job at the beginning of 2008.
Year 4 -Wiping out on my bicycle at 20 mph, buying a house at the end of 2009, and losing my job due to business closing.
Year 5 – New job but no guaranty it will still be here at the end of this year.
Even though the big events are mostly job related, there were still some other things going on that led to stress in my life. That and the fact that I LOVE food. Food and stress. Stress and food. Any excuse to eat works for me. Food is my comfort; I eat when I’m stressed, happy, bored, or busy. I’ve made several attempts in the past to lose weight. I even paid for a personal trainer for most of one year. With each failure, I found more excuses to avoid attempting to lose weight.
This year, I’m making another attempt to lose some of the weight I really need to lose. On Tuesday, May 18th, 2010, I joined WeightWatchers ™. I’ll be using their online tools as I don’t think I could be very faithful to the just going to weekly meetings (that and it’s cheaper). This blog was started partly because I watched a couple other people blog about their weight loss journey, and the idea of chronicling my own appeals to me. It’s like an online diary of my day-to-day successes, frustrations, and failures.
I’m also thankful that some of my friends (including my Pastor) have used or are currently using WeightWatchers™. One thing I’ve read while lurking on various websites and reading different articles is that it’s important to have a support group. I’ll be relying on these people, and they on me, to stay motivated and to push through the inevitable failures that are sure to be coming. They will also be the first to celebrate each successful milestone.
So without further ado, here are the first stats:
Beginning Weight: 257 pounds
1st goal: 5% or 13 pounds
Ultimate Goal: 110 pounds