I Did It . . . And Then Some

I have never been one to talk about my weight, but I’ve worked really hard and feel like sharing my accomplishments. Throughout high school I was very skinny (didn’t realize that then), but as happens with most people the weight slowly started catching up with me.

When I went to college in 2000, I started gaining weight. It wasn’t much, but it started a trend that lasted for ten years. When I got married in 2002, I weighed about 135lbs and my wedding dress was a size 6.

Spring Break 2003

USS North Carolina 2004

Then Gideon deployed and I comforted myself with food. The weight started adding up and only got worse with the next deployment. It was only a pound or two here or there, so I could fool myself that it wasn’t that big a deal.

Independence Day 2005

After college, marriage, and deployments, we moved to Europe where there is some of the best food in the world. Next came my pregnancy with Hadley. I’m sure Mom’s will agree that we wouldn’t trade our kids for anything in the world, but they don’t do the best things to our bodies even if we do lose all of the “baby” weight. And I wasn’t one to lose all of the weight. When I got pregnant with Hadley I weighed about 160 lbs and after having her I settled around 170lbs.

Lichtenstein Castle 2006

Athens, Greece 2007

When Hadley was 10 days old 2008

A few moves later, my weight had crept up to 179lbs. Throughout all the weight gain, I made half-hearted attempts to lose the weight. Occasionally, I would lose a few pounds, but I would quickly gain them back. In 2009, I was mentally ready to lose the weight, so we bought a treadmill.

Jane Wayne Day 2009

I worked out hard for a month and didn’t lose a single pound. It was at that point that I found out I was pregnant with Malia. When I got pregnant, I weighed 179lbs and was wearing a size 14. I was terrified of weighing 200lbs, so I was careful with what I ate and made sure I got as much exercise as I could.

Mother's Day 2010 (24 weeks pregnant with Malia)

33 weeks pregnant with Malia 2010

The day Malia was born, I weighed 199lbs. One week after she was born, I weighed 181lbs. At five weeks post-partum I started working out on the treadmill. I set my goal weight to 150lbs. I knew it would be hard to get there, but I didn’t think it was too ambitious. I also secretly told myself that if I even get close to 150lbs, I wouldn’t be too disappointed.

August 15, 2010 (Malia is one day old)

Our treadmill has pre-programmed calorie workouts. The lowest was 150 calories. I remember doing it for the first time, hurting so much and thinking I would never make it to the highest calorie workout of 700. Each week, I moved up to the next calorie workout.

September 2010 Starting my weight loss

Now I am doing a 1000 calorie workout 4 days a week. I am working on increasing my running ability and speed. I run 2.5 miles and then do a 600 calorie workout. I never thought I could do this and feel so much better physically, emotionally, and mentally.

In just over six months of working out and really watching my calorie intake, I weigh 129lbs and wear a size 4. That is a weight loss of 50lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and 10 dress sizes. Before I started, I never thought I could do it. Now I am so happy, and love to think about what I accomplished.

April 2, 2011

And because every picture looks better with my girls

I know now is when the really hard part starts, maintaining the weight loss. I really enjoy running and working out, so I am confident that as long as I make it a priority I will be able to do it.