Lost weight for my kids - Children were the reason for weight loss

ABOUT ME AND FAMILY:
I have been slightly obese for 37 years of my life and never cared what people thought about me. I believe that one should live happy and not care too much what others think about you. Most of my fat came in the last 9 years following the pregnancy. Personally I was happy and had no complains with my extra weight until the life of my kids started getting effected by it. I have two kids, they are my angels and being a single working mom my life revolves around them. My children ( a boy and a little girl) are actually quite skinny and we share a very nice family bond.

MY CHILDREN ARE MOTIVATION FOR MY WEIGHT LOSS:
There were quite a few incidents which happened in last 1 year which gave me the motivation to lose weight. For example - unlike most parents, I was not able to participate actively with my son's soccer classes and somewhere or the other he must have also been under peer pressure about the obesity of her mom (me). Additionally, I know that people who are obese tend to live shorter than the ones in better shape. Being a single parent there were some negative thoughts in my mind like "My kids are totally dependent on me, who will take care of my children if something happened to me ?".

MY STRENGTH:
One very positive thing about me is my determination. If I take up a task I usually go great lengths to make sure it gets done. My colleagues at workplace have a similar opinion about me.

STARTING OF MY WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM:
From my personal experience I can tell you that losing weight has been the toughest thing I have ever done in my life. I consulted my doctor before starting my weight loss and her biggest advice was to start slowly, then increase the intensity slowly. Most people like to lose weight ASAP and they easily get tired of leading an extremely restrictive lifestyle, pretty soon they give up. My weight loss was a combination of diet control, exercise and a general active lifestyle. My son was extremely supportive was always very supporting during this whole process. My daughter is still quite young and all she says is "Mom you look pretty". There were times when I felt so energy less but I never decided to quit. I did not take any professional weight loss programs and just followed the basics - home made low calorie foods, fruits, mostly veggies meals, walking, some workout on tread mill and light exercising.

HOW MUCH DID I LOSE:
I was 220 pounds and now I have lost about 52 pounds in last 14 months. Today I am in the best shape of my life and I intend to hit 150 pounds in the next 6 to 9 months. As I mentioned earlier, it was not easy. Since I have always been overweight in my life, the structure of my bones will never allow me to have a
perfect figure but it is a great personal achievement for me.

LIFE TODAY:
I feel even more confident about myself and am able to participate with my children activities quite well. My kids now see me as a role model and both my professional & personal life have become much more beautiful.

Article Source: http://www.weightism.org