About Me - Part 1

Here we go.  My first blog post.  My plan is to blog about my weight loss journey and in the process, give advice and encouragement to those of you out there trying to lose weight or just trying to be healthier.  First, I want to give some background about me.
As a child, I was tall, skinny and active.  When I was in the fifth grade, I put on a little weight.  Looking back at pictures, I see that I was in no way overweight.  I also now know that what little 'pudge' I put on was for a major growth spurt I was about to go through.  I was about 5'6" in the fifth grade and by the end of my sixth grade year, I was at the height I am now.  About 1/4" shy of six feet.  My mom, who loves me very much and was trying to do what she thought was right for me, put me on a diet.  She had a weight problem when she was 12 and she was worried I would have the same problem.  So, while my older brother could eat cookies, candy and whatever else he wanted, I was told 'no' to just about anything.  This really messes with a young girl.  At the same time, I had a dad who showed love through food and took us out for fast food and bought milkshakes and candy all the time.  Talk about confusing.  I was told I was fat when I was not and I had one parent using food to love me and the other one telling me I could not have it.  In my mind, with-holding love.
I share all of this to give my background.  Not to place blame.  I am not angry with my parents and forgave them a long time ago.  Part of me wishes things had been different, but the rest of me knows that it is the good and the bad in life that form who we are.
All of this confusion about food, love, body image, along with many other things that happened to me throughout junior high and high school, caused me to put more and more weight on.  My mom continued to put me on diet after diet.  There was the old Weight Watchers, which looked nothing like the amazing program they have today, the cabbage diet and anything else she tried.  Nothing helped.  By the end of high school, I was a size 24.  I am not sure what my weight was.  I really thought I was destined to be this size forever.  I really thought that I knew how to eat healthy and I was very active.  I have always liked to workout.  It was not until I was 24 and married to Mike that I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting.  I weighed in at 299.8.  I was heartbroken.  I was fully committed and in 6 weeks, I lost 30 pounds. Then, I found out I was pregnant with Katherine.  Needless to say, I went back to my old ways.  It had not been long enough for the smaller portions and healthier foods to really become a part of my lifestyle.  Thankfully, when all was said and done, I only put on 8 pounds of fat.  The rest of my weight I put on during pregnancy was water and baby.  Ten months after Katherine was born, I went back to Weight Watchers and over the next few years lost 145 pounds!  I swore I would never go back to where I had been.  If only I knew what was coming.  I will go into that next.