Success Stories - RobinPlease click on thumbnails to see the full size photo. I began dieting when I was about 7 years old. I came home from school one day crying because the other kids were calling
me "fatty". My mom hugged
and soothed me and told me that she loved me just as I was, but if I wanted
to, she would help me lose some weight. We were very poor, but she took some of the grocery money and bought
me some diet candy, which in those days (1963) was horrid, and I ate that for
dessert while the rest of my slim family ate the usual nightly desserts of pie,
cake and other calorie-filled sweets. I probably lost a few pounds for her efforts, but was considered "chunky"
my entire life.
I got married in 1978, at about 135 pounds on my 5'7" frame, which was about a size 9 in those days. After having my son in June of 1980, weighed in at about 167. I got up to about 185 and stayed there for several years. I tried various diets, including Atkins, Slim Fast and Weight Watchers, but it seemed like every time I lost a little I would gain it back and then some. Finally, after a most difficult year and a half of personal and family related problems, I found myself in November of 1995 wearing a Size 26 dress. Of course all my shirts were 2x, my pants were stretch, and I wouldn't get near a scale. I don't know exactly how much I weighed in these photos, but I decided I needed to lose some weight and began dieting and exercising on my own. I wanted to go to WW, but was afraid that I would be the biggest
one there, so decided to lose some weight on my own first. I finally got up the nerve to join the day after I turned 40, on May
7, 1996, and weighed in at 250. I
was indeed the biggest one there, but the first week I lost 8 pounds, and was
on a roll. By January of 1997,
I had lost 105 pounds, and I felt great! My blood pressure was down, my cholesterol was well within the normal
range, and I was on top of the world. I decided I didn't need WW any more, and went back to the same old eating
habits. It wasn't long before I
gained 20 pounds. That set the stage for the next four years. I was like a yo-yo, gaining and losing the same 20 to 30 pounds over
and over again. I used every fad
diet available, the 3 day diet, the 4 day diet, the 5 day diet, Slim Fast, the Caesar Salad diet, the Cabbage Soup diet, and others. After a particularly busy summer in 2000, I began an eating frenzy on
Halloween that didn't end until December 26, 2000, when I found myself back
at WW, weighing in at 187.
Something was different this time, however, as I found Dotti's Weight
Loss Zone, and began to see that the familiar struggles I experienced were experienced
by lots of other people. It was
such a relief to know that I wasn't alone. I wasn't experiencing unique things, this was a real issue for lots of
people! And these people at Dotti's
were beating it!! I finally got the right mind set: this was not a diet, it was
a life style. And if I got off
track, I could get right back on; that getting off track wasn't a failure, just
part of the journey. I had
a whole new outlook.
I attended the DWLZ First Annual Conference in April of 2001. There, I found 43 new friends. Friends who were on one or another part of the same journey; friends
who had experienced the trauma of not fitting on the roller coaster ride, or
overflowing the airplane seat; friends who had seen the dirty looks, heard the
snide remarks, the "pretty face" comments. There we formed a bond that will last a life time.
The weight came off and I made goal on June 5, 2001. This time I am confident that I have the tools and the knowledge to maintain my goal weight. Thank you Dotti for making it possible for me to finally "get it". Your encouragement and support are invaluable. I love you guys!! Robin
Photos - L-R: with my Mom; well over 250 lbs; 250 lbs; with my Dad
Photos - L-R: At Goal - Lifetime! Robin4040 on the boards |
