Convinced

In the Fall of 2012

Alright. Alright. Alright! I've been convinced. I have decided to start writing/documenting my weight loss journey in a very real way. Not just in "status updates" on Facebook anymore. On this blog, I will be writing on this when I can. I will share my fears, excitements, recipes, goals and more.

Okay, so those of you that don't know me...here is the background. My name is Ruth. I am a soon-to-be 26 year old woman who is morbidly obese. I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Poundage would be  dropped and poundage would be added plus several more for "good measure." I struggled with self image, Hypothyroidism and plantar fasciitis, just to name a few.

It wasn't until after coming back from Germany (a year after graduating high school (2005)) that I really decided to love myself no matter what size I was. During the course of that year I lost 55 pounds. While that was an amazing accomplishment, it was not for the right reasons. It wasn't for me. I felt obligated and pressured into it. When I returned home, I became very judgemental of larger people (including my mother) and after that I realized I hated that and I hated being that person. My mom, God bless her, is the most wonderful, patient, loving person I know. It was not okay to look down on her.

So, unconsciously I reverted back to my old ways so that I could re-fit back into my life at home. Over the course of the past 6 years I have gained massive amounts of weight.
Here comes one of the scariest parts for me...I'm choosing to be very vulnerable and write how much I weighed as of June 6,2012... 316 pounds. That number is a number I NEVER want to see again! My stomach is in knots thinking of anybody reading this. In the course of 6 years, I gained 137 pounds...

Instead of letting that number rule me, instead of letting that number grow any further, I took action...IMMEDIATELY! I made a plan.

First, I was going to cut out all sodas and juices and replacing it with water, water with lemon, tea, and sometimes coffee. Second, I was going to start walking and adding small workouts as my endurance grows. Third, I was going to cut my portions of food down. And fourth, I was going to eat healthier. I decided that for me to do this, it couldn't be a crash diet, it couldn't be a diet in general because I would start to feel deprived and I would fail and I couldn't let it take over my thinking.

With the plan forming, I also created a mindset. And this is my mindset: I will not make ANYONE my project. I am doing this for me and nobody else. I cannot and will not push anybody to do this with me. It is for the individual to decide, IF they ever decide to. I GET and am privileged to love them no matter what, for they have always loved me no matter what. I am beautiful. I am strong, stronger than I ever gave myself credit for being.

I am happy to report that since June 6, 2012, I have lost 18 pounds!!! :) (weighed on July 12, 2012)


After losing the first 16 lbs



Through support, encouragement, pushing myself a little bit harder everyday, being accountable and experimenting with new foods/recipes/exercises and more I have started a journey that will change me for life. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people around me that love me and do support this journey. I have already learned so much about myself and have had several epiphanies.

And though I am happy and proud of myself, I know that its a journey and journeys notoriously have bumps along the way. I won't let them take me down for good. When I fall, I will get back up, dust myself off and move forward.

I thank you all for your continued support! I love you and thank God for you everyday!

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway