MEET STEPH
The early years (that actually matter...) I went to college at Olivet Nazarene University and my sophomore year I ate chicken nuggets, fries and Mountain Dew for lunch EVERY DAY. Seriously, I was the epitome of health, chubby, fried health...
When I graduated, I scored my not-so-dream-job, but I decided it was time to lose the baby fat. I did what we all did, I cut way back on my calories and started running. I lost weight and even started enjoying running....
This is me at my lowest weight. I was working as a lifeguard/swim instructor and spent a lot of the time at the gym. This is also right around the time I met Monique, no wonder she fell for me, man, I was good looking! (Dude, I'm totally joking, I don't really have a big head...)
You know what they say about new relationships and weight gain, well, I found it to be true. Monique and I love cooking together, exploring new restaurants, and I have certainly corrupted her to watch far too many movies! After a few years together, and with a looming wedding day, I wasn't quite in the shape I wanted to be in, but I was motivated! It was April 6th 2012, that we committed to eating paleo for a month. After a few weeks I had great energy, was waking up refreshed and loved trying new foods! We had found our fit- eating paleo worked!
We both lost a nice amount of weight in the six months that we ate paleo (note, there was really no exercise, just a change in diet). This was the best day of my life (as of yet) and after, we celebrated! It was from here that we jumped back and forth from paleo to eating whatever we wanted, and I do mean whatever! I lost my faith in grain free eating, as I gained and gained anytime I ate wheat. Which was at least half the time...
Which brings me to now, the most unhealthy I've ever been and ready to dive back in, not just to a change in diet but to a totally new lifestyle! So I wonder, what will February 2015 look like after a "normal human" follows the 10 primal laws?!
For those of you into you into numbers, here is a graph of the percentage of body weight I have gained and lost over the years...
MEET MONIQUE
Unlike Steph, I've always been fat. People avoid that word, but it's true. There, I said it. Whoo. Reality is though, when I look at pictures of me as a child I was chunky, but what I wouldn't give to be that size again. I've always had a food addiction though, true story. I always used food as my coping mechanism, so to change that habit will be interesting.
When I met Steph, I had been at the same weight for years. Easily 60lbs overweight, I convinced myself that while I may have been fat, I wasn't out of shape. I loved to be outside, and I wasn't one to sit around much. I'm a bit of a clean freak, so I was always cleaning and organizing. To me this was being active. Then Steph came along, and I mean who wouldn't want to hang out at home and cuddle all the time?
Yowza! Yup, this is me at my heaviest. Now officially 90lbs overweight. Honestly, finding a picture of me without just an angled head shot it hard, I erase them all. So, here I am in all my glory and in desperate need of some weight loss before our Big Day arrived.
Me on our Day. This was taken with my cellphone, so have a little mercy :) I had gotten back to the weight I was when I met Steph, but not more then 2lbs lighter. It's sad really, cause while that was the best day of my life thus far, I didn't do the work that I should have to have those beautiful pictures that truly reflect how I felt on that day.
So, here we are. This journey will be a significant one for so many reasons, but the biggest for me is that it's time to expand our family. Because of my weight, I don't function properly and so that picture is of me taking a pill to aid in the process. Well, after much prayer I decided that I can't put my body (or poor Steph, who tolerated all my craziness while on hormone therapy) through this. Fat can effect the body in so many ways. This is the beginning of getting rid of the fat!
And again, for those of you into you into numbers, here is a graph of the percentage of body weight I have gained and lost over the years...