FUNKY POLKADOT GIRAFFE

Friday, June 3, 2011

I'm Joining the Nutrisystem Nation!!!

I am so excited!!!!
I am joining the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program!
I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.
I'm ready to change and I'm excited to have Nutrisystem help me on my journey.

For the next four months, Nutrisystem will provide me with their free meal
plan and I will be blogging each week about my successes and struggles
in this weight loss journey.

This truly has been a life long journey,
so I thought I'd share a little bit of it with you.
Well, I guess it's quite a long story :)
But hang in there.
Plus, you'll see more pictures of me in one place
than there have ever been in the history of my blogging life.

I was overweight through high school and into my first year of college.
So not fun to be an overweight teen.
So, I decided my sophomore year of college that I was tired of it.
I wanted to date.
I wanted to be happy with myself.
I wanted a life.

I had a preschool practicum class at 8am every morning,
so I got to campus at 6:00am and the recumbent bike
(and later the stair machine) became my best friend.
45 minutes daily.
I rarely missed a day.
I added in weight training.
I was a machine.
However, I was not eating healthy -
pretty much starving myself on a LOW calorie diet -
so I never really learned portion control to be able to live the rest of my life.
I lost 65 lbs in about 6 months.
Yeah, not so healthy.

I maintained an "ideal weight" for about six years.
During the first four years after the initial weight loss,
exercising was a HIGH priority.
I had no kids.
It was a lot simpler.
I still didn't have the healthiest eating habits,
but I wasn't as strict as I was with myself during the initial 6 months.
My weight fluctuated 15 lbs here and there,
but I was able to keep within the recommended weight for my height.

August 2001

I got married.
Started teaching school.
Moved States.

July 2003 - pre State move

Added a 30-45 minute commute.
It started getting harder and harder to maintain the "ideal" weight.


July 2004

Then I got pregnant.
After trying for a year - with one miscarriage -
that was all I cared about - that new life inside me.
I was too paranoid to exercise.
I started eating whatever the heck I wanted.
I gained 65 lbs by the end of my pregnancy.


November 2005


January 2006


Summer 2006

When my son turned a year old, and I realized I couldn't
blame the baby for the weight anymore, I got serious.
I started attending an exercise group at church 3 days a week,
and walking with a friend the other 2 days.


May 2007

I started counting points,
and for the first time in my life,
I was eating fairly healthy and actually conscious of my portions.
I learned some things.
I lost 45 lbs in a year.
I worked hard and felt good.





We moved cities.
I lost the support of the exercise group.
I lost my walking partner.
It got hard again.

October 2007 - Post move

I let exercise become an every once and a while thing,
but kept up with the points system for a little while.
I maintained my 45 lbs of weight loss,
but couldn't get over the hump to lose that last 20 lbs.


April 2008


Then I got pregnant again.
Hooray!
After only 6 months of trying this time,
I was pregnant.
I still had the irrational fear of exercising,
so of course, I didn't make it a priority.


July 2008


August 2008

This time I was determined not to gain 65 lbs,
so I gained 45 lbs instead,
but starting 20 lbs heavier than before my first baby,
I ended up at the same post-pregnancy weight.
::sigh::




December 2008


March 2009


May 2009

Now I had less time because I have two kids,
plus the one kid I babysit full time.
But I was determined not to wait until Isabella's 1st birthday
to get serious about losing the baby weight.
By her first birthday I was on the right track.
I had lost 20 lbs - not phenomenal, but not terrible.




October 2009

I was running - a lot - training for a 1/2 marathon.
I still wasn't as far along as I wanted to be, but I was
at least on track.
I was meeting a friend at the gym 3-5 days a week.
I was running outside on Saturdays for long runs,
but I was always STARVING!!!
The running and nursing a baby left me always hungry,
so my caloric intake increased with my activity level
and I just couldn't pull it together.

So, I joined a weight loss group at church in the Fall of 2009,
so I was weighing in every week at someone's house.
It helped me to be careful with my food intake.
I lost 10 lbs in 12 weeks, and felt pretty good about it.
I was running, eating okay, and losing weight.


December 2009

Then I started having problems with my feet,
so I gave up the running in December 2009,
and pretty much exercising all together.
After that I found the world of crafting and blogging,
and that, my friends, is where the story goes all wrong :)


March 2010

I was still careful with my food in the spring of 2010,
because I was in a musical production at church,
and was hypersensitive about my appearance.


April 2010 - The Errand Musical Production

But after the show ended,
the summer came.
Lazy days on the beach.
Free cupcakes.
Free chicken, waffle fries, and diet lemonade.
No exercise.
Lots of crafting.
Lots of blogging.


June 2010


October 2010

And now here we are.

May 2011 - Queen Bee Market

Except for the two gorgeous ladies in the picture with me,
I really hate that picture.
Ugh.
But I'm posting it because it is where my journey begins.
I am excited.
I am hopeful.
I am grateful to have this BIG PUSH from Nutrisystem to get me started.
I ordered my first month of meals two days ago - and they should be here next week!!
I've started exercising and my exercise buddy is totally awesome.
He reminds me every night before he goes to bed to get up and swim in the morning.
So every morning I rouse my buddy from sleep,
help him into his swimming suit, find his goggles (again), and head to the pool.
We went every day this week.
Holla!

I hope you'll join me each Monday for my journey.
I'd love for you to share you journeys with me.
Let's do this thing!

Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting http://www.nutrisystem.com/nsblog

Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me free of charge in exchange for blogging about my experience as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. The opinions above are my own.


23 comments:

Mindy1024 said...

Good Luck on your journey! And congrats for the swimming! I very slowly after college put on some weight and got to a point where I wanted to lose around 8 pounds...but because that number seemed so small I didn't do anything about. Then I got pregnant, only I was soooo sick the entire time I came out of the hospital the same weight I was pre-baby! (yay right?) But after getting sick so much being pregnant and taking care of a preemie I gained the baby weight back. And now I am hoping to lose around 20 pounds. But it is hard!! So long way of saying, good luck! I will be following your journey and hoping to find success for both of us!

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your journey! I never knew you were a runner. I am a runner now and love it, but I am always hungry now. Seems like a never ending battle with this whole weight loss thing. I am glad you get to this Nutrisystem thing. I look forward to following you in your adventure!

Brandi said...

Good luck on your weight loss! I hope it goes fantastic for you! :)

LittleGreenThread said...

Good luck on this journey! I look forward to reading about your success :)

Unknown said...

Go Kyla!!!! You're so phenomenal and I know you'll be successful in this as you have been in everything in your life!! Love you bunches and I'm so excited you get this opportunity!!!

The Bennett Bunch said...

That is so cool! I will be watching your progress and cheering you on! Can I ask how you got on their blog program?

Kikal said...

I'm so proud of you! This will be great! I'm excited to read about your journey.

Cassie said...

Your story sounds so much like mine. I think it's awesome you have this opportunity and I will be rooting for you in your corner!

BluBabesCreate said...

Kyla you're gonna do it and you're gonna look great! We're all pulling for you! I'm so excited!

littlepenelopelane said...

Kyla, you are awesome! You are going to rock this!! I am really excited to follow your journey and hear about your NS experience. I am trying to figure out what diet to do as well and am excited to hear how you like this one. Thank you for letting us be a part of your journey! We're cheering you on!!! Hooray!

Brooke Anna @ Mommy Does... said...

Wow... seems like I just read the story of my life ;)
Congratulations on being in the blogger nation!

Bethany said...

YOU are way too hard on yourself. You're gorgeous!! But I understand - it's not what I think of you it's what you think of you. Losing weight is not easy - it's a terrible struggle for me - and a desk job doesn't help. Good luck with this! Maybe you'll give me the motivation I need to kickstart a wellness program for myself.

Stephanie said...

Good luck to you Kyla--you can do it! And man, look at that awesome smile in every picture :)

heidi said...

awww... your son is your swim patner! thats so cute!

Jamie Wobbles said...

I'm so super excited for you!! I can't wait to see how it goes!! I just started my own little weight loss journey and I for one, will be tuning in all the time to see how it goes :) Go get 'em tiger :)

The Miller Five said...

I am excited for you! I'm struggling with my own weight and it's no fun. It'll be exciting to see how your journey with Nutrisystem goes. Good luck...you can do it!

jamie w said...

you are so brave for writing this. i have struggled with my weight for a long time too. we have started running, weight training, and kind of boxing, but i dont feel i am eating right and i see no difference. my husband on the other hand is dropping weight so fast and it depresses me :(
i will definitely be here every monday to cheer you on.
good luck

mediamum said...

Wow - what a great story! You're going to do great! Welcome aboard the NSNation blogger program! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress each week :)

StrawberryMel said...

Way to go Kyla!!! Good luck with your new adventure!

Angeline Ng said...

Holla!! I greatly love your blog and I learn hand craft here!

Unknown said...

Kyla I think your awesome. When we met I had just started the Nutrisystem program. I was super nervous about what I was going to eat, but I found it helpful to check out the menu online and decided what to eat before I got there. It is totally great that you are teaming up with Nutrisystem. It has taken me a month and a half, but I am down about 12 pounds. I tried counting points, but in the long run it just didn't work for me. Nutrisystem is the only thing is the last two and a half years that has helped me loose "the baby weight." I still have more to go, but am excited because I know I can do it. Now I'm even more excited because you are doing it too. I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Katie said...

Awesome! I am SO with you! I don't even recognize the girl's body I see in the mirror every day and have been saying all week that as soon as I get to MA my weight loss journey begins. How did you get that deal going with the NutriSystem?

Tasha said...

Kyla, I think you are so awesome. What an awesome opportunity and how amazing for you to share your journey with all of us. I think you are going to inspire and relate with so many people. Weight loss is a struggle with most of us I think. I love that you are doing this.

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