My First Weight Loss Journey

I am finally making time to talk about my first weight loss journey. How did I get to this point in my life? What have the other 26 years looked like?

Young Morgan! 🙂 Please forgive the 90s clothing choice! 🙂

When I was younger – I was a pretty normal kid. I little big around the tummy but overall a normal size.

 

As I got older, I soon realized that I was not blessed with a fast metabolism and my poor eating habits and lack of activity were quickly catching up to me.

When I was in the 8^th grade, I was a size 20 in woman’s pants. I had to shop at Lane Bryant to at least HOPE to get clothes that looked stylish but fit. If you aware of their clothing line, they ARE fashionable and I can appreciate them NOW that I am 26 years old… but nothing in there screams 14.

At this stage in my life, I was probably about 230lbs on a shorter 5 foot 6 inch frame.

Me as a 14 year old!! About 230lbs on a shorter 5 foot 6 inch frame

I remained a size 20 but continued to GAIN WEIGHT but at the same time GROW TALLER so although my clothes were the same size I was significantly heavier.

When I was in 10^th grade, I was homeschooled. Which basically meant… I was not a normal teenager, I sat at home a lot, and did things on the computer. During that year I continued to get larger. By the time I returned to high school as a junior, I was a size 24 pants and weighed in at least 280lbs. Once you start getting larger, at some point you stop really monitoring the scale.

(Sorry don’t really have any pictures from this time in my life. When you are overweight and have low self-esteem is is hard to put yourself in front of the camera… especially when you are 15 years old!)

Once I entered high school, I was enrolled in my mandatory PE the first semester of the year. It was weight lifting. SO being the fat kid in a PE class is seriously hard enough, but in a weight lifting class… I was not only the fat kid but also one of 4 girls. This class consisted of mostly football players and the few girls were mostly cheerleaders. BUT one of the girls was a softball player. She was a catcher… I remember being startled by the overall strength she had. She was a beast. 🙂 AND she ended up being my spotting partner.

NOW imaging being in a class of almost all men and having one of the few girls as a spotting partner but she happens to be one of the strongest women I have ever met.

Well she seriously pushed me hard. I fell HEAD OVER HEELS with weight lifting. It made feel so good and strong and even though I still was a big girl I felt more confident in myself and my abilities.

During that semester I got strong but still ate the same old food and didn’t really lose any weight. BUT I was on a roll now.. I had my confidence back. I decided to join weight watchers.

Once I did, the pounds melted away. I not only continued strength training but I started walking, playing volleyball and tennis, and just overall continued to move.

During about a 9 month time period I lost 100lbs! I weighed in at the end around 180lbs… which actually for me is about a size 14. I could sometimes fit into a 12.. but mostly a 14 bottom and a medium top.

17 here – About 190 lbs

Overall ONE GIRL in one class inspired me to push myself and that is all it took.

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As high school went on, I lost a little focus, but I maintained my weight loss and was still eating well and remain active. I cut my exercise down a bit because my social life was quickly expanding. BUT I tried to do things with friends that involved activity as much as I could.

18 here! 🙂 around 190-195 here.

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about 2 years out of High School. About 20 here!

When I entered college, it became a little harder. I was working full time and going to school full time. It became quite difficult to fit to much activity in. I slowly crept up to 190-195, but was able to maintain that with some changes in my diet.

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This was right when Keith and I started dating. Almost 21 here!

In 2007, I met my husband. We started dating and a year later we were living together. I slowly crept up in weight because we didn’t do the most active things together and weren’t eating the best food. It is harder to eat right when you have no money. For a few years, I live mostly off of soup.

In that time I also completely ditched my healthy ways and began drinking a lot… which led to smoking. 😦

Now at 200-205lbs, I was maintaining. Was it because of food and exercise? Nope. It was because I was smoking. This made me eat less and I just stayed the same. BUT could I walk up a flight of stairs? Probably not. Could I walk around the block? Not really.

Me a couple months before I got married. About 205lbs here.

BUT I was still mostly a size 14, sometimes 16 –and overall looked OK still.

When we were married in 2010, I was around this size.

Married! June 19, 2010 — I was 23! … and about 205lbs

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Shortly after we got married, we both decided to quit smoking. I immediately gained weight at the rate of about 10-15 lbs a month. After about 3 months and being now about 230lbs. I had a choice to make… I obviously did not want to keep getting bigger at this rate… I could….

1. Start smoking again (seriously I thought about it)
2. Start eating better and exercising

I obviously chose the second option. I started to run. I started a c25k program and didn’t look back from there. 2 months later I completely my first 5k and a year later my first half marathon.

This is when I just finished my first 5k. June of 2011 — I was around 220 lbs — I had already dropped about 10 during my first 2 months training.

NOW since I have been running for 2 years now.. WHY am I only down to 215lbs? Well, I didn’t focus enough on my eating. I just ran and ate like a crazy person.

Around 230lbs here — Although I had been running for 6-8 months.. I was still eating poorly and my weight kept creeping up. I was mostly only a 5k runner at this point.. so 30 mins or so of running 4 days a week.

AND that is where we are now. I am working on eating and getting myself back to that perfect 180lb fitness level.

EVERY extra pound I carry on me makes running more stressful on my body. I love racing and training and I am hopeful I can get into my best fighting condition and clobber the courses. Because of that simple choice I made 2 years ago to start running rather than continuing to smoke, it completely changed my life.

I am a different person then I was 2 years ago. My overall outlook day to day and my group of friends has changed to compete with my BETTER lifestyle! 🙂

And me last month! About 220lbs again here.

Overall – my hubby, although I am still working on him to exercise with me… he has supported me every step of the way!

When conquering a huge goal like getting healthy and losing weight, the BEST thing to keep you going is inspiration and support.

Being healthy is HARD work and it will continue to be hard work for the rest of your life. It is a constant battle of choosing the right thing. BUT it is well worth the work.