My Life Prior to the Belly Fat Cure

In August of this year, I found myself at my highest weight EVER....238.4 pounds :-O.  We had recently moved our family to a new state, a new town. The move went smoother than I ever could have hoped for and my kids (2 boys, ages 13 and 11) were already making friends. My husband, who had actually been working and living here for 8 months already, is/was still enjoying the challenges of his new position. However, after the unpacking and household set-up was complete, I found myself in a funk, on the couch, the likes of which I have never seen before.

Now I admit, my eating habits have never been the greatest. Even during childhood I can remember way too much fast food and junk food. Once I got to high school, I coupled the junk food diet with fad diet crazes.....the most memorable being either starvation or the steak/grapefruit diet. I managed to hover between 125-135. Once in college, living in the dorms, of course I gained the freshmen "15" and then some. Add (too much) beer to a diet still filled with fast food food and junk food. I managed to maintain a reasonable weight, no more than 145, thru exercise (aerobics was the 80's craze) and walking around as well as to/from campus. Once I left college and entered the working world......well, anyone who's worked in an office knows what that is like.......morning doughnuts, lunches out, vending machines.....I managed to stay under 150 thru various fad diets, starvation and aerobics classes.

I met my husband to be, and started Weight Watchers while planning our wedding. I was able to bring my weight down from the 160's to around 145. I felt great and sticking with Weight Watchers was easy when I had motivation (a looming wedding ceremony!). But once we were married and I became pregnant, the weight started creeping back. The main culprit was that during my first pregnancy, I quit drinking DIET sodas. I began drinking regular soda (caffeine-free during pregnancy and nursing). Once I had both boys and stopped nursing, my affair with Dr. Pepper became truly serious ;-).  And because of all the sugary soda I was drinking, my diet slowly changed to include ALOT of cookies, brownies, chocolate candy, ice cream.....

Slowly, my weight had crept up......from the 180's to 200....to 210, 220........and then my final shock this past August, 238 pounds!!!!!  I had just turned 45 (halfway to 50!) and my scale was telling me I was almost halfway to 300 pounds :-0.  Serious change was needed.  Not only was that number on the scale terrifying, my energy had dropped dramatically and I felt "icky" all the time. My digestion was terrible and I could just "feel" the drain I was making on my kidneys, pancreas, liver, etc. It was all I could do to get off the couch and do laundry. Thankfully, I hadn't YET been diagnosed with high blood sugar, diabetes or any heart disease, but I feel I was on the fast track to one if not more of those problems.

One day, while reading Facebook, a friend of mine posted about losing 25 pounds, wearing a size 10 again, and thanked Jorge Cruise and the Belly Fat Cure. I sent her a message right away and asked for the scoop. After she shared her success with me, I went right out to buy the book. I felt like no time was better than the present, so the very next day I started the Belly Fat Cure myself. I gave up soda and sweets......COLD TURKEY and I haven't looked back. It's been 8 weeks and I am down 25 pounds and 4 inches. I truly see this as a permanent lifestyle change and for the first time ever, I can actually see myself losing the 100 pounds I need to lose.

 I've included some picture of myself that were take in November, 2009.  Unfortunately, the pictures I took when starting the BFC in August were in my underwear. They won't be posted here!  I have no idea what my weight was in these pictures, but good gracious....I look pregnant!! I had to crop my skinny friends out of the pictures before posting ;-) No offense E and J!!  Since I am already 8 weeks in, my next few post will be general summaries of my weekly weight loss since the beginning, until I am current. I will keep these weekly summaries from August thru now brief. I was really inspired to start this blog after reading another blog "Me and Jorge". The author has had great success on the BFC and I felt like her experiences mirrored mine. She is a pleasure to read and I want to inspire others like she has inspired me.