This is a little history lesson about me...the story of the first time I lost a significant amount of weight. I was 18 years old and a freshmen in college...obviously this was not my most healthy of lifestyle changes.
I remember so clearly going to class and feeling HUGE. I felt like I stood out, not because I had an amazing outfit but because I was so completely uncomfortable in my own skin that I swore people could see it. At the time I was probably somewhere between 180-190 lbs. If I was lucky I could squeeze into a size 18 but typically I wore pants with elastic waistbands and baggy sweatshirts.
I was dating a younger guy at this time, so he was a Senior in high school and I remember sitting in class thinking how very much I wanted to go to Prom and I wanted to LOVE not only it, but myself too. So I sat on this fall day in a quiet reading corner of a campus building and a tore out a piece of loose leaf paper from my Trapper Keeper (Okay it was probably a notebook but I just wanted to keep it interesting). On this piece of paper I sketched a dress, I couldn't even tell you what color I made the dress no-less anything about what it looked like. Underneath the dress I wrote out the next 6 months worth of Fridays. On the back of the paper I wrote this:
"I, promise to make changes in my life. I promise to loose this weight and finally feel happy in my own skin. If I can loose this weight I will buy or make a dress and go to the prom, no matter the cost!"
I quickly signed and dated the paper and placed it in the front of my planner. Every Friday for the next few months I weighed myself...the pounds melted off. How? Well, easy I didn't eat. I had an apple every morning as I ran up 4 flights of stairs. At lunch I would grab a muffin and water at the cafeteria. From school I would go directly to work where I was busy enough I didn't have time to think about food or the fact that I was dizzy because I was starving myself. By the time dinner rolled around I was typically so dizzy and nauseous from not eating all day that I would only get a few bites down before I would give up and go to bed.
By Christmas time I was in a size 0...98 lbs.
I know that I was unhealthy and sick...I was also admired by the boys for the first time, bought short skirts and a bikini...I was alive!
I hope I never go back to that lifestyle (granted I'm not sure I could go a morning without food no less a whole day)!
Technically this was the second time I lost a significant amount of weight...the first time was in High School and to be honest I can't relive that one yet. So here you go...part I of my history!
