Sunday, October 16, 2011

Weight loss journey ... one year later

I've been wanted to do a post about our weight loss journey and how we got to where we are. It seems fitting to do this post today because it has been a year since we started. We were both overweight, tired and too busy with our large family to change anything. Kyle and I have been through a lot and I don't think anyone would fault us if we said we didn't have time to work out or try and eat better. See we've had 6 children in 8 years and have fostered 8 babies along the way. We also homeschool so I don't get much of a break from the kids all day leaving Kyle on full-time daddy duty when he gets home so that I can decompress. So what changed? This time last year I was sick and tired of being overweight. I had plantar facetious, heal spurs, bad knees and many other symptoms from being morbidly obese. I decided that this was it and that I needed to change things. You see Kyle and I had decided that we were going to have any more babies of our own, and I wasn't very happy about it. I decided that if I couldn't be pregnant I might as well be fit.

For me this has been a life change. See Kyle was a healthy weight when we were married but I was already obese. I had been a small child, like tiny, and I didn't put on any weight until grade 11. By the time I graduated high school I was already one of the biggest girls. It didn't stop there. Years of fast food, binge eating and unhealthy food choices pushed me up the scale. When Kyle and I were married I was at 220. We quickly got pregnant and my weight went up and down over the next 8 years and 6 pregnancies. I always took pregnancy as my free pass to eat anything and everything in large amounts. I couldn't tell you how heavy I was pregnant because all of the scales I used stopped at 300 pounds. Fast forward to October 2010 and I was weighing in at 270 pounds and 5'7".  Kyle had done his fair share of eating with me and had gone up to 215 at his highest. So we changed. I have to tell you that when I want to do something I go all in. It is everything or nothing. Once we started there was no going back.

To begin with we changed our diet. We started counting calories and made sure that each meal contained a good amount of protein. We used an app called My Net Diary to track what we ate and how many calories total we ate per day. We stopped eating fast food and really only ate Subway if we had to eat when we were out. It also really helped that we ate every 3 hours. For me I ate 300 calories every 3 hours focusing on getting enough protein so that I would feel full. It worked. Kyle and I started to drop somewhere around 2 pounds per week. In March we started learning to run and now as we continue to work towards losing those last pounds. Now we have to balance eating enough to fuel our running and still maintaining a calorie deficit to lose weight. It has been an amazing ride. There have been bumps in the road and some days and even weeks when it seemed that nothing was going right. I have always lived in fear that  the weight may come back. Running has helped so much. Not so much with weight loss (I am so hungry when I am running a lot of miles), but it has grounded me. I am less stressed and more happy. I don't need to eat to make me feel better I can go out and run. There are still days when too much food and not enough moving happens and I go up in weight. As of right now I have been maintaining a weight between 152-157. I would still like to lose some and I am now getting back into watching what I eat fully. It is helpful too that I have backed off my mileage while learning to barefoot run. I am not so hungry now and find it easier to create a calorie deficit.

Anyways the journey continues and hopefully soon we will both meet our weight loss goals, while we work towards it we are having the time of our lives. It is amazing how good it feels to be fit and healthy. I am so blessed that I was able to change my life and reverse the ill effects I had from being so heavy. I never in a million years thought that I could run and now I enjoy it every chance I get.


Kyle before 215lbs
Kyle after 165lbs
Robbie before 270lbs
Robbie After 153lbs




10 comments:

  1. For anyone who is on the same journey, I have to say that the number one thing that made it easiest was dieting with my wife. We both admit that we couldn't have done this by ourselves. Leaning on each other when things got hard, made it much easier.

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  2. Wow what an amazing story!! I too have lost over 100 lbs but I had to do it with a husband who was a bean pole and could eat whatever he wanted and not gain an ounce... I'm maintaining now at around 155 with my goal weight being 145-150. I'm 45, and it sure is a lot harder to keep it off as you age...not only that, you seem to need less calories to maintain as you age, but your brain doesn't want to eat less....I can't eat anywhere NEAR what I could eat 10 years ago, and hope to maintain this weight. You have hit the key with eating every 3 hours, and protein with every meal. And upping your exercise. I can't believe you started running in March then ran the Harvest half in Oct...wow. I ran the Harvest Half last year, but was sidelined with my injuries so I switched to minimalist footwear, and now wear Vibrams for all my running. It has taken me over 8 months to get back up to 15k distances again since switching to minimal shoes. I also run in Pace Gloves by Merrell, but they don't work in winter for me.

    Keep up the good work, you are an inspiration!

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  3. Wow congrats on the 100 pound loss. Fells so good doesn't it. I would have gone crazy if my hubby wasn't doing it with me. Did your husband eat what you ate or did he eat all sorts of yummy things? Mine has been good so far except that now he is much more relaxed about it and I am trying to get the last 15 pound off. So tough. I can't wait to get back up to longer distances. My hubby and I are toying with the idea of running the harvest half barefoot next year,or at least in huaraches or vibrams.

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  4. Wow.. what an amazing story! You both look great! And I agree with Kyle, my weight loss was much easier since both my wife and I had the same goal and worked together. Better yet, our 7 yo twin boys now eat amazingly healthy, and we're setting a much better example. Both boys love to run barefoot more than anything! :-) Great job.. and great blog!

    Jeff

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  5. I cannot agree with you more Jeff. I am amazed at how our childrens' eating habits have changed. I am so proud of them. We have gone from a fast food, junk food family to a healthy food, fit running family. I look forward to the days when we can all run together, without jogging strollers.

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  6. Wow, I mean WOW!!!!!! That is one amazing story! I LOVE LOVE hearing about people like you. Why? Because I meet so many who say they can't. I think it's because they don't want to change. You are AMAZING!!!!!!!!

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  7. Thanks so much. I hear so often how people just can't lose weight or exercise. Too busy, too tired, it's too expensive. Seriously I was that person, I had a million excuses. They were good excuses too. I have 7 children, I homeschool, I'm tired, stressed and have little extra money. Then I realized I wanted to be healthy and fit and have a more fulfilling life. The excuses just didn't seem to matter anymore. I'm still stressed and tired, I still have 7 kids, still homeschool and have little extra money. The difference is that now I know I can do anything I put my mind to. I make time to run, and eat right because I love me!! Who knew. Really if I can do it anyone can.

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  8. Wow! What a great read! You look amazing:-) ~Gina

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  9. You look AWESOME! Great job! I now have a new blog to read. Yay! :)

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