My dad has always had a bit of a pot belly, and my mother was pretty overweight (I think at her heaviest she said she was about 250 lbs, and she was only about 5' 4"). My family has always had health issues related to weight. My dad had angioplasty to open some arteries when I was in junior high, and he's always had blood pressure and cholesterol problems. While my mom was lucky enough to avoid most of the blood pressure and diabetes problems that her father had, she did have abdominal cancer, which studies have shown can be related to obesity.
I myself was a chubby kid. I played a few sports but was never particularly athletic. After swimming and playing water polo in high school, I weighed about 155 lbs at graduation (I'm about 5' 7"). Sports kept me trimmer than I might have been otherwise, but I've always had padding around my waist, hips, and thighs. I've also always been busty, with a 36 C cup when I graduated. With that chest and my swimmer's shoulders, I tended to wear large or extra large tops. I could wear 11/12 pants in high school, although I usually wore 13/14 because they were a bit roomier.
In college I stayed about the same, weight-wise, until my junior year. After an unfortunate ending to a pretty unfortunate relationship, I developed an eating disorder. Within a year I had dropped from about 160 or so lbs to under 125 lbs. I felt like I was in pretty good shape, and I thought I looked pretty good too, but I knew that I had gone about things the wrong way. With the help of my best friend (eventually my husband), I moved away from the eating disorder (with occasional slips that I still struggle with).
However, I never really developed healthy eating habits. I still eat too much, especially of the wrong stuff. I don't miss meals, and I don't miss dessert if it's there to be had. Although I wasn't sedentary, I certainly wasn't active enough to stave off some weight gain. I didn't really weigh myself regularly, either. So it wasn't much of a surprise when I finally DID weigh myself, I found my weight had ballooned up to over 200 lbs. I had gained about 10 lbs a year, and weighed about 220 lbs. My husband, who had been under 200 lbs when he graduated high school, had gained some weight as well.
We decided something needed to be done. We started working out regularly, and trying to watch what we ate. With diligence, we both managed to lose some weight. My husband lost quite a bit, and I got down to 175. But somehow we lost our motivation. We stopped working out as regularly, as often, and as hard. We started eating out more. Weight came back on. My husband's weight crept back up almost to what it was before we started our original endeavor. My weight snuck back up to about 200 lbs.
Time and time again we've tried to refocus our efforts, but we haven't managed to do it. It's been very frustrating. My doctor has told me numerous times that I need to lose weight. I'm on blood pressure medication at age 34, and I also take an over-the-counter heartburn medication daily. With my own health a factor and my family history, I certainly need to lose weight.
Also, my husband and I enjoy activities that would be much easier and more enjoyable if we lost weight. We like mountain biking and whitewater kayaking, and both of those are much more comfortable when one is slimmer.
So there's plenty of motivation for us to lose weight. But there is one more reason. At age 34, we've finally decided that we should start thinking about a family. I've been reminded by many people--my doctor, family members, friends, almost complete strangers--that "my biological clock is ticking" and that we need to think about having kids sooner rather than later. Since I already have a blood pressure problem, and since the risk factors increase after age 35 for pregnancy, it would be a much less physically stressful pregnancy if I could shed some weight.
So here's where I find myself. It's January 1, 2009. My husband and I have a quasi-deadline in mind of March 12, 2009. The reason for this deadline is a kayaking trip that will last 4 days. I need to get rid of as much weight as I can between now and then and get in much better shape in order to make the kayaking more comfortable and easier to survive. I plan on continuing my birth control (daily pill) until then to prevent possible pregnancy before then (can't really do whitewater kayaking if one is preggers). After that trip, we'll reevaluate where we are, and hopefully I will discontinue my birth control. I will be doing a fair amount of research between now and then, looking for prenatal vitamins, good pregnancy exercises, and all that other stuff that seems to occupy so many mothers-to-be. I will also try to blog as regularly as I can to keep track of my progress (although I won't be able to post for the next few days because we'll be traveling home). I look forward to seeing an experiencing the changes that I will be going through (at least, most of them). I hope this will be fun. Keep your fingers crossed, and away we go...
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