The Beginning

I have been overweight for a while now. It all started when I had babies. At least that's what I told myself for years. But that's not true. I found a picture of myself when my baby was about 2 years old, and I was normal sized. 

Several years of eating as much as I want of what I want whenever I want is what made me into what I became. I knew I had really put on weight, but it was not until I went to see the doctor that I learned the extent of the damage. There it was, right there on the scale. Something has to be wrong with the scale, I thought. The nurse didn't think the scale was wrong. She proceeded to write that horrible number right on my chart. For the rest of the visit, I was stunned...in shock really. I could not believe I had let it go so far. How can I ever get back to where I should be?

By the time I returned home from the doctor's office, I had made up my mind. I will lose weight. My life depends on it. 

No wonder I feel bad all the time. No wonder I'm short of breath. I am fat.

I knew what I had to do. The doctor wanted to see me back in one week to give me my test results. So I would work hard and try to lose a couple of pounds during those seven days. 

I would eat salads and walk every day. Well, I did walk every day. And I did eat salads. But I must have eaten more than salads, because I gained 4 more pounds. 

I was crushed. My test results came back all normal. Nothing was wrong with me. I was just going through "The Change." (No, the doctor did not call it that, but that's what it is.) The doctor never mentioned my weight. She didn't have to. I KNEW I had to lose weight. For me, it wasn't just about the weight. I knew my health was at stake. There was nothing medically wrong with me except that I was overweight. And that excess weight was tearing down my health. 

I knew all this, but what I did not know was how to fix it. How can I lose weight?