Man, Florida has good food! Too bad it's not fat free.... :)

Hello! I’m new and I need to lose some weight too!

I found out that I had pre-diabetes about 2 years ago. It was right before my wedding, I was losing weight to fit into my dress anyway, so about 2 months and -20 pounds later my levels were pretty good and things were fine - good right? Well…

About 2 months after the wedding we got pregnant! That was fine - but I knew that I needed to tell my doc right away about my high sugar levels. I was still about 30 pounds overweight when I got prego and I ended up being diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 18 weeks. I spent the rest of my pregnancy watching what I ate and eventually taking insulin. I actually consider myself a little lucky to know what it’s like to end up on insulin for a short amount of time and what a pain in the ■■■ it is! I don’t want to do that again. (I HATE needles!)

Although I did a really good job during my preganacy (I only gained 8 pounds) and my beautiful little girl Harper is healthy and spunky - with all the stress of a new baby and moving to a new home, I gained about 40 pounds in 6 months. Ugh. I’m sure my levels are right back up there and I really need to lose the weight.

Before it was easy because I was trying to lose weight to fit into my dress in the first place, but now it’s just about ‘health’ and I know it seems weird, but that makes it so much easier to ignore for some reason.

But I’ve been getting a lot of what I call ‘signs’ lately and I think it’s time to get serious. The biggest one was actually a fortune cookie while eating a very bad for me lunch. It says “Anything you do, do it well. The last thing you want is to be sorry for what you didn’t do.” And as if that wasn’t to the point enough, on the back it says “Learn Chinese: Daughter = Nu-er”. That thing actually freaked me out a little. So I started walking at lunch that day!

I work for Fox Sports in the backlot of Universal Studios FL, so when I go walking at lunch I walk around the amusement parks. It’s great! Lots of bathrooms, interesting things to look at, music everywhere! And I also see a large cross section of America out there. WE ARE FAT!! You wouldn’t believe how many at least 40 pound overweight 8 to 12 year olds I see BEING PUSHED AROUND IN STROLLERS!! No wonder this country is getting fatter and fatter every year! I don’t want that for Harper and I don’t want to get sick and have the reason be because “Mommy couldn’t stop eating junk.”

So I need to lose some weight before I end up with full blown Type 2. Lucky for me I’m really tall and can eat more calories than most people, but to get to my healthy weight I need to get to at least 175. Right now I’m at about 245 - so I need to lose about 70 pounds.

Believe it or not - I’ve done it before. I’ve been on the heavy side most of my life, but about 4 years ago I lost around 75 pounds and was in great shape. I then moved to Florida, discovered all the awesome food they have here, and managed to gain it all back. Groan. But at least I know HOW to do it and I’m not completely clueless about just how hard it is.

So anyway - here I go! Wish me luck!

Rachel

Start: 245

Today: 243 (I’ve lost a little the last few weeks:)

P.S. Yes I know the before and after are the same - but I’ve gotta start somewhere! Also if you go to my page this disscusion is also my first blog post. :slight_smile:
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Sounds like you are pretty motivated now…keep up the good work! :0) Walking is great and it sounds like you have a fun place to walk around, very cool.