22 Years....

that's how long it's been since I started gaining weight.  It was the fall of 1993 and I went off to the University of New Hampshire for my freshman year.  I double majored in frat parties and rugby parties and minored in Carl's cheese fries, Lucky Charms, and tequila.  For the first time in my life, I had no one putting a dinner plate in front of me.  I had always been athletic and my mother prepared wholesome home-cooked meals throughout my childhood.  We always ate together as a family and we rarely had "junk" food.  We had treats, but they weren't a daily occurrence.  I never really had to "think" about my food or my weight.  In high school, I fluctuated from 125 lbs to 135 lbs, which was perfect for my normal 5' 6" frame.

Then, college happened.  I had access to foods that weren't readily available to me when I was living at home.  My diet consisted of pancakes smothered in margarine and syrup, greasy sausage, piles of bacon, and high sugar cereals for breakfast...Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Coco Puffs (that my mother would NEVER EVER buy us when we were kids).  Pizza, pastas, tater tots, and baked potatoes became the norm for lunch and dinner.  And, then there was..... Carl's food truck, a beacon of hope for hungry and sleep deprived college kids who were looking for a late night snack.  Carl served up the meanest loaded chili cheese fries ever created.  He was the original food truck.  I don't think my lips had ever even tasted such a creation until I, literally, stumbled my way to Carl's after an all-nighter.

I paid little attention to what I was eating.  Why should I, since I never had to pay much attention to it before?  I also paid little attention to the scale, especially considering I didn't own one and there wasn't one in the dorm.  I was too busy having a grand time going to frat parties, camping on abandoned satellite dishes, and binge drinking at rugby parties, that I didn't even notice the pounds coming on when I looked in the mirror.  It wasn't until my dad came at Thanksgiving break did I get my first dose of reality.  He was surprised to see how much weight I packed on in 3 months.  Forget Freshman 15....I was probably up 20 to 25 lbs.

The rest is history.  I tried to lose weight by every "fad" diet and unhealthy manner imaginable.  Weight Watchers, Atkins, Jenny Craig, you name it.  I tried it.  I'd find success, only to gain it all back and then some.  By 1998, the year I began teaching, I weighed in at 178 lbs.  By 2000, the year I married my smoking hot husband, I weighed 203 lbs.  By 2006, the year I popped out our third and final bundle of love, I weighed 245 lbs.  I yo-yo'd more times then I can remember.  I'd lose 30, 40, 50 and on one occasion I even lost 70 pounds.  Each and every time I lost the weight, I was determined and convinced that I'd never, ever gain any of the weight back.  But, since I'm writing this blog and you're reading it, you know that isn't the case.

This is my story.  I hope you won't get car sick along the way.