The Journey Begins

I attended 1 WW meeting in my lifetime.   And I sat in a room full of other people who obviously had the same problems that I did with food.... eating it.   I listened to the group talk about struggles they had that week and how they over came them.  I listened to good advice on how to avoid temptation.  I heard a lot of talk about new foods that are ONLY 2 WW Points!  Those I liked.  Because if I found 10 food products that were only 2 WW Points, I could eat just those.... all day long!  But I also heard a lot of stories about people who HAD to eat cake that week because someone brought it into the office.  And they HAD to eat it.  I was confused by this statement because unless it's a life threatening situation, I don't know anyone who HAS to eat cake.

That was my last meeting because I realized that I didn't get fat because OTHER people forced me to eat cake.  I got fat because I made the cake myself and ate it.  Without always sharing.   I couldn't blame my fatness on someone else, and I couldn't handle sitting in a room with a group of people who routinely did blame their weight problems on other people.  That's not saying everyone did, but even listening to 1 person say it was enough to make me want to stand up and stomp my foot and demand that they take responsibility for their fatness, just like I was.

Thankfully, WW was available online and I was not required to attend meetings that drove me to insanity.  Instead, I could just sit at my computer at work and figure out ways to finagle the point values on foods so that I was always at or under my point allowance for the day!  It was really quite easy.  

That's not to say it didn't work, because it did.  I lost over 100 pounds on the program.  However it wasn't just the program that helped with that loss.   I became an avid "elliptical" user.  About 2 months into the program, I joined an All Women's gym.  What started out as 30 minutes of exercise, 3 days a week, quickly turned into 90 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.  I became obsessive.  It helped that i had made friends with some skinny chicks that kept me inspired to someday look like them.  So I went to the gym every morning before work, and made some good friends that I'm very thankful for.  

And 18 months after beginning, I finally hit my goal weight of 150 pounds.  I celebrated with my husband with a night out at the theater, where I got to buy a fancy new dress (size 6!) and fancy new shoes (RED!) and go out to a fancy dinner where I ate a salad.... and my husband's french fries!  It was a victory and I was excited to show off my new body.  

I completed my first triathlon in July 2012 and managed to place 3rd in the Athena Division.  I was ecstatic.  Who would have thought it just 2 years ago, that I would be able to compete in triathlons, much less have a spot on a podium?  It became an addiction.  All I wanted to do now was find more races to compete in and keep training.  I can honestly say that I enjoyed the training.  What i enjoyed even more was the extra food that I allowed myself to eat while traininNow that I finally hit my goal weight, it was time to find a new goal.  Well for me, that was competing in a my first triathlon.  This was a HUGE accomplishment for me and I will forever be thankful to WW for helping me lose the fatness so that I could start training for this.  I trained hard for this race and registered for it as an Athena (Women who weigh over 150lbs).  At the time of the race, I had put back on 15 pounds, but told myself it was muscle.  Most of it probably was, but I found that while training, it was harder for me to stick to the WW maintenance program.  I was starving at night and my normal snack of an apple just wasn't doing it for me.  Now it was a slice of apple pie with some ice cream.  Or forget about the apple pie all together, and just have a giant bowl of ice cream.  

In May of 2013, I competed in my 2nd Triathlon.  This time I competed as an age grouper (35-39 year olds).  While I had a personal best on my bike, I struggled with the cold water on the swim (Which is usually my best part of the race) and I had a hard time with the running and found myself walking portions.   What a big difference from a year before!  When I got home from the race, I weighed myself and found that I had now gained back 30 pounds from that 150lbs that I was so proud of more than a year ago. I again, blamed it on the training, told myself a majority of it was muscle and powered on.   I had another triathlon scheduled for July and told myself that throwing in a couple extra workouts would solve the weight problem quickly.  

While I completed the next triathlon, I found myself once again struggling with the running.  I had a hard time catching my breath and my knees hurt while running.  Looking back at the pictures from that race, I compared them to the year before.  I could see the drastic weight difference between pictures.  Even if it was only about 20 pounds, its amazing how that extra weight all sat in my hips and thighs and waist.   I told myself that i would get through the summer and then start the program again to lose the pounds.

Well by September, I was back up over 200lbs.  I managed to squeak off 10 of those pounds between October and January, but i was still weighing in a 203.  I was discouraged.  I was still constantly working out but the weight wasn't budging.  I was back to eating "properly" but nothing would move that scale.   I was worried.  My dad had recently been diagnosed with a "sluggish" thyroid and I couldn't help but think I was in the same boat.  Refusing to live the rest of my life relying on a medication, I knew I had to make a change.

That's when I found Omnitrition.  At first I thought it was crazy.  Of course I would lose weight following a 500 calorie diet, because I was STARVING.   But I wasn't.  After reading the science behind the diet and how the Drops Program works to release all the abnormal fat in my body, I took a chance.  It paid off.  I began the program on January 10th, weighing in at 203.  After 42 days, I had successfully lost 31 lbs.  That amounted to nearly 3/4 of a pound a day!  Following the program, I took the required 21 days off of the drops to "reset" my metabolism.  I enjoyed eating healthy fats such as avocados and almonds while continuing to avoid sugars and starches.  For those 21 days, I ate an average of 1700 calories a day and maintained my 31lb loss.

I started my next round on March 22nd and chose to do a shorter round this time due to family events going on.  I did the minimum 21 days allowed and lost and additional 16 pounds.  Once again, I took 21 days off to maintain and reset my metabolism.  I was now within 6 pounds of my goal to weigh 150 pounds again.  Taking a chance, and thinking perhaps it is possible to weigh less than 150, I did a 3rd round.  Since I was closing in on my body's ideal weight, I knew the chances of losing a lot of weight was slim.  But after 24 days, my scaled landed on 145 pounds! 

So there you have it... in 87 dropping days, I lost 58 pounds.  Not to mention just the pounds, but over this time frame, I also lost 49.5 inches off my body! I lowered my BMI from 30.4 to 23.2 and reduced my body fat percentage from 36.8% to 25.2%.  And I am maintaining it!  I enjoy eating 1700 calories a day.  How many other "diets" do you know of that allow you to eat that many calories a day?   None.  And that's because Omnitrition is not a diet.  Its a lifestyle.   I have learned so many things from this program and I plan to share them all with you.   From recipes, advice, tips, funny stories, and more, I plan to share my experience and knowledge with all of you, all you have to do is ask!