Losing weight

I have,over the years, and again yesterday , have people wonderingly ask about my "secret" to losing weight.  "How did you do it? "
Well, there are several things that went into it...let me start at the beginning ( more or less)

I was not a chunky child or teenager , in fact as a child, I was PAINFULLY thin.The biggest things on legs were my knees ( and feet) I was VERY active, though clumsy ( ADHD you know) and this continued into High School.  Even though,because of the developing of Exercise Induced Asthma and really bad knee joints, the activity level dropped off.  I took art instead of gym, I wrote instead of running.
I didn't gain weight though ....even though I ate like most teenagers do...terrible food and a lot of it.
I was what I now know as "skinny fat" very little muscle tone,but still small ( size 5-6,and about 115-120 at 5'4)  This continued well into my 20's .  I would periodically have bouts of attempted workouts, though after a doctor told me I "didn't have the joints" to be athletic, I kind of stopped, other than walking and being active in gardening,cleaning, chores and such.

Weight creeped up, as it does in adult hood. I was in a size 8-10 and 135 when I got pregnant with my daughter in 2000...and after her ,and trying to lose the baby weight I was at about 140.  Again, with not much muscle to speak of...I briefly dropped down into the 130 range with the Atkin's diet.

In 2009 I was 150.

    When I became a surrogate mother in 2010, I started the journey at 160....and ended it at about 195.

So,there we are, end of 2010, 200 lbs. ( there are no pictures of me from this point)
My back hurt, my knees hurt, I was depressed for more than one  reason,as well as it being an ongoing battle in my life.
I told myself, that I needed to make a change, for me.   I wanted my daughter to see the advantage of being mentally healthy and physically healthy. I wanted to prove that I COULD, that I WOULD.
So, when I felt I was able ( about 6-7 weeks after the c-section) I dug out an old workout DVD.  I popped it in, and I did it.  It was an hour long,I made it about half of that.  It was belly dancing ( in retrospect, not the best beginning, after a c-section,  considering) I could barely walk back up my basement stairs, my legs were so week, I almost puked, twice.  But I went back the next day, and did it again, and again, and again.  I added more DVD'd to my collection. More dance ( ballet, Bollywood, hula, Brazilian , hip hop) Martial arts, Yoga, Pilates, Budicon,  Sword fighting, kickboxing, kettelbell, Cardio, Circuit training , HIT, Strength, Tai Chi,  Piloxing.  The DVD's got harder, and more intense.  I started running a couple times a week( more like a really slow jog at first) I ran 1 mile, 2 miles, eventually up to 3.  I ran my first 5 K....I ran the whole way and finished.  My second, I finished in the middle of my pack of age mates...My third, I got third place in my age group.  We got an exercise bike, I do that in the winter with weights, or just to mix things up. I started snowshoeing this winter.
I do all kinds of things, so I don't get bored, either in body or mind.

Because of the depression when I started, I was not eating well, AT ALL. But I did force myself to eat.  It wasn't much, but I made a point of trying to be low carb ( not because of Atkins...I just run better over all that way) organic, un processed foods. Fruits, veggies, meat, nuts and seeds. I never was a big pop drinker, so I didn't have that to worry about, but I cut out fruit juice,and drank water or tea. ( I have a host of food allergies, so things like wheat, dairy, chocolate and pork are automatically off the table)

Gradually, the depression lifted, The weight came off.  I liked how I felt, I like how I looked.  By August of 2011, I had met my 3rd goal of "medically" healthy weight of 121, and a size 5( my first was to get to prepregnancy weight, then, it was to be the weight on my drivers licence...130) .

Since then my weight has gone up and down a bit...heaviest 135, lowest 115.  Even at the heaviest, I still was no larger than a size 2 jean....so I think some of that is muscle changes....since muscle weighs more than fat, and takes up less space.

I still eat well ( but allow some cheats...you have to to keep sane) and work out between 4 and 6 times a week. Typically for about an hour...though on rushed days it can be half of that. My depression is lifted, my ADHD symptoms are under control....I feel good.

So.... no secret....no magic bullet, no pill or supplement magically did this. I did.  You can too, if you want.