I guess for all of us, the hardest place to start is the beginning, so, here I am. Let me give you a little background. In 2001, I became ill with a blood disorder, ITP, to long to type out. One of the treatments for this was a high dose of Prednisone. I was taking 150mg a day. The weight I gained was horrible. After all was said and done, I found myself at roughly 380 to 400 lbs. Once I stopped taking this medication, I was able to lose 50 to 60 lbs but never anymore. So here I sit at 331 lbs. I should mention that as of June 27th, 2010, I have not smoked. I am using the Nicoderm Patch. Now, let’s fast forward to July 6th, 2010. I left work and decided I wanted a sub so I stopped at Wegmans and picked one up, it was very hot out, around 90+ degrees. I went home, turned on my air and ate, all of it. Feeling a little tired, I fell asleep. About 45 minutes later I started to wake up and something didn’t feel right. I was having trouble breathing. I stood up and felt my left arm starting to tingle and my hand was ice cold. I grabbed the phone and called my sister Stella who is a LPN. She suggested I call my doctor. I did and it just so happen to be my doctor. He wanted me to go get checked out at the emergency department. To make a long story short, I did not have a Heart Attack but for even after all I went through in my life, this was the first time I WAS SCARED.
So, this is now my start, the hardest place, my beginning and I want to share this with all of you not only for my accountability but if this even touches one life for someone to create a change, then this is worth it.
July 7th, 2010: Contacted Jenny Craig weight loss center, I weighed in at 331lbs. My councilor at the centers name is Erin, an absolutely wonderful person who took the time to explain things to me. One of the most important statement she made to me was in the form of questions such as, “Have you ever eaten potato chips and dip”? “Have you ever eaten spare ribs”? My answer to all of them was yes and she replied, “Then you’re not missing anything”. “ Not to say you will never have them again but not now and we will teach you how to eat healthy” That did it for me, it finally made sense and I am ready so I wrote a check for $405.00, this included my membership, booklets and my first weeks worth of food. Sounds like a lot of money, it is but, it all depends on what kind of a price you are willing to put on your life, to me, it’s worth it. I brought all my food home and threw out the junk.
July 8th, 2010: I started the program; the food is not bad at all and as a matter of fact, delicious. Now because of my height and weight, I was placed on a 2000 calorie diet. This is a lot of food and as the weight comes off, this will be lowered as well.
July 10th, 2010: Today was my first consultation with Erin. This was also the day my photo was taken for my file. You know, the before and after. I was curious so I stepped on the scale. Now this is not encouraged, the weighing should only be done once a week but I couldn’t help myself. To my shock and surprise, I weighed in at 327lbs. I said, “Can this be possible”? And the answer was yes, THIS WORKS AND WILL WORK.
