Slow and Steady
Shelley's Story

I lost over 115 lbs in about 9 months a while back following a reasonable diet and exercise plan.

I had suffered a couple of injuries, went back to school, was working nights at a detox where the patients could try the patience of any saint, and stopped smoking within a short period of time ... and the pounds piled on. I had half-heartedly tried to shed the fat several times but needed a couple of "shocks" to make it really happen.

The first was that my husband had bought me a rocking chair for Christmas and my big ass (pardon the expression, but believe me, "big ass" is the only way I'd describe it) wouldn't fit into it comfortably. Talk about upset! Not upset enough to lose the weight though....

The next shock was realizing that I was actually wearing the biggest sizes that the "mainstream" stores around here carried -- 28! Any bigger and it would HAVE to be Lane Bryant or Roaman's for clothes. Not what I wanted, but still not enough to make me do the obvious and lose the weight.

Somewhere around this time I also saw one of the very rare pictures of myself where I was standing next to my older son. It hit me like a ton of bricks that my excess weight was probably embarassing to him. [He STILL claims it never was -- very sweet kid, but I think he's just being protective of my feelings about it even now.] I had to think that it wasn't just about me, but that it was probably difficult for him sometimes. Ditto for my husband, who hadn't married me big.

The final kick in the butt that really got me motivated and serious about getting myself back into the body I wanted was when I almost ran into an old friend while at a *pie counter* (of ALL PLACES,eh?) at a local Farmers' Market -- a friend who hadn't seen me in years, who certainly hadn't seen how fat I had become. I say "almost ran into" because I was so fat she didn't know it was me and I actually hightailed it out of the place like a scared bunny rabbitt! [It's kinda humorous now, but it wasn't then.]

Well, after scurrying out of the market and arriving at home, I announced I was "really going to lose weight." [Later on, my husband finally admitted he had thought I was full of more than food then -- LOL!]

The very next day, I went to the gym (where my membership had been unused for a couple of YEARS while I pathetically paid the dues "just in case" I decided to really go). I started to put together an exercise and diet program that would actually work.

It wasn't easy, and I'm so glad to see your website doesn't tell folks it is. I walked sooo many treadmill miles, worked out with weights, and the Domino's pizza guys were probably trying to guess if the fat lady had died. I gave up my precious Coca Cola, got up early every day to get in some kind of workout, and decided that no matter what, I'd never run from a farmers' market, check the weight limit on a folding chair, or joke about being fat to make sure nobody else got the chance to put me down first ... EVER AGAIN!!

It worked! I went from 255lbs. to 135lbs. Sixty percent body fat (geez, over half of me was lard!) to 21%. And instead of losing muscle like when just dieting, I actually gained over 5lbs of it. I'm 40 years old, but it's not delusional to say I look and feel so much better than I did at 35 or 36. I bought great clothes, and LOTS of 'em after giving away all my "fat" clothes. It's so much more fun to shop for size 10's than 28's!!

I sit in that rocking chair a lot now. I ran into my friend's husband after losing the weight and went out to lunch with her the following week. She still didn't know about that awful day at the pie counter and kept saying "Look at you! How do you stay thin?" I told her I work out and watch what I eat, but at least I admitted that "I did put on a few pounds before getting things under control." ;)

--Shelley