Can you Kick It?

Today the scale said: 189.5! This means I've lost 30 pounds. I have done this so many times always to see all the pounds pile back on, bringing some friends along. I want this time to be different. I thought I'd try blogging my weight loss journey to see if this will help keep me honest. My final goal is 140 pounds. Any thoughts you have to help me will be much appreciated.

I was born in Cuba. When I was 9 years old Fidel came to power and my family emigrated to Venezuela. My dad was all of 33 and my mom 31, but I thought they were wise and powerful. My grandmother, at 58 just a little older than I am now, seemed like a cranky old woman always in a bad mood. Now that I undertand all she had lost I am much more sympathetic. My older sister, Marite, was 12 and Emy, the baby, 1 year old. It was tough being a stranger, having an accent, having to make all new friends. Food became my refuge and my joy.

All through high school I managed to control my weight to some extent, but I was never thin. At 5'4" and 155, I was heavy for the times and always the heaviest of my friends. During college I gained a few pounds, and by the time I was 25 I was 180 lbs. I came to the United States with my first husband in 1979 and my weight exploded. It's so easy to eat the wrong things here! There were candy bars right by the check out counter, drive through windows beckoned me from almost every corner with their siren song. One day I stepped on a scale and was horrified to see I was 240 lbs. How could I have done this to myself?

Through the years, a divorce, a remarriage, having a daughter, raising her, I went from 150 to 240 several times. I am pretty sure I've lost over a thousand pounds. Of course, I have gained one thousand and seventy five!

Now that I have less than fifty pounds to go, I want to make sure this is the last time I lose these pounds. I am watching The Biggest Loser, I have joined Jenny Craig and the local YMCA. I am exercising three or four times per week and want to go to six times per week gradually. I am walking a half-marathon in Myrtle Beach next Saturday as a member of Team Prevention. This blog wil be another weapon. I want to succeed this time and I need all the help I can get!!!!