Abenteuerland

 

In the beginning of my childhood, I was not overweight. When I turned 9 years old, the weight just started to pile on. I have no excuses for why this occurred. As my adolescent years went by, I remained overweight (gaining and losing some here and there, but mostly gaining). When I was 21, I thought that I finally had the motivation. I lost 50lbs and was loving it until I met the man who I was going to marry. I got distracted and let the weight loss go, gaining back all that I had worked hard for. In 2005, I married that wonderful man, dealt with the death of my parish/city (hurricane Katrina), and found out that I was pregnant shortly after. Throughout the pregnancy, I was longing for my body back as the motivation bug had hit me again. I was ready this time to seriously take on weight loss. As soon as the little bugger was out, it was time to stop stuffing my face and start moving more! In July 2006, my beautiful son was born. It was finally time to take control of my life again!

Before pregnancy, I was 260lbs. At the end of my pregnancy, I managed to get up to 303lbs! A month after my son was born, I found myself at 266lbs and used that as my starting point. I started dieting some for a few months and lost 5-10lbs. I wasn't carefully charting this due to being busy with a newborn. That December, I decided to start exercising again. I also ended up breaking my toe shortly after I said that. We already owned a dusty treadmill. In January, we decided to go out and buy an exercise bike as well. I cut my calories to 1500 calories a day (except my cheat day of Saturday) and started working on that bike everyday while my husband watched our son for me. When my toe healed enough, I started using the treadmill again. It was my preferred cardio machine at the time. After a 100lb weight loss, I noticed some excess skin issues. In January 2008, my husband and I joined the YMCA. We do cardio and weight training 3-5x's a week. The rest of the week, I try to get cardio in at home when I can. I am building muscles throughout my body and I feel so alive! I'm coming to the end of my journey, but this is a lifestyle change. It really has to be forever. 

Stats from original weight loss with pictures at the bottom:
Age: 25
Height: 5'5
Starting weight: 266
Current weight: 140
Ultimate goal: 140

WARNING: This is an extremely picture heavy post.

October 2005 (Just before I found out that I was pregnant)

May 2006 (8 months pregnant)

August 2006 (Right after my son was born)


February 2007 (When I got serious about losing weight after already losing 10lbs with some dieting)

May 2007 (40lbs weight loss)



July 2007 (70lbs weight loss)



September 2007 in Orange Beach (79lbs down)


October 2007 (92lbs loss)


One more look back at the old Brandolyn

April 2008This is me now..as in this past month. This is what 120lbs going bye-bye looks like.



And a personal favorite...

Me at 140lbs:


UPDATE (04/18/2009): I got pregnant again in July 2008 at my lowest weight of 140lbs. I delivered my baby girl in April 2009. I am now looking to get my pre-pregnancy body back as I have gained too much weight in my pregnancy. I have already gone back to 1500 calories a day and go to the YMCA everyday for exercise. Here are the new stats:

Age: 27
Height: 5'5
Starting weight: 185
Current weight: 140
Ultimate Goal: 140

UPDATE (04/13/2010): I have done it! I have completed my goal of getting back to pre-pregnancy weight! Currently,  I am just trying to continue staying active and enjoy my family...who keeps me very busy! 

And what kind of person would I be with out providing pictures!
1 day post partum
And finally...12 months and some days post partum:



UPDATED (4/12/12) - I have gained back about 30lbs in the last 2 years. I have been exercising some, but not as heavily as I used to. I have been eating horribly! Last week, I worked on regulating my exercise routine and did quite well. This week, I added counting calories using my awesome Droid App. I'm on my way again! *knock on wood*

My reason for this entry is to keep it open as a link from my website. I also know how other weight loss stories helped me when I thought that I could never do it. Questions and comments are both welcome and greatly appreciated..but also screened by anonymous comments. Thanks for taking a peek into my journey! I hope that I can inspire the way that others have inspired and continue to inspire me.