Ashlee’s Weight Loss Journey

My entire life has consisted of of a weight loss struggle. From as far back as I can remember I was overweight. My first specific memories of noticing this was kindergarten, probably because this was my first school experience and socializing with kids my age. I just remember feeling big. Through elementary school I was always bigger than everyone but the only time I really noticed was in gym class once a year when they would weigh everyone for that presidential fitness exam. I vividly remember everyone telling their weight and me sitting on the bleachers praying no one would ask me what mine was.

Middle school was when I really started feeling like I didn’t “belong”. The problem was I had no idea what to do about it. So I just kept going down the road I was on. I believe my freshman year of high school was my max weight. I wore a size 18! I knew something needed to change so I tried to walk more and eat less. Well, the walking more didn’t last long and the eat less was not working. I would skip breakfast, eat a bag of chips for lunch, then I would come home and eat a lot because I was starving and then I would eat dinner. This was definitely not working for me. I got back down to a size 16 by my sophomore year of high school and stayed there until October 2004. (My senior year of high school). In October 2004 my stepdad had started working out with a personal trainer from our church. After he went a couple times I told my family I wanted to work out. I knew this would be a good step in getting healthy. My family joined the YMCA and I started doing the elliptical machine everyday and doing weight machines. At this time I weighed approximately 215 pounds. I did not weigh regularly but I do remember this weight very well. I did not drastically change my eating habits but I started making what I thought were healthier choices. I began feeling better and better and looking better and better. In January 2005 I bought a size 14 prom dress. It was too big but it was the only size they had so I decided to have it altered. Of course, when I picked it up it was too small. I was not sure what to do differently so I cut out all sweets, even sugar free “sweets” such as pudding packs and 100 calorie cookies. In 2 months I fit in the dress perfectly and from then on kept losing weight. On the night before I graduated high school I went for my first run and made it 2.5 miles! I was so happy with myself I started running multiple times a week.

When I left for college I was down to a size 12 and I felt great about myself for the first time, well probably the first time ever. I gained probably 5-10 pounds after my first semester of college but as soon as I realized my clothes weren’t fitting I started walking more and eating less. I still did not have the best eating habits though.

After my first year of college I started running regularly again. At this time I started dating Lew (who is now my husband) and he is so encouraging for me to be healthy. I kept running and eating right and was down to a size 10 pants and small shirt by 2006. I kept the weight off until my pregnancy in 2009. For some reason after I became pregnant I couldn’t even look at a vegetable without throwing up! It was like all my healthy habits were completely forgotten. All I wanted was pizza, nachos and ice cream. Everyone kept telling me to eat whatever I wanted and against my better judgment I listened. In the beginning of my pregnancy I ate whatever I wanted. I started gaining weight but nothing drastic. As the number on the scale rose I started paying more attention to what I ate and really cut down and started eating less and healthier. However, I still kept gaining weight. More, and more and more weight. It never stopped. If I hadn’t of had the emergency c-section 5 weeks early I think I would have gained 100 pounds! My body was out of control. I was sick and diagnosed with HELP syndrome and preeclampsia. I gained almost 80 pounds during my 35 week pregnancy! I had gained so much water that I lost 30 pounds within 24 hours of delivering my twins.

Since giving birth I have changed the way I look at food. I am trying to eat foods in their more natural unprocessed form. I can count on my hands the amount of times I have eaten processed foods. After my pregnancy I lost the first 60 pounds very easily. The next 10 were so difficult. Now I have changed the way I look at food and exercise. I am still learning so much about food and have so much more to learn. I began exercising with my trainer, Matthew, and since then have gained so much strength and endurance. I am training for a half marathon and feel better than ever. I still have about 19 pounds to go and I am ok with that. I feel awesome and I know with out a doubt that I will reach all my goals if I keep up the hard work.