The Yo-Yo Effect ...

So first off I apologize, I meant to write every day, but I have been sick again and had sick kids at home .. and well yeah ...


For those of you actually following my progress on my graph, you'll notice that I am making progress which is good, the first day was the most successful so far but four days in and I'm still consistently losing weight ... which is good.

The biggest concern for most "dieters" is the yo-yo effect ... this is actually something that I have done three times, although many women have done it much more than that. I do know that pregnancy played a role in my weight gain, however, after I had my son (my third and last child), I did lose all but 5 pounds I gained while pregnant with him ... and I lost it fast ... by the time he was 4 months old I had lost almost 60 pounds from my weigh - in at the hospital the day I was induced, I know some of that was actual baby, etc., but I did lose most of it. Then I started working retail ... I thought that would help ... the walking all over the store the running to the backroom and back, etc., but the food court, including Starbucks, was killer ... I gained around 40 pounds in the first year I worked in retail. A co-worker and I joined weight watchers, I lost 30 pounds and then plateaued, she stopped going to meetings, so I stopped ... and sure enough gained those 30 pounds back ... then a couple years ago, in early 2008, I was very motivated, bound and determined to lose weight ... I lost that 30 pounds, and then started my divorce process and lost another 20 ... I was at a lower weight than I was when I became pregnant with kid #3 ... and then I went through a lot of stress, some of the hardest months of my life ... and gained 40 pounds in less than a year ... I kind of went up and down in a ten pound range around there since.

So, now I'm serious about this, and I don't want to yo-yo ... that's the last thing I want ... I want whatever I do this time to be permanent ... there is a "trick" that I didn't follow before that I will try to this time ... it's simple ... get rid of your fat clothes ... don't make that an option ... don't make gaining weight even be a thought in your head ...

I am kind of proud of myself today ... I had a very stressful situation come up ... and within minutes my mom called and asked if I wanted Good Times ... it would have been easy for me to say, "sure, I'll have my usual" ... but I didn't ... I did get a grilled chicken sandwich, but no fries ... so through the stress and the temptation I stayed strong ... so now I need to just keep that up for a few weeks and then months and then we'll really be getting somewhere ...