Motivated Mama

Jennifer and family at the pumpkin patch recently.

I have lost twenty five pounds. I know a lot of people would be pulling out their bathing suits and strutting in their high school jeans, but for me it's a milestone with most of my journey still to go. It's so hard to get excited and stay excited about weight loss when you have lots to lose. So I am very excited to say that I've lost twenty five pounds. But the voice in my head keeps reminding me that I could lose another seventy five without looking like Lindsay Lohan.

I've never been "skinny," but I have never been this big before either. I ask myself all the time how I let this happen. Truly, life just happened. I sat all the time with my job as a 911 operator, I was diagnosed with a heart condition, my two pregnancies were high risk, my Mother in law passed away unexpectedly, we became solely responsible for my amazing 92 year old Grandmother in law and I started to stay home with the kids which sometimes left me feeling trapped. There are lots of great ways to relieve stress, but my choice was to hang out with Ben, Jerry and Ronald McDonald.

How do you decide it's time to take control of your body after letting it go for so long? I knew I needed to do it for my kids, and I knew I needed to do it for myself. But my "Ah ha!" moment came when the 92-year-old asked me to change how I ordered her medicine to make it easier for whoever took over from me. She seriously thought I was going to die before her! At 38, I knew that I had to do something.

Jennifer's "before" photo

I've lost my weight through Weight Watchers, and I love it. It's designed to let you eat anything so you don't feel left out or deprived, but you have the tools to eat as healthy as possible. I really find myself craving what they call "filling foods," such as veggies, fruits, and lean meats. But the program allows me to eat a few pieces of my kids' Halloween candy without feeling like I've ruined all the good I've done. And although I've broken up with Ben and Jerry, I have a new love affair with Skinny Cow.

In the past, I've joined the Texas Health Hurst-Euless-Bedford Fitness Center. I laughed when I said I belonged at a gym with a defibrillator in the back corner (the gym does cardiac rehab as well), but honestly I was always glad it was there. Remember, I'm a big girl! At only $41 a month with free babysitting, it's an amazing deal that I could afford even as a stay at home mom. It's about time for me to join again. I have the eating under control for now, and I'm craving some exercise again!

It's hard to start and it's hard to stay motivated when you have more to lose. But I took my first step and I'm finding ways to keep going. I've been posting my gain or loss for the week as my Facebook status, along with the running total. It really keeps me more honest because I hate typing that little + sign! Negative signs are a lot more fun to share! And I've started treating myself to better looking fruits and veggies to keep me munching on them. I'd rather eat a beautiful, shiny Jazz apple than a can of soggy green beans any day. My husband has lost weight just because I stopped stocking Little Debbies in the cabinet, and my kids are fighting over the last slice of apple rather than the last Pop Tart. In all, life is good.

And I love shutting up that negative voice in my head by shouting I'VE LOST TWENTY FIVE POUNDS!!! Just wait and see how loud I get when I reach fifty!

Jennifer Mills