My Story

I’m a thirty-something professional woman, living in New England, trying to make my way through this crazy thing called life.  My goal is to end each day knowing that I did something useful for the world, and hopefully had a little bit of fun in the process.

 

Like many women, I strive to live a healthy lifestyle.  That means eating well (most of the time!), maintaining a healthy weight, and keeping my body in shape so I can not only do the things I want to do, but feel and look good doing them.

 

This is – unfortunately – easier said than done.  I was a chubby kid and have struggled with a weight problem (or at least my own perception of one) most of my life.  In hindsight, I was in decent shape in high school.  I was an athlete, and although not a stick, not fat either.  But I had never been a healthy eater, so when I went away to college, I packed on about 40 lbs.  Too many Doritos, too much beer, and not enough exercise. 

 

In grad school I started exercising more (to manage stress) and eating better, and lost about 30 lbs in 4 years.  Then in 2001 I got really serious about my weight by joining Weight Watchers.  I lost 30 more lbs in 3 months, and finally achieved my dream weight – that magic number that had always held the promise of a perfect life, if only I could get there.

 

In the 7+ years since getting to goal, I’ve been working hard to maintain my weight and live a healthy  life.  It hasn’t been easy.  Well, the first 3 years were.  But since then I’ve gained back about 15 lbs of the 60 I lost.  Why? Life.  I got a crazy job that’s very stressful and sends me all over the country on a regular basis.  And the fact that I’m no longer in my 20s hasn’t helped either. 

 

But I haven’t given up.  And I’m damn proud of that.  I’ve continuously attended Weight Watchers meetings for the entire 7+ year period, and stayed within 2 lbs of my healthy weight range (if not my original weight goal) the entire time.  And now that I’m finally getting the hang of my new life, I’m working to get those extra pounds off again.  

 

Truthfully, though, my goal isn’t to lose weight.  It’s to learn to manage my weight, and build a healthy relationship with food.  My mom struggled with weight before me, and although she tried hard to get me to eat healthy I grew up with some unanticipated food hang-ups.  I want to break that cycle, and raise my (as yet un-conceived, unborn) children with the knowledge, habits, and attitudes that will make living a healthy way easier for them.