• As some of you know, we recently packed up and moved from Eastern North Carolina to New Hampshire. It was a fairly sudden move as my fiancée was offered a great job opportunity she couldn’t pass up. We packed up all the clothes and decorations that we wanted in the short term as the camper

    Read more →

  • SummerFest

    There is a major lack of holidays during the summer–the best time of year for parties. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there is only the 4th of July, and that can fall during the week with no day off after it, so the partying is limited. I think that in August, there should be

    Read more →

  • When I first started college, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I even started the courses for it. I love kids and helping them learn and grow. School was always an escape for me and I loved it growing up. I looked forward to it every day and often taught myself the whole

    Read more →

  • It’s Chili Season!

    Today’s prompt is difficult as I LOVE to cook and most things I cook come out well. Being forced to choose just one, though, I will have to say my chili is my favorite. I like to make both red chili (with beans, ground meat, and corn) and white chicken chili. I don’t have a

    Read more →

  • Most people will probably say the major historical events they remember are September 11, 2001, and the Covid pandemic. While those are definitely major events with great impact on our society, I am going to bring you a little further back in time to March of 1991. I was all of 12 years old and

    Read more →

  • Nomad Lifestyle

    The biggest risk I would love to take would be to sell most of my belongings and hit the road full time. I want to see the beautiful country we live in and take my time doing so. I want to visit all of the national parks. I want to be free. We watch a

    Read more →

  • Overcoming Obstacles

    My life, like most others, has been full of a lot of trials and tribulations. I had a terrible and traumatic childhood (most of which I do not remember due to repressed memories and PTSD). I was abused-sexually, physically and emotionally-until I was about 16. I never let this define me in negative ways; I

    Read more →

  • Recharge & Reset

    Lazy days are an absolute MUST to recharge your mind, body and soul. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 20 years ago and in those years, I have learned to listen to my body and rest when I need to (well, most of the time LOL – it’s a work in progress). One can only

    Read more →

  • I love the “success kid!” He is adorable and the expression on his face is a feeling we all strive for in life. The word success, to me, is completely subjective. What I think of as successful another person may scoff at. That being said, my personal definition of success is to achieve a good

    Read more →

  • In the Hunt…

    With our impending move 800+ miles up the East Coast, I am actively looking for a job for when we get there. I have many years of accounting experience and it still seems so hard to find something! I am searching indeed and LinkedIn daily and apply to anything I am even remotely qualified for.

    Read more →

Subscribe to get access

Growing up, I was skinny and tall like a beanpole. It wasn’t until I turned 17 or so and went on the depo provera shot that made me gain about 50 pounds – and fast! Since then, I have struggled with yoyo weight loss.

At 17 I was 105, then 155 after the shot. For the next 4 years I would go up and down about 25-30 pounds, give or take a few. I got pregnant at 22 and I was 177 (Damn, wish I was that now!! LOL). I gained 57 pounds with the pregnancy, but lost all but 10 pounds fairly quickly. Until I turned 30, I fluctuated between 185-220 pounds. At that time, I went through a rough divorce and lost 25 pounds and hovered around 160-170.

I gained all that back and then some, clear up to 250. I again had a rough life situation, lost 20 pounds down to 230 and got a job working at Wendy’s. In the 3 years I worked there I lost almost 80 pounds from my 10-12 hour active days and not eating enough during the course of the day. As a GM at Wendy’s you have no time to eat!

Then, I hurt my back. I ended up leaving the job because I couldn’t handle it physically anymore. I moved in with my now-fiancée and her two boys and you know what they say about love making you fat and happy? Yeah that happened LOL. Also, as I aged, the weight was harder to come off and I started going through perimenopause. I ballooned up to 280 pounds. I couldn’t stand looking at myself in mirrors and in pictures.

In January of this year, I got my shit together and went to see a doctor for the first time in, oh, about 12 years. Needless to say, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides. Talk about wake up call. My doctor told me if I didn’t change my habits I was headed straight for a heart attack and/or a stroke. This is the beginning of my current weight loss journey, so please come along and we can all support each other!

Books, Balance, & Beyond

Where numbers meet narratives

Skip to content ↓