One week out and my story

I was never a thin kid, I was always a little chunky...never fat, but chunky.  I never really noticed my weight too much until college.  My freshman year I got mono and lost weight, I don't know ow much (I didn't have a scale) but I did need smaller clothes and I actually look tiny in pictures.  But then I started organic chemistry, and my then fiancée went out of area for his internship, etc and I gained weight, at this same time i started having issues with my menstrual cycle (going months at a time without my period).  The first I remember truly being aware of my actual weight was the summer before my senior year of college, I weighed 184 (I'm 5'7"), my mm tried to get me to do Atkins diet with her but between graduating a semester early and planning my wedding it never happened. 

 After getting married I tried dieting off and on, but it never really stuck, I'd lose a few pounds just to gain it right back.  We were only married 5 months when my husband moved to Arizona for work and I stayed in California to sell our house.  I tried again to lose weight but again I gained it back when we moved.  Soon we started trying to get pregnant and when it didn't work we saw my doctor.  Turned out I have PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), essentially, I don't ovulate I make cysts.  PCOS can cause weight gain among other things.  After four months of clomid to make me ovulate I finally got pregnant with my son and gained over fifty pounds.

When he was born he was 9pounds 12ounces, sunny side up, and when he was born he was blue and not breathing.  I couldn't walk normally for about 8 weeks, and because I was so traumatized (my son was fine) I lost all the baby weight in about 4 weeks.  Even though I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight I was still overweight and I now had a whole lot of hanging saggy skin on my stomach, I inherited my moms non-elastic skin.  When I asked my doctor what I could do to fix the skin, he told me that the only fix would be to have it surgically removed.

Since then I've had two more babies, a daughter at 8pounds and another son at 8pounds 10ounces.  With my daughter I gained another fifty and this time slowly lost it over the first year.  With my son I only gained 25 pounds (!!!) but I had a really hard time losing it.  When he turned one I was stuck at 194.  

Labor Day weekend after he turned one we were on vacation as a family when I woke up one morning and my jaw was locked... Shut.  I was able to open it only wide enough to put a straw between my teeth.  I was stuck on a liquid diet, my dentist couldn't fix the issue and had to send me t a TMJ specialist.  I couldn't get in to the specialist until mid-October!  Luckily the physical therapist at the specialist was able to unlock my jaw on October 31, 2011, but I was still required to eat a liquid and soft food diet for a few more months.  The very limiting diet did one thing for me, I lost weight, about 20 pounds.  So when the new year started and I was allowed to eat normally again I was determined to not regain the weight but to continue to lose.  I was determined to reach a size 10.  I started counting calories, and exercising.  I became addicted to Beachbody workouts, over the year I did p90x, Turbofire, and Insanity.  I reached 150 pounds and a size 4/6!!  

I've been amazed with my new body and have maintained my final weight for almost a year now, and I added Asylum, Les Mills Combat and karate to my repertoire.  But even with all I've lost, I gained two things... An even saggier nasty skin on my stomach and my boobs shrank away to small sagginess.  How sad :(. 

I am lucky my husband has always supported my desire for a tummy tuck when I reached my goal weight.  And I did it, and he came through on his end of the deal by making an investment and making enough money on it that we can afford my mommy makeover.  I'll be getting a full tummy tuck with abdominal muscle repair and a breast lift with augmentation ( silicone mid-profile 435cc) on Wednesday August 14, 2013!