I’m an early 30-something business owner, website design and developer, mother the three beautiful kids, wife and daughter. Like so many other people before me, I have entered the realm of weight loss blogging for self improvement and accountability. I also want to meet other people like me and learn and grow.

Growing Up
Throughout my childhood I was a little chubby, but in fifth and sixth grade I started playing basketball and volleyball which helped keep my weight down some. My weight fluctuated quite a bit in school, but was right around 155-165 lbs when I was in high school. For some reason I thought I was fat – even though my weight was in the healthy range for my height and bone structure – and I had a really bad self image complex my freshman and sophomore years. By my junior and senior years I really didn’t care what people thought about me. I got my braces removed and felt a new sense of confidence. I started getting a little cocky and really didn’t pay much attention to my weight.

After graduation, I went away to college and put on a good 40 lbs in and around my first year, which wasn’t the typical freshman 15! I realized the college I was going to wasn’t a good fit for me and I headed home for awhile. I didn’t feel all that grand about myself but I didn’t know what to do about it. So I ate and I drank and I smoked and I partied and I did all of those things that a young twenty something does. Unfortunately none of it helped my weight situation – it only got worse.

Life in the Fast Lane
I got sick of living with mommy, so I decided to take a job downstate all by myself. I worked in the same company as my mom – her contacts got me the job – but it was the first time I lived on my own outside of college. I partied, smoked, drank some more and worked. I even had my old college roomie come and split rent with me for awhile too. We had some crazy, crazy times that I’ll never forget. But the weight was a constant reminder of those all-night drinking parties.

Married Life
After almost two years I got sick of living in the fast lane, so I moved back up north with my mom (again). After a failed relationship with a real militant jerk, I met my future husband. We fell in love and he’s never cared how thin or fat I’ve been during our relationship. We got married when I was 22 and I haven’t looked back (until now that is)!

Babies, Babies, Babies
During my first pregnancy I gained 40 lbs. I was in denial and shock at the same time when I seen how much I weighed. Then two years later, our second child was born and I remember hitting gaining even more weight on the scale at the OB/GYN office right before I had him. I wanted to scream. So I did something about it after he was born. I began low-carb dieting and lost a bunch of weight. I got down 70 lbs and couldn’t quite budge much farther. Then I started seeing a local weight loss doctor who prescribed Phentermine. That got me down to my post-marriage and post-baby weight. I stopped taking the weight loss pills because I really wanted to try for another baby. I got my wish, and we added baby #3 to our family. Unfortunately I was carrying around all of the weight I lost after baby #2 and then some.

Every Diet Imaginable
I’ve done the yo-yo dieting thing for the last ten years hardcore. I’ve tried Atkins, Kimkins, Weight Watchers, diet pills, South Beach, The Fat Belly Diet, you name it, I’ve probably tried it. I’d have to say Atkins or low-carb has been the most successful for me. The only problem with that one is that once you go off of the diet, you gain everything back and then some.

What I’m Doing Now
To lose the weight this time, I really had to find a genuine way of eating that I could live with and control. So I’m very careful what I eat on most days, keeping my calorie count right in the 1200-1500 range. I avoid sugar like the plague (I’m such an addict!) and I try to workout every single day. The weight is coming off much slower than when I was on the low-carb diet, but it is coming off. I don’t beat myself up like I used to when I was low-carbing with the “all or nothing” mentality. That was ALWAYS a deal breaker for me.

Now you know a lot about me and my diet journey. I hope that you’ll keep on following me and that we can do this together.

You can email me at afg@anonymousfatgirl.com.