To Share, Inspire & Succeed!

I am creating this blog today to help me track my weight loss progress over the next year. I am also hopeful that my willingness to SHARE my journey with others, will INSPIRE those with the same struggles as myself to take this journey with me. I am hopeful this blog will also help me SUCCEED as I will be posting a daily journal of the good, the bad and the ugly of my progress! It will help me hold myself accountable for my actions, as I know I will be sharing it with anyone who so chooses to read my blog!

Now for those of you who don't know me very well, here is how weight has played a part in my life for all these years. I was a chubby little kid that was teased all through elementary and middle school. I tried diet after diet when in high school only to end up 200lbs by time I graduated. I then began to work and discovered eating out and bad diets. Between the 2, by time I was in my mid to late 20's I was over 280lbs!

I finally found the right diet and motivation to lose the weight with the coming of the new millennium! So in 2000 I embarked on my first successful journey to lose weight. I joined a group called TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and was motivated by having to come to a weekly meeting and be weighed in. Over a 2 year period I lost 80lbs. At the end of that 2 years I met my husband Brad Jenne. He had also lost about 80lbs. With our new found confidence, we finally both got the courage to start dating and found each other on Match.com. Do you believe in soul mates? Well Brad and I do. We married 6 months later in October 2003.

While Brad and I dated I reached 199 lbs!! Yay, finally out of the 200's. But it didn't last long. Before we married I gained 20lbs back. Then over the years the pounds just kept coming back on. When I was pregnant with Marcus (my son) in 2010, I topped a whopping 308lbs! Thankfully I was able to drop down to 270lbs within a year. But here we go again....overweight and miserable with myself.

At the end of 2011, I knew something had to be done. On top of a very busy life with small kids I now owned the largest candy store in Vermont, Middlebury Sweets! Holy Crap! I knew I couldn't let this get out of control and my weight HAD to become a priority. Or I was going to be fat all my life and worse yet, fatter then I already was! The thought was frightening to me. So I came up with a plan!

I have always loved the Biggest Loser TV show. So I decided to create my own Biggest Loser challenge with my husband Brad. He also had gained most of his weight back. So for Christmas in 2011 I bought us Biggest Loser T-Shirts, made up a Biggest Loser contract and purchased a few good Biggest Loser cookbooks and weight loss books to get the new year started on the right foot! So the challenge was set, how would we do??

We did great! Brad lost 60lbs and I lost 40 lbs. But summer came and we struggled to lose much more. Summer is a very busy time in our shop and it is too easy to go for the quick foods that are really not healthy for us. But I managed to lose a few more pounds and was up to 53 lbs lost in the first part of 2013. I started out at 261 lbs when I started this journey in January of 2012. And by 2013 I was down to 208!

But Brad and I have struggled all last year with keeping our weight down let alone losing anymore. I have gained 20lbs above my lowest weight. We know we have to get back on track and I want to lose the rest of this stinkin' weight damit!! Excuse the outbreak, but I am just plain sick of being fat! :P

So here we are....January 6, 2014! A new year and a new start. I weighed in at 227.7 lbs this morning! My goal is to get to 180lbs this year! Preferably before summer! I hope to share photos as I go along on my journey as well as my success at my pitfalls. And I will be sure to add a little humor along the way. Laughter is the best medicine after all! ;)

So if you will, join me on a journey which should prove to be challenging, emotional, inspiring and fun (just because it should be!)