Well...at 25, I met a wonderful man, very athletic, basketball coach, and just "my type"...he also is a genuine wonderful man who gives more importance to the inner person than the outer one...so we connected and 2 years later we got married. With him, it was the re-dscovery of the pleasure of sports...of being active. But also the pleasure of eating...often...loads... Guess what? after a few years, HE had gained 40 pounds !!!! ...but we didn't mind...we were happy. 1999... pregnant with our fisrt daughter, I piled up 68 pounds on a already 300 pounds heavy one ! Everything (thanks God) went well...and a c-section gave us our wonderful baby girl. 2002, pregnant with our second child, I started my pregnancy at 327 pounds...and piled up another 53 pounds...OUCH!!! Doctors were scared at the idea of the entire pregnancy...diabete ? preclampsy? problems ? difficult delivery?... well...all that never happened... the pregnancy went perfectly another time, and a second c-section gave us our amazing son...THIS is where things turned bad.... apparently, I had a problem with my heart at this point and I almost died on the c-section table. I'll skip the details, but once things were back on track, after 24 hours, I just forgot about it, happy with my family and husband. the 2 following years were made out of pure joy of being a mother and a wife and a consumate professional...and were also a pure nightmare for my ego. Every day, at the kindergarten, one kids would ask his mother " Why is this lady so big " ...at the grocery store, people were staring at me and at what I was putting on my cart... on official venues, I was always looked at...so I realised I could not lie to me anymore...I HAD to see how I was weighting... I decided to join Minçavi, a very good weightloss institution, with many successes, here in Quebec. THe approach is good...eat better, eat less...move more. Weekly meetings and weigt-in (not sure for this word, sorry)... well... the day I registered, I was at 432 pounds...OMG OMG OMG well... I'll do something, I always did...no problem...let's do it. BUT, the very next day, my daughter, 5 years old, was diagnosticate (spelling ??? sorry) with cancer...wow ! the END OF THE WORLD ! of MY world. 42 weeks of chemo therapy...30 days of radiations...the awful side effects...the life between the hopital, the house, my other kid, my husband, my parents and in-laws...having to cheer everyone up and try to believe things will be ok one day...Well...and I find myself at 451 pounds.....THE shock !!!!! Look, I am a brilliant girl, and I KNOW I am closest to 500 than any other amount. wooooooo LET'S do something and do it NOW, today. My past experiences told me a few things about myself and diets: I HATE to eat prepared meals...I HATE bars, I hate starving myself, I HATE the word DIET.. So I'll chose a new " way of life!"... I fisrt chose a motto, I share it with you : " DO not give up what you need the most for what you need at the moment"...I then chose a good time to tell my husand that I was starting a new journey...for good...not a quick diet or a temporary change, something deep and permanent. Then I told everyone, family, colleagues, relatives... then I went to the 3 McDonalds where I use to trick to eat on my way back home (using a phney phne talk to justify a second trio...) and I told the ladies in the windows that they wouldn't see me anymore and if so, PLEASE to remind me I am not supposed to go. THEN, I had my first "new meal"...this very night, my family and I were having chicken with veggies and potatoes...I just took the potatoes off. I had more veggies...and more water. and at night, after the bedtime stories and lullabies, I went on my stationnary bike and had a real hard time perfoming 5 minutes with NO resistance. The next morning I had cereals and banana, then took a day off and went to the grocery store.. I bought good stuff...LOADS of veggies and fruits and multigrain bread and other stuff. Then I read...on the internet and in my books... then, i chose to NOT eat bread or pasta anymore ...with this 2 items, I consider myself like an alchoolic and I'd rather no more approach them for good. So, over the months, I found a comfy zone with food...knowing wich fruits or veggies I should avoid ( i do not eat pineaple, water melons or cooked carots... I eat most of my veggeis raw) I've also learn how to cook fish and now we are eating differetn varieties of fish 3 times a week. I also slowly added exercises to my bike time, and now, i train 90 minutes every day. If I have friends over and they leqave too late and I cannot exercise, I'l do a bit more the day after and I will be very comfortable with this. I do not put pressure on myself, but I will not find reasns not to train. Now, I can do 60 minutes on the bike, with a resistance at 10 and it is very easy to me. Plus, I NEED it...I need the exercise...I climb the mountains around our house, I play golf with my husband, we wlak, we hike, I play with my kids, I can sit on the floor, and stand from there lol...I have a beautiful skin, I sleep VERY VERY well and easily, I do not snore anymore and I am so very energetic. I eat around 1200 calories a day, mainly from fibers and proteins. I never had a craving so far, except for chocolate on my periods ...lol (sorry for being too specific!!!!) and I DO eat chocolate when it comes to this time...I eat organis 85% cocoa dark chocolate and I am toally satisfied. I am a new woman, and I only lost 80 pounds so far...but the weight just seem to continue to melt very easily. I try to never eat two different proteins on the same meal, and I look for all the ways to add exercise...I park at the far end of the parking, I climb stairs, etc... I feel amazing. My husband lost 30 pounds, is in great shape and have more energy and capacity of focusing...well... I'll keep you posted on my progress on here once in a while, but so far, many goals are reached : I feel better, I look already better, i feel "thin in my head", I sleep better, I live better. My ultimate goal would be to lose around 215 pounds...but hinestly, this is no more and issue of number...it is a bit of looks, of course, but mainly a bit of feeling good and healthy. I build muscles and I am stronger than ever...I know muscles weight more than fat...but each pound of muscles burnes 70 more calories when you ecxercise than a pound of fat...so I guess I'll let the things go, focusing on improving my performances, finding new foods I like, new recipes and we'll see whre I'll go. My desire ? Climbing Mount Rainier, west coast of USA, in fall 2008...and Mount Washington, witbh my family, fall 2009. and, daily, enjoying life and respect the gift it is with propers actions. OK...the most important things are said...you have questions ? feel free to ask. I started my journey on Feb 15th 2007 and HOW can I know this is different this time ? just becvause I KNOW it, I FEEL it...just like when you find THE real love of your life...no doubts...at all.
Lucie
