My
highest weight was somewhere over 330 lbs—apparently that was my “can’t know if I’m more than this” threshold. At that point all of my clothes were stretchy and quite stretched-a tight 4x (and yes–I did have a few 5x in my closet).
I started gaining weight when I was about 7 or so–and steadily gained about 10 lbs a year during my childhood–weighing in at 180-ish when I graduated from high school. I thought I was SO FAT (which, compared to my friends, I was–but WOW – how a few years of life and wisdom can change one’s perceptions of oneself). During my 20s I climbed and averaged around 250 lbs or so. My 30’s saw that increase to mostly the 280-300 range. And in my 40s is where I really blossomed and am not sure how big I really did get–guessing around 340-350 but the biggest weight I have recorded is 330.
There were 3 times when I worked REALLY HARD and lost weight. First was as a missionary in Bolivia–walking up to 10 miles a day and eating very simple foods – I got down from 250 to 199 lbs. Next time wasn’t until I got divorced–I was 40 and exercised about 2 hrs a day and ate a very restricted diet which helped me get down to the 240s from over 300. The last time was in 2010–I was walking and exercising close to 2 hrs a day and, again, eating a very restricted diet and recording every single calorie I ate (into a GREAT free site – Sparkpeople.com) – it was this that got me down from the 330+ to 270 – but as soon as I stopped being that diligent – I gained and hung around 280-300.
For years I had been reading diet books and writing down the best ideas, things that seemed to speak to my soul and that made sense to me. I had had the most success, short-lived as it was, with low-carb diets–but usually only lasted on those for about 2-3 months before feeling so guilty because I was eliminating entire macro-nutrients from my diet. It never felt right to me as a long-term solution. So I continued to gather ideas – and though I really thought that any significant weight loss was impossible, I decided that I should be as healthy as I could be even if I was fat and gathered information of the best things to include in the foods that I did eat.
November 2015 I changed everything – being almost 52 yrs old and starting to experience my body finally showing medical problems that I probably should have had years ago–I knew that if I didn’t do something that I would have some major problems. So I got ‘all in’ with my heart, might, mind, and soul and decided to find the solution that I was hoping was out there–and if I couldn’t find it – I’d just take all my notes and create my own plan.
I had a friend who had gone through bariatric surgery August 2015–and, being cheap, I decided that I would just do what she was doing without having to pay for the surgery–to help me prepare, I decided that I would fast to help break old habits and to ask for Godly guidance. During my fast a friend talked about Trim Healthy Mama (THM) on FB and I was intrigued–a plan I hadn’t heard of–so I searched for what I could find and began adding their ideas to my notebook. The more I looked into THM, the more I liked what I learned–these 2 sisters had incorporated many of the disjointed ideas from my collection of notes into a plan that I thought might work for me.
Fast forward now about 2 years–now I wear size 16/18 and have lost over 100 since my highest, and about 75 so far while on THM. On this website I will share with you how I’ve done it including free food plans, free resources, and positivity–look around and find the solutions that speak to your soul and make sense for you to incorporate–even the smallest changes will add up over time–You can do this!!