Weight loss stuggles

Weight has always been a struggle for me. I look back at my grade school pictures and I was always the chubby girl, the fat girl. I was made fun of a lot when I switched schools in the beginning of 4th grade. Knowing I was new to the school, the kids took advantage of this and would make fun of me for my weight and many other things for that matter.

Eating was always a comfort for me. When I was sad, I would eat. When I was happy, I would eat. When I wanted to cry, I would eat. It was my way of coping with feelings I couldn't handle. For the most part, my entire family is some-what overweight and I never had someone preaching about the dangers of not eating healthy or eating too much. I grew in age and I grew in weight, but much higher than other kids I was in school with.

Before meeting Ana's father years ago, I was somewhere in the low 200's (pounds). We dated for those six years and during those six years I gained almost 100 pounds. Towards the end of our six year relationship I was now at my highest weight (over 320 pounds). He knew it was unhealthy and I knew I was unhealthy and I knew I had to do something about it.

Since I'm 5'2, doctors and weight charts estimate I should weigh about 125 lbs. While I doubt I'll ever get to this weight, I knew that I needed to lose weight because I was no longer getting my period cycles. My cycles stopped for approximately 3 years and my doctor put me on medication to trigger my period because she was concerned of uterine problems.

In Oct of 2008 I fractured my hip while falling down a wet set of outside stairs. This was my breaking point. The weight and the fractured hip put me over the edge and I came to the conclusion I was too unhappy and unhealthy to continue living like this. At this rate, even IF I could have kids, I wouldn't be around to see them reach their 20's.

I looked into all sorts of ways to lose weight. I started dieting, I tried the no-carb diet, I tried the "Hollywood" diet, I tried weight watchers, counting calories, etc and nothing seemed to work. I looked into gastric bypass surgeries but I knew I wanted to conceive in the next few years and I know they don't recommend it to give time for your body to heal.

I spoke to my doctor and she started me on phentermine. When I started the medication it gave me such energy I felt like I could keep exercising until I passed out. I would go to the gym almost every day and I saw the pounds shedding off. From January 2009 until Dec 2009 I lost a total of 75 lbs. However, I had a setback and had my gallbladder removed Dec 31, 2009. After this surgery I had some severe complications which meant I wasn't able to work out and I gained back some of the weight (about 25 lbs). 

Although I was no longer on the medication, I started losing weight again at the beginning of this year and it made my total weight loss amount to 87 lbs at the time I conceived Ana.

I know that losing all of the weight was key to getting my cycles back and becoming more regular. When I conceived Ana I was getting my period every month or every other month (at the latest).

While pregnant with Ana, I gained 20 pounds in the first three months. Since I lost Ana, I have lost 12 pounds and need to lose 8 more before being at my "pre-baby" weight. Losing this weight has been a battle for me but I am trying hard (even during the holidays) because I want to try having another baby when my doc (and body) allows.

I credit most of my weight loss to walking. Lots and lots of walking and drinking water. I cut out all soda (diet or not) and this really helped me lose weight as well. I hope that I can continue working hard to lose the rest of the baby weight and continue losing more weight to hope for a better and healthier pregnancy next time.