From The Start

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog! I am really excited to be sharing in this journey with you all.  Some of you may already know me an my history so this entry may be a little boring but I promise there will be more interesting things to come!!

I began with my weight issues at a young age, always thinking I was 'fat' even when I was a perfectly healthy size.  Coming from an obese family I never thought anything about eating a huge plate of food until I could hardly move.  I maintained a slightly overweight size through high school but by graduation I had ballooned to a size 18 prom dress.    At this point I had been with the man (who is now my husband) for two years and was quite comfortable with him so my increasing size didn't seam to bother me.

The next 'excuse' I had for my weight gain was working in a call centre full time while going to college full time as well.  I was continuously gaining weight and the worst was yet to come.  In February 2007 my father was diagnosed with brain cancer and this news shook up my whole world.  It was the beginning of a long battle with anxiety and depression.  In September of the same year, two weeks before I was to marry the love of my life I found myself in the middle of another crisis.  My husband to-be landed in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg.  Luckily we caught it in time however it was only the beginning.  The next few years were a blur, or maybe it was more of a drug induced 'fog' , then in 2010 the cycle began again.  My fathers cancer had returned and my husband returned to the hospital again.  2011 was by far the worst year of my life, it started with finding out my husband has lupus which meant a lot of learning and precautions for both of us.  Then in May the first man I ever loved, my dear father, was taken from us.  This was the height of my weight gain, with a highest weight of 296 pounds, and this is when it started to effect my own health .


In August of 2011 I went to the emergency room in terrible pain.  I was convinced it was my gall bladder.  After doing some tests it was confirmed I had the beginnings of fatty liver disease! I was only 24 years old and if I didn't smarten up my life was at serious risk!! This was the beginning of a long journey one I have now invited you all to join me on.  I began changing my diet drastically right away and in January I added an exercise program.  I managed to lose 50 pounds, before you start thinking wow! I should let you know this was short lived, in April I decided I would take the summer away from the gym and just exercise in our swimming pool, this was my mistake! After a summer of not exercising I managed to put 25 of the 50 pounds back on.  In September I joined Ascendo Fitness and I feel that is where my ultimate journey began.

This week Ascendo is beginning a fitness challenge titled "the biggest loser" and to encourage not only myself but other participants to put their all into this challenge and make Cape Breton a healthier place I have decided to take down the walls and invite everyone in to see what eating right and hard work can do!

I have made so many excuses as to why I couldn't lose weight in the past but this is my time, the excuses are done.  On the television show "the biggest loser" last night a doctor was going through the health problems with all the participants and he said something that really resonated with me.  He asked the participant if he has been diagnosed with cancer would he take two hours a day to get chemo to save his life.  Obviously his answer was yes! The doctor then said well your life is at risk if you do not put two hours of physical activity in a day!!! This is so true, and is my challenge to all of you looking to lose weight, remember that television show is not going to make you live longer, being active will!

I decided to write this blog last week and planned on doing it on Sunday evening however Sunday morning my twenty six year old husband Steve was taken to the hospital and we found out he had a mini stroke.  I am writing this from his bedside and although he is expected to make a full recovery it really opens your eyes to how crucial your health is! Just because your 'young' doesn't mean your not at risk for serious health issues if you are overweight or inactive with a poor diet.

I hope you enjoyed my first blog, I have never written anything like this so I am sorry if it is not in proper 'blogger' format.  I look forward to communicating with you all and will update you on my official weigh in tomorrow!