Trying to Lose Weight When You're Obese

I'm 5'4'' and I'm obese. I won't mention my weight on here, because it's my shame to carry around. If you look at me, you will know that I'm plus size. Any picture that you see of me is usually a head shot.

The head shot picture is a very common picture. If you take it just right, no one has to know that you are plus size. I feel pretty when I see these pictures, but any picture that someone else takes of me leaves me feeling gross, unattractive, and fat. You might wonder why I don't do anything to help myself so I can feel better and that would make you naive... Because I have.
 


If you were to pick a random plus size person on the street and ask them about dieting, I bet that they would probably know more about dieting and nutrition than you do- or at least, I probably would.
  
I wasn't always plus size. I grew up doing almost every diet around with my mom and sisters. I was fit, I was strong, and I was healthy. When I went to college, I began to make my own choices when it came to eating. I didn't have the accountability that I had when I was growing up. I didn't have my mom or my sisters to exercise with.

I learned that I couldn't eat the same way that I always did because I was more inactive.

In college, I didn't work out. I didn't have PE two or three days a week. I didn't play basketball before or after church with the youth group that I as always surrounded with. I was inactive. The weight piled on, but when I came home for the summer, I would work it off with my mom. It was when I was married and my husband and I were on our own that the weight piled on and didn't come off.

When I was pregnant, I took that opportunity to eat healthier and exercise more. I would come out smaller after giving birth than I was before I became pregnant. I lost the most weight with my last child. I walked constantly and I ate healthy. I was working at the time and my favorite coworker and I would walk around the building during all of our breaks. I had an accountability partner and it was awesome.
  
When my son was born, we had moved to a different city. I stopped working to stay home with the kids. I would try to diet, to exercise more, but it hasn't helped. I'm now almost the heaviest that I've ever been. (The largest was the end of my pregnancy with my daughter)

I decided that enough was enough and that it's time to get healthy again. I'm going to try dieting and the newest one that I'm doing is actually a 12 week program by Ideal Shape. I found them on Facebook, but they also have a website at http://idealshape.com .

When you join the program, which is free, you fill out your height, weight, and goals. Immediately after, you receive an email from someone in the company. Inside this email is a word of encouragement, your workouts for the week, and a meal plan designed for all weights. I have received a new email everyday since starting. Each email has been encouraging and has had words of advice. If you join the 12 Week IdealShape Up Challenge, you also get a community of friends who are also doing the same thing as you. They tell their experiences and how they are feeling. It's been very welcoming and nice to be a part of this.

    While I haven't been consistent with the workouts each day, I have been doing them and doubling up on the days after I've missed a work out and to tell you, these workout days have been amazing! The workouts are short, but they target specific muscle groups and you feel it the next morning. I'm on day 6 and even though I've only lost a few ounces, I still feel confident that this program will work and it's free to join and work out. They do, however promote their products- which you don't have to buy, but they could help greatly when it comes to losing weight and toning up.

Here's to more body shot pictures and not just the head shots! (My head isn't really that large)

Update: After trying this diet, I had finally reached a major weight loss milestone. However, with all diets and life changes, you need to keep up with it to maintain it. Due to some stressful situations during that year, I did gain that weight back by stress eating and loss of motivation, but before that, I felt happy and healthy.

    Have you struggled with dieting? What has worked for you?