The Backstory

Hello Everyone! I was going to start my first post off with telling you about the events of today, but I figured some people might need a backstory of how I got here first and why I'm on my journey. So, first of all, most of you probably know me personally, but if you don't, I'm April. I'm 31 years old, a mother of 2 and married for almost 10 years now. My journey actually begins as far back as I can remember. You see, I've always struggled with my weight; to be quite honest with you, I just REALLY love food. I remember always asking my dad to bring me home a "surprise" from the vending machine at his work every night and I knew that every morning I could count on a bag of plain M&M's to be sitting on the kitchen counter just waiting on me to devour them; I really had no idea of exactly how much I was eating every day or how much I was supposed to eat, all I knew was that it tasted good and that I liked it. My mom, dad, and sister were always thin and I was the oddball; and at the beginning of every school year, I could guarantee that I was the biggest kid in the class. I wasn't morbidly obese or anything, I was just definitely bigger than the rest of the kids. I didn't really notice until about the third or forth grade when our school (which was very small) would allow people to purchase a flower for $1 and send them to someone else. All of the smaller, prettier girls in my class would have so many flowers, they could hardly carry them all; I usually had just the one flower that my mom would buy and send to me. I started thinking, "If only I could be small like them." I remember asking my mom to buy me SlimFast after seeing a commercial. She, of course, told me I didn't need it and I was beautiful just the way I was. I got along ok after that for the next few years...that was until towards the end of my 8th grade year. One of my friends had a picture of us at another friend's pool party; we were all in swimsuits, of course, and sitting on a float. My teacher saw it and told her "Well, April's always been a little on the chunky side." My friend told me about this and it hurt me, of course. Then, I don't know exactly how long later, but it wasn't that long, we were at lunch and the same teacher said "April, your mom, dad, and sister are all little...I guess you just got left out." I mean, really...who does that to a kid???? But the damage was done. Those words cut like a knife. It wasn't just me getting left out by my peers anymore, this was a teacher making hurtful comments; she was someone I was supposed to be able to trust and she chose to hurt me instead. I made up my mind right then that I wasn't going to be the "fat kid" anymore. Starting that day, I asked my dad if we could join a gym and so we did. We would go every day after school and I would work out for about 2 hours there and then when we would get home, I would do another hour or so of exercise on my own. And then I started calorie counting. First I went to 1,600 calories, then 1,400, then 1,200. then 1,000....until I eventually was eating just 400 calories a day while I was still working out and burning off wayyyyy more than I was taking in. By the time my 9th grade year started, I was medically diagnosed with anorexia. I was down to just 82 pounds and I wore a size 00 pants, which were too big and I had to wear a belt with them. It finally got so bad that the doctor's threatened to stick me in the hospital and feed me through IV's if I lost one more pound. I was terrified of needles, so I slowly(very slowly) started putting back on a little weight just so I could stay out of the hospital. I stayed pretty small for quite some time...but as the years went on, life happens. I had two kids (and a miscarriage in between). I gained weight with both kids that I never lost afterwards, and before I knew it, my weight (and addiction with food) were spiraling out of control again. Last year, after topping out at my heaviest (201 lbs), I decided that I HAD to do something. I wasn't comfortable in my own skin anymore. I had started selling ItWorks products the year before, but I never got into a serious regimen with the products. I said enough was enough and I started using them religiously. I ended up getting down to 168 in a matter of months! I was feeling wonderful again and it was so great to have people recognize how much weight I was losing. Then, I had to have an emergency gallbladder surgery last June and evidently that throws you off with your weight loss stuff. I was depressed, I stopped taking my products again and I am how back up to 181. Then, one day I was just looking for some encouragement, so I thought I would go check on the local Christian radio station's website and see if they have anything encouraging to share. On their homepage, I saw the contest they were having for Rob's Biggest Loser (which is a spinoff of the Biggest Loser show for those of you who aren't local). So I thought, what do I have to lose and entered. I had started a prayer journal and it was literally the first thing I wrote about in my journal. I got a call two days later saying they were considering me. Then a week later, I got the call back saying they chose me! So for the next 12 weeks, I am on a gym team at the YMCA where I'll be working my tail off to get back to where I need to be. I am also starting back on my ItWorks products, which I'll be ordering this week so I can have the extra boost of help. I would love to help you too, if you're on this weight loss journey with me! You can message me if you would like for me to recommend some products for you. We have something for every budget. Check out my page here!

Love,
          April