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Introduction Text Hi everyone! My name is Marcy. I am now ½ my former weight and definitely more than ½ my former size. I am on maintenance now and as I often say, “Life is good”. I try to be strict with my calories during the week and splurge a little bit on the weekends. I weigh every day and if the scale is going up I get very strict with calories again. I found SparkPeople after losing over 100 pounds. I sure wish I’d found it when I started this journey but once I found it I became a devoted fan of this website because there are so many people here who have or are going through the same things that I have struggled with most of my life. On September 1, 2006 I decided I’d had enough. I was grossly overweight, extremely unhealthy and I knew I had to lose weight or die. I started my diet right then. Being overweight most of my life I knew a 1200 calorie a day diet was a sensible plan for me to follow so I began on an overwhelming journey with an outcome I couldn’t see or imagine. I used a food scale to weigh out my food and tracked my calories in a little notebook that I carried around all day. I honestly didn’t know what I weighed because my scale was far back, under the bed where I couldn’t reach it. By the time I weighed I was 320 pounds. Looking back at old pictures I think I was near 340 or 350 pounds at my highest weight. When I started I went for small, achievable goals. My first goal was to get below 300 pounds. I wasn’t keeping track of reaching my goals then but I was below 300 pounds by the end of October, 2006. Then I went for 275 pounds. I was very strict until I lost about 75 pounds. I never deviated from my 1200 pounds and stayed away from treats and splurges. I wasn’t sure I would succeed or if I did break my diet that I would go back on track. At first I was very hungry eating 3 times a day but I started eating 6 times a day and that helped curb my hunger. I started taking pictures of myself in March of 2007; I had lost about 80 pounds by then. Looking back I wish I’d taken photos every month but I hated pictures of myself because I didn’t like seeing how big I was so old pictures of me are few and far between. I reached a major milestone on May 28, 2007 when I lost 100 pounds. I was pretty darned excited that day. I thought I was so skinny that day but I continued on my merry way. The next major excitement for me was getting below 200 pounds for the first time in over a decade. That big day was August 26, 2007. It was so awesome seeing those big digital numbers reading 199 pounds. As before, I thought I was so skinny then but I continued on my merry way. The next big goal was for me to lose 150 pounds. I reached that day on March 31, 2008. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. There are so many people I know that don’t even weigh 150 pounds and that was how much I’ve lost. By then I was starting to vocalize what my original, pie in the sky dream was and that was to be ½ my former size. I needed to lose 160 pounds so that dream would be true. I made it there on July 11, 2008. Then I was delighted to make it in to the 150’s on August 8. Since then I have lost 3 more pounds. I don’t know if I want to lose more weight or not because I am pretty happy with my current size. I used to wear size 5X clothing and now I wear small tops and size 10 pants. I feel so normal and when I see old pictures or myself I can’t believe it and how much I have changed. Not only do I find strength from the people I interact with here I also want to help anyone I can reach their goals. I have been overweight most of my life. I have lost weight a few times in my life but it was never for the right reason or right way. Some diets were with a pill prescribed by doctors, some were by silly fad diets, some were by not eating enough to be healthy. Every time I tried a diet, I did lose weight but I didn’t stick with the diets and once I went off the diet; I gained back weight - usually more than I’d lost. What was different this time is I did this for my health. I knew I had to change my lifestyle or face certain death or a stroke and I had to find something I could stick with for the rest of my life. I know that if I can do this, you can too. I eat normal, everyday food. I eat chocolate, French fries and ice cream but it’s all about portion control. I don’t feel deprived. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I just know I’ve made a choice to live healthier and the dramatic changes in my appearance and my life make it all worth it. What did I used to eat? A typical day would be: Frosted brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts (2) or 8 chocolate frosted doughnuts, by 9 I’d be in to my family size bag of snack mix or crackers. By 10 I’d be in M&M’s or dove chocolate. Lunch was usually a cheeseburger and fries or tacos and potatoes all with a coke followed by a full sized candy bar. Mid afternoon I had more candy or cookies of some type. While cooking supper (or we ate out a lot) I’d nibble on cheese and crackers or more chocolate. Supper was meat and potatoes, pasta or rice, veggies all followed up by dessert plus more chocolate. Estimated 4000+ calories? Now my typical day is breakfast consisting of cereal and fresh fruit, my mid morning snack is a 100 calorie snack pack, my lunch is a small plain hamburger with 10 fries or 2 hard shell tacos and 8 oles or a roast beef sandwich with baked lays. I do eat fast food for lunch just because it’s so convenient. My mid afternoon snack is a 100 calorie snack pack again and while cooking supper I now snack on raw veggies. We have grilled lean meat with whatever my calories allow from potatoes or pasta. I also eat a single serving of low fat ice cream every day. I often eat a mini candy bar at some point during the day so my grand total for the day is 1200 to 1400 calories depending on what I eat.

My current goal is to maintain my current weight and to maybe lose a few more pounds to have some wiggle room. I want to help other people reach their goals as well. Past goals reached: September 1, 2006 decided enough is enough Lost 100 pounds May 28, 2007 Got below 200 pounds August 26, 2007 No longer obese February 6, 2008 Lost ½ my former body weight July 11, 2008

I am eating 1200 calories a day and walking some and doing stretches. I also walk on a treadmill 3 times a week for 35 minutes. On weekends I splurge a little bit but continue to focus on doing more to offset any extra calories.

I live in Wyoming.

I am interesting in astronomy and I like to knit.

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