A story.....here goes....

Once upon a time in the hot deserts of Arizona there lived girl...........Just kidding.


I do not have the time or space to write my whole "story", if you want to call it that. So I guess I will say that it is similar to Nancy's....I am fat, and I always have been. I have made it a point to not let my fat define me (still do that)....but that doesn't mean I like it. I have tried many things for weight loss ....almost all were at least successful for a time. I never did anything too drastic....drastic stuff scares me. If drastic stuff didn't scare me, I would have had gastric bypass years ago when our insurance covered all of it. But I wont...that is freaking SCARY! So far, the most successful thing I did was in 2001 I went to a center called "Well for Life" (they are now defunct) and I lost 65lbs in about 6 months.

For many years I told people that I was just about the healthiest fat person you could know. It was true. Other fat people (less fat than me, and similar age) would ask me...How come I don't have the energy you do?? where do you get your energy?? How come you don't ride a cart in the grocery store like me?? I would watch shows about fat people on the discovery channel, and was baffled....some of these people on these shows were nearly 100lbs lighter than me complaining that they could not walk to the mail box without getting winded and having to rest. REALLY??....I mean, I know I cannot run Ragnar's and such at this weight, but I can certainly go to my mailbox without being winded....I mean, I work 12 hour night shifts as a nurse...no desk job here. I figure I owe it to our Quist genes!! I did not have high blood pressure, diabetes, joint problems.....NOTHING....I was just fat.


Well, that has begun to change...since the beginning of the year, I have been diagnosed as diabetic. Yep....I knew it was coming if something didn't change....and here it is. At that time I was at my heaviest weight ever, so, starting in January, I started seeing my doctor for monthly weigh ins and lab work, medication adjustments, etc. Since then, I have lost 30lbs. Also, my cholesterol is down about 50 points, my triglycerides are down 350 points (yes.....350!!), my fasting blood sugar was down about 50 points, and my A1C was down one point to 6.4. I just had more labs drawn this morning, and I'll get those results on Monday. Hopefully they have all stayed the same or gotten better.

Currently I am at a standstill. This always happens to me.....the initial weight starts to come of easily....then, when I hit a certain weight (the weight I am at now) my body says...I think I'll stay here. This is the weight I have been for most of the time over the last 12 years or so....my body is comfortable here. It is very hard for me to break this barrier, and the next 10-20 lbs are the hardest for me to get through. I usually get discouraged, quit trying so hard....and eventually the weight comes back. I have gained and lost this 30lbs so many times. It is my theory that if I can get through these next 10-20lbs, that it will be easier again (at least for a while).

So I need to get a plan together of how I am going to do this....as far as eating, I will use weight watchers to guide my food choices and calories etc. I have used it successfully before, it is logical to me, and I am paying for it, so why not use it right?? The exercise is a bit more tricky. I know it is the key to being successful, and I actually eat better when I am exercising too. I have tried gyms, and trainers, and videos, etc. Here is my problem.....none of these people were trained, and none of the techniques were developed for the morbidly obese person (yep, that is what they call me - morbidly obese - gross, huh?). Having 30-40lbs to lose is not the same as having 130-140lbs to lose...they are VERY different. You CANNOT treat those two clients the same....yet they do. I have not yet found any person or program who has individualized a program for a severely overweight person. I cannot move/bend the way mildly overweight people can...there is simply bulk there that will not allow it. These skinny mini trainers who have mostly never been overweight, let alone severely overweight, do not understand how to train me.

So, there it is, for what it's worth. Oh and by the way....if you think I am posting actual numbers on here.....YEAH RIGHT! This blog is public, and there are too many people who may follow this blog that would never understand....I'll just post amount of loss, etc.

I looked for some pics....
One from high school....Drama Banquet and awards (I think)




This is the only picture I can find of me when I was near my lowest weight of the last 13 years:


One of the times when I was at my heaviest:

WOW....that turned into a LONG post....sorry.