Introduction

Hello world!

My name is Rachel and I'm on a journey. A diet journey. I know, I know...most of us hear the word diet and shudder in fear, heck I know I did! But there comes a time when something just needs to be done. That time for me came all the way back in February. I was about to have surgery (a diagnostic laproscopy) and was due for a checkup to get all my pre-surgery vitals (weight, height, BP...you know the drill). Prior to this checkup the last time I had even been aware of my weight was probably in December, after a bad breakup because I didn't eat for about 10 days and lost a great deal of weight. I think at the time I had dipped into the 170's, the lowest I had been since before I went to college.

Well the time came. "Please step on the scale.", the nurse sang. "No problem," I thought to myself, "this won't be too bad." WRONG. I didn't even look down. "198.", the nurse said. I'll admit...I had a little panic attack. 198? That couldn't possibly be right! I tried to rationalize with myself and say that it was just the doctor's scales...they were notorious for being wrong. It would be okay, I promised myself, because I'd be laid up in bed for a week or more. Easy weight loss! The surgery went well, I felt fine, and I went back for my post-op appointment. That damned scale again...I hopped back on, surely thinking that I'd have lost a little bit of weight. Wrong again. Nothing. And that was the last time I even knew what my weight was.

Let me tell you a little about myself:

1. I'm 23 years old.


2. I'm 5'8" tall.


3. I've always been overweight


4. I work in a restaurant as a server and a bartender


5. I like LOVE to eat...even when I'm not hungry. It's just habit I guess.

It hasn't always been bad. In high school I was pretty normal sized (although I've always felt a little on the flabby side, but looking back at pictures now, I filled out nicely and looked good). When I went to college is when everything changed. You know how the talk about the "Freshman 15"? Well, I think I gained the Freshman 30 or something. You've been there, you know what I'm talking about...you're sitting at your computer right now nodding your head as you read this! Ha! It's just too easy in college. All that freedom. All that horrible cafeteria food that makes you run out and get fast food instead (because let's be honest with ourselves...how many 18 year old college students do you know who are going to go grocery shopping and cook themselves something healthy to eat?). I was on the cheerleading squad, but my eating habits were far from good. I didn't pay attention to food groups, portions, calories...nothing.

As the years went by I got bigger until at my heaviest, the summer before my senior year, I weighed almost 210 pounds. (See photo at left, me at my heaviest with my twin sister.)

Well I decided that senior year would be different. The changes didn't actually happen until the second semester, but my best friend Kasie and I got our act together. We ate all of our meals together in the cafeteria. I did Weight Watchers to keep track of how much I was eating. I started exercising regularly (I became a fan of riding a bike that I found in one of the basement storage rooms of my dorm on the nature trail that ran through town) and before I knew it, I had lost about 25 pounds! That's all well and good but I didn't carry on that mentality after I graduated. I got a job at this restaurant which is NOT good for a bored eater because there's food everywhere. All the time. Cue weight gain again!

So there's a little background on me for you. At least now you kind of have an idea of how I got to the point of wanting to do something about my weight. In my next post, I'll tell you a little bit more about how I got started with the HCG diet.

Until next time!