She's Down 90 POUNDS!!!

So after nearly threatening my sister to death, I was finally able to get her story about weight loss. What a perfect time to post her story and pictures of her than to celebrate her 90 pound weight loss! Both of my sisters are doing the same sorts of things to lose weight and both are looking good (I might need to lay off the zebra cakes:) . So I will let Melissa tell you in her own words about what has gotten her through it to get to it! The floor is all yours Meme....

I have always been over weight for as long as I can remember. I always thought that was the way I was just meant to be and I had to accept it, but now I know that is not the way it has to be. I went to Meadows surgical arts (in Commerce) on Nov. 19, 2009. I had decided I had, had enough. I was tired of being fat, tired of feeling bad all the time, I was miserable and I was the only one that could change it. This time was so different from any other time I have ever tried to lose weight. This time I think I found the secret to a successful weight loss. The 1st and most important thing was I had my head and my heart in the same place, I was ready and I meant that nothing was not going to stop me. So when I went to the Dr. they put me on an appetite suppressant called Adipex and an injection call Lipo B12. They told me to eat 1200 calories and walk or do some kind of exercise for 35 min. a day. I started walking or doing 30 min of step aerobics on the wii fit, counting my calories, I eat three 400 calorie meals a day and I do not eat anything after 7:00pm. I drink lots and lots of water all day long and only water, which was not really that hard because I only drank water to start with anyway. When I went back after a week to be weighed and get my Lipo B12 injection I had lost 7 lbs. I was so excited. I decided I thought I could do more when it come to my workouts, so I went to target and got 3 biggest loser DVD’s The Cardio Max, Power Sculpt and Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and some small 2lb hand weights. I started out doing level 1 on each DVD, one in the morning and one at night. While still doing the step aerobics on the wii fit and walking up and down my driveway. Every 6 weeks I would add another level on the DVD’s. I was going to the doctor every Wed. to get weighed and get the B12 injection, the weight was just falling off. I could not believe I was really actually doing this. Then at the end of Dec. here comes the bump in the road. Something happened that was very devastating to me in my family life. I just knew this was going to be it for me because anyone who has ever had a weight problem knows when you are sad the only thing you want to do is eat. But I found something inside of me that was NOT going to let this happen, something I never knew I had…DETERMINATION. Where did this come from, how in all of my 32 years have I not ever seen this inside of me. But there it was and I was not turning it away. I stepped it up a notch and I started doing 50 min. of cardio, 45 min. of strength training, a hour of step aerobics everyday and at night in the dark I would go outside and walk up and down my driveway with it 20 degrees outside and would cry through every bit of it. I would come in with tears frozen on my face from the cold. But after a few weeks I got over that bump, which by the way never slowed down my weight loss. I breezed right on through Feb. and the first part of March with a good weight loss every week. Then it happened again, except this was not just a bump in the road, here come a mountain to climb. On Monday March 15, 2010 I got a phone call at 12:00 midnight saying that something had happened to Heather, my best friend of 20 years. I thought surely it was nothing to bad I had talked to her on the phone that evening for more than an hour and she was just fine. So I called Heather's sister to see what was going on. Heather had, had a brain aneurysm. I was so broken hearted I did not know what to do with myself. How could this happen, she is my age. The next day the doctor give her and her husband their options for surgery while still not making us any promises that she was even going to make it through this. Her daughter was staying with me and my husband; I am her daughter's everyday babysitter. I have been keeping her since she was 6 weeks old, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week and she will soon be 4 years old in a few weeks. On March 17th Heather had brain surgery to clamp off the aneurysm. She came through the surgery great. A few days after the surgery she had a mild stroke, but she was improving every day. She was in NICU for 2 1/2 weeks then moved down to the rehab floor and was there for another 2 weeks. During this whole time Heather was in the hospital I was still eating right and trying to exercise like I had been doing for months but it was very hard. Her daughter was staying with me 24 hours a day 7 days a week and I loved that she was there with me but to go from a baby sitter to around the clock care was not as easy as I thought it would be. The whole 5 weeks Heather was in the hospital I did not lose over 1 lb 6 oz a week and this had become very upsetting to me. The stress had taken over my body and would not allow it to move any further. After Heather had been home from the hospital for a week when I went and weighed I had lost 3 lbs and that is great for 1 week, I was very happy with that. The next week when I went to get weighed I had lost 10 lbs.OMG, 10 lbs from Wed. to Wed. and now that makes 83 lbs. I never in a million years ever could have dreamed that I could do this. This for me is not a diet; it has been a life style change. I never want to go back to the way I was before. I feel better than ever. I started out in a size 22 jeans and today I went into a dressing room and put on a size 10, buttoned them up and turned to look in the mirror and there stood a new person in front of me. All I could do was cry. This was the person I have always wanted to be. I know people say it is not what is on the outside it is what is on the inside, but when you live your whole life being overweight and then you see this new person that has always wanted to come out looking back at you it is such an emotional experience.

There you have it guys...if that isn't encouragement to get up and get going then I don't know what is. You don't have to have a whole lot of weight to lose for this to help you. Small changes can make a huge difference in your life. So just to send a little more encouragement your way, here is a before and after picture and she claims she isn't done yet...although I thinks she looks great and maintaining should be her priority at this point but she doesn't listen to me:)

These are pictures of her with her husband that I took back around Thanksgiving this past year.

And here she is as of this past weekend! We are all very proud of you Meme (that's what all the kids call her)!

If you have a story that you would like to share on my page please leave a comment with your contact! Encouraging others is what it is all about!