The Rise & Fall of Beth's Scales

Beth's weight loss success story written by Beth

I would say I first started gaining weight when I was born (this is normal, right?). Seriously though, the trouble began long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away when I was 17 and bought my first car.

Throughout all of my teenage years, I had to walk 2 miles each way to school and then BAM!, I suddenly cut 4 miles of daily walking out of my routine. Mind you, I was 110 pounds then and a teenager and could not be concerned with gaining a measly 5 pounds.

The trouble continued when, after graduation from a secretarial program at the technical college, I assumed my first desk job and stopped working at the roller skating rink where I had spent about 3 nights per week on roller skates. Hello, the next 5 pounds!

At the ripe old age of 21, I made the bold decision to move across the country and rent a house with my boyfriend and a roommate.

Can you say stress? It was also at about this point I figured I could eat the same portions as my boyfriend. What do you know? 5 more pounds. (Sneaky little buggers, aren't they?)

At 22, I moved back to my home town (yeah, the whole across the country thing didn't work out so well) and said hello to my first diet at all of 125 pounds. I did manage to lose 10 pounds that time by basically going vegetarian and cutting every bit of fat out that I could.

Well, I basically starved myself, but I was down to 115 again...for like a week! Nobody could uphold this diet, especially me, who could never, ever, go vegetarian.

We all know the old song and dance from here...back up to 125, down to 120, up to 130, down to 125, up to 135, up to 140! Over a span of eight years, I had yo-yoed myself to an all-time high of 142 pounds after Christmas 2001.

Of course, I was certain that the key was exercise and had tried the YMCA and Curves for a few years. I had great muscle...too bad you couldn't see it anymore!

Up and down, up and down, the scales went. I thought, "if I could only lose 10 pounds"...not willing to realize that I was, in fact, now 20 pounds overweight. You see, I have a unique disorder. Even though I knew the number on the scale was higher than it should be, and even though I was up to size 12 jeans, because my weight was distributed so evenly and I see myself every day, I didn't think I looked so bad...and then the holiday pictures rolled around. You know where I'm going here, don't you? You can't wait to get your pictures back from the developer because you know there are some really cute ones on that roll...and then you see yourself...and you say, what happened to my cute little figure?

So in January 2003 at 30 years old, I started my longest and final diet. Mind you, when I started, I was only planning on dropping 10 pounds. I was a week or so into it and doing really well, when my motivation startedto sag. I was having an especially hungry moment and I decided to surf the Internet for some diet motivation.

Where do you think I ended up? You guessed it...DIET BITES!!!! This little haven that Sky has put together is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I was so impressed by the humorous articles and great information, that I spent the better part of two days reading all of the archived articles and every bit(e) I could find on the site. Talk about gaining motivation!

At that point, I decided this was it. I was going to lose every last bit of unwanted weight and keep it off. I started with Sky's 4-day challenge and ran with it from there. I don't necessarily count my calories, but I do try to create a balance of veggies, grains and meats at every meal, with minimal fat. I read labels religiously and many times decide the item isn't worth the amount of calories it contains. I also try to pay very close attention to when I am full and stop eating there. After a couple of minor mis-steps along the way, after 4½ months, I am 22 pounds lighter and at my goal weight of 120 pounds! Imagine, I spent 8 years just hoping the weight would fall off by itself, without any work from me, and it didn't work. But it only took 4½ months after finally getting my butt and brain in gear and doing something about it!

So, Sky, and everybody else who helped create the site, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! You have helped me achieve something I was beginning to think was futile and my biggest motivation now is the hope that I can help somebody else get to this happy place I am at. I want to help every person that comes looking for that one little bit of motivation they need to change their life. It can be done. I promise.

Thank you Beth for sharing your success story with everyone who visits Diet Bites! You are truly an inspiration to anyone seeking weight loss or is trying to get fit and I am certain that your personal weight loss accomplishments will motivate so many people.

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