I want to start off this post with a warning: I do not endorse weight loss by unhealthy measures. I do not have prejudices against people who are heavier or overweight. This is simply my personal story about my weight loss.

I had always been the skinny girl in high school who couldn’t gain a half pound if you fed me gallons of ice cream each day (Which WAS definitely the case. I love ice cream!). People thought I had an eating disorder…when really I couldn’t gain weight when I was trying. In college, my terrible eating habits and depression (non-food related) caught up to me.

In short: In 2008 I gained 20 pounds up from my healthy weight.  In 2009, I lost it and got to my healthy weight. Well…that was a fun and awesome, but ended shortly during my senior year of college. I gained the most I had ever weighed and was pretty down about it. I kept buying new clothes and was stuck in a rut. Or in cheese. Man I love cheese…grilled cheese, cheetos, mac n’ cheese… cheese on a stick, cheese salad (please get my Forest Gump reference with shrimp?!).

Anyway…at some point, I decided it was enough. I was tired of trying to hide the fact I was getting bigger- by starting to slim down. I started eating healthier and got myself a nice purple water bottle. I slowly started to get back to my normal self. When I hit a plateau, I started the Shaklee cinch plan. It’s basically protein shakes and bars for substitutes for 2 of 3 meals. I am now about 5-7 pounds away from my healthy weight again and am feeling great! I’m so excited to be so close to my goal. I also just started using myfitnesspal.com and hope it will help me in the last trek.

Yet, in the end, it’s not about obsessing over numbers and pant sizes. It’s about living healthier and happier.

Having a strong support system is great too! I bring my shakes to work and my co-workers know about my lunch so it’s really difficult for me to cheat. I’m also attempting to find time to work out (I like to do it- it just takes so much time!) Hopefully, I’ll get a kick in the pants from some friends. We just started a facebook group that we can post to when we’re going to work out- or just to post some words of encouragement. I’m excited to get to my goal, but even more excited to continue to build relationships with others who are supportive and want to be healthy too!