I thought this was a great idea to write a blog about ourselves and our background, so here goes!
My name is Audra; I'm a 33-year-old mom of two and I work at the hospital in medical records so I sit at a computer literally all day. (I hate it) I have my Zoology degree - I miss working outside and having a physically demanding job - it kept me in shape. I miss working with animals too. But it’s another huge long story as to why I'm not doing anything with it...for another day, perhaps.
I grew up in a family that always struggled with weight (except for my sister). It was most my mom and her side of the family. Once I hit high school I was always self-conscious and worried about my weight. I knew I would be expected to eat whatever was put in front of me at dinner time so I would try to eat very little or nothing all day. Mom and Dad usually served a lot of cheese-laden dishes and calorie-rich casseroles. My sister, at this time, went the opposite way than the rest of us and struggles with eating disorders/anorexia and severe body dysmorphia. Fast forward to when I met my now-husband - like most men, he loves to eat. And the more the better. He'll eat unnatural quantities of food. I was up in the 180s and worked out and dieted my way down to the 140s for my wedding. I looked awesome, seriously. Soon after our honeymoon I went back up to 180 lbs. A few months later I was pregnant with my son and just before my c-section with him I reached 260 lbs. I took the "eating for 2" thing waaay too far. After I had him I was so ashamed of how I looked and how big I was. It wasn't until he was probably a little over a year old before I thought about starting to lose the baby weight. I didn't diet or anything for his first year because I was breastfeeding and was afraid I wouldn't make enough milk for him if I didn't eat. And I felt starving all the time!
Well...just as I was about to get serious about losing weight and of course I found out I was now pregnant with my daughter. Back up to 260ish we go... I tried to be a little better this time around but it didn't seem to make any difference.
After I had my daughter I eventually settled down to 226 lbs, which is where I began my weight-loss journey. To date I have lost a hair over 16 lbs since I started in January. I am happy about that loss, don't get me wrong, but I feel like that is such low and slow progress for a period of months. So that gets me down sometimes. I am just now trying to do the "clean eating" thing as much as I can though I doubt it'll ever be 100%. I will be honest and admit to I use the alli/Orlistat pill to help me lose weight because I took that to lose my 45 lbs for my wedding.
My biggest hurdles are sweets. I. Love. Candy. And desserts. I literally have the biggest sweet tooth of any adult I know. Pizza and burgers are hard to pass up too. I am often a stress-eater or eat because of boredom. My husband is a terrible influence too...he hates healthy food and he loves to eat out a lot. And drink. Our marriage is already strained because I work first shift and he works a 2nd shift job so I only see him for 5-25 minutes a day during the week. I'm scared if I don't eat crap food and drink with him he'll resent it and we'll grow further apart. Since I've started eating healthier he has claimed he too wants to get better but we'll see. I've heard it before. He weighs in the 300's. So, I’m dealing with a frail marriage, trying to keep the house up and running, and the one who deals with all our finances (mostly a lack thereof) and that stress, it’s no surprise I suffer from depression and anxiety. Which, in turn, fuels the stress eating. It's also extremely difficult for me to do anything because my 9 month old daughter will scream her head off if I walk away from her and don't interact with her at all times. And nope, wearing her doesn't help either. So making dinner is a challenge and I usually have to stay up really late trying to do some meal prep.
Goodness, I meant to keep this short. lol Well this is my first DietBet ever so I'm excited (and scared lol) to see how it goes! Amidst everything going on in my life I'm determined to do this for ME (and my babies). I am secretly hoping to once again fit into my wedding dress by next May and look that smoking hot again. ;)