Day One: A New Journey Begins

I should probably start with some background information before I discuss the new journey my life is taking right now:

I've struggled with weight on and off since I hit puberty (at 12 years old) and even more so after I had my first child at 17 years old. My parents were both overweight growing up, my mother was obese my entire life and everything was celebrated with food.

As I unexpectedly made some bad life choices and ended up pregnant at 16, delivering at 17 my mother encouraged me to "eat for two" and little did I think about my health at that age. I was all for eating everything I could get my hands on and went from 126 pounds up to 220 pounds in just under nine months, even then it didn't sink home, my mother assuring me that the weight would come off and it's not until after 30 that it's hard to lose it all back again.

It wasn't until years later, after I met and married my husband and we had two children that I even thought about the yo-yo of weight gain & loss I had had with each of the five of my pregnancies, including one miscarriage many years ago. I wanted to be healthy for my children and instill better habits in them than what was instilled in me. Recognizing this it was and still is a struggle not to fall back into bad habits and I've spent the better part of my life starting and eventually giving up changing. My husband and I both happen to be emotional eaters.

In 2011 I met an amazing woman, a nutritionist on Facebook who helped me learn and explore healthier choices and a few people who were independent consultants for Beachbody, and I decided to go back to school, getting a BS in health and wellness and still being obese, two and half years later in 2014. Well, I found that Beachbody consulting wasn't for me, but the things I learned helped. I lost and gained weight as I struggled with being a mother, working full time and going to school. I made friends and lost them over weight and nutrition and life in general.

I've tried weight loss centers, diets, exercise programs, nutritional supplements and thrown way too much money into products hoping that it would be the thing that would put me on the right track.

So, today I find myself on the way again to attempting to lose weight, get healthy and kick the emotional eating and carb/sugar addiction to the curb by changing my life style (again) and trying a new product that may help me permanently kill my cravings by taking sound nutritional advice and adding something to help me get over that hump.

So here's to starting over. I am currently at 252 pounds and 5' 4.5" which gives me a 42.6% BMI. My clothes are snug, tight or just don't fit. I'm 38 years old and despite the morbid obesity have little to no health related problems due to my weight. I am not diabetic, I have good/low blood pressure and my cholesterol isn't too far out of the norms, just slightly.

I'm hoping this next journey will be the one which helps me achieve permanent changes, if not for me, but for my now 6 & 8 year old children who I want to have positive influences in their lives.

Once I test this newest method of eating and product I will feel more confident discussing it and what it does, until then please wish me well on this new journey and if you have any hints/tricks to overcoming emotional eating I'd love to hear them!