2013 my HW (303 lbs.) vs. 2019 my Current Weight (218 lbs.)

April 9th, 2019 - I made the appointment at Jenny Craig. I had been feeling lost this past 4 plus months. My weight had been creeping up. It started around Thanksgiving, and by the end of February - It was up a good 10 pounds, and by the end of March .... 15. IKES. I can pin point one specific thing ..... but the less obscure thing was the fact that I went Vegan in October. At first with great success ..... feeling fabulous, curing constipation, eating lots of veggies, fruit, beans and legumes, and whole grains. But by Thanksgiving - I found myself adding more and more JUNK food (Vegan no doubt - HA! But JUNK). I would falter back and forth from eating really "clean" to "clean" plus JUNK. As the winter marched onward - I was eating more "Vegetarian", as milk products kept finding a way in - PLUS the bouts with JUNK. UGGG. My weight was marching upward all this time. Finally, the first weekend in April - I knew this "Vegan" quest was undoing me. Maybe it works for "Rip Esselstyn" but I wasn't able to master it in Maintenance. LESSON #1 - If something ISN"T working ........ STOP IT! No matter how "righteous" it sounds!!!!!! I suddenly realized I needed to GET BACK TO JENNY and reinforce some of the things I had previously learned. I stewed about it all of Sunday night, because of the "Cons". The Cons to me are: COST. PRIDE - In thinking, I knew what to do on my own, if I could just muster up a plan. and INCONVENIENCE of the 90 minute drive to my center. COST is by for the biggest Con. But I reminded myself it can be my biggest .... PRO. Because if I'm going to make this type of investment, I am motivated beyond belief to not WASTE the money by playing around with it!!!! By Monday morning I picked up the phone and made an appointment. BEST DECISION EVER. The center was quiet, so Amber spent an hour with me, really talking through how this happened. I left knowing, there is no shame in saying - This is a life long Journey for me - but I have the BEST solution for ME, and I will keep working on this, for AS LONG AS IT TAKES. LESSON #2. I need Exercise. At my age - it's just an equally important component to my health, as what I eat. My journey over the past few years hasn't really included exercise. I walked, in season (warm that is!), but other than that haven't ever exercised. This go around Amber raised her eyebrows, when I said "I'll walk 30 minutes" LESSON #3. I need much more accountability and training from my JCC in Maintenance. I really didn't get it the first time around. I can't blame them. I didn't really ask enough questions, and I am the kind of person who pushes the program away at Maintenance. This time I won't. Amber reminded me to SELF ADVOCATE - set up an hour appointment to learn the maintenance JC plan - then to GET TO THE CENTER every week while I'm learning it, just like I did when I was first learning in the very very very beginning when I found JC!!! And .... to follow the Maintenance as outlined ..... EXACTLY. Just like I did in following my JC meal program. So - Hear I go. I'm so thankful I have J.C. - It really has been my path to a healthier me. I'm not done, and I won't quit. But I'm in a much better place than I was a few years ago when I first started! The Journey continues!!!!!

Each year I create a theme as part of my weekly planning sessions for work and personal life. This year the theme is "the Future is Now". It comes from my realization that if I want to be thin {some day} then I need to make decisions now to create that future. I can't indulge my food cravings and expect to ever get to my future state. Every minute of every day is a *now* moment. It doesn't mean that bad decisions kill any chance of attaining goal - it just means that the poor decision is delaying my success. Small decisions have big impacts -- for good or for bad. My future state (and goal weight) is created in the NOW moments - held in my hand.

I see that my last blog post was January of 2017. That means I am coming up on two years since I quit JC and decided to try other options. Just for the record, nothing worked and I got to my highest weight of 316 pounds before I finally sought help from a doctor. I have lost 32 pounds since May. And it feels good. But I have been here before - so that is why I am back to JC. Of all the things I tried, I feel that the JC Community was by far the most supportive and most helpful. I picked up my food and had my first meeting with my JC consultant last night. Today I sit here feeling pretty good. Before I started writing today I went back and reread my previous blogs along with the comments. My last post was very negative and discouraged - One of the comments encouraged me to 'get deep into it' and 'read and reread all the JC literature'. I am here to get deep into it. I am here to make this a lifestyle. I am here to get support and to offer support. I am happy to say that Wednesday, November 14, 2018, was the start of my New Beginning.

There is nothing like sitting down to a nice table setting: a hard mat (much easier to keep clean: you wipe it down after each meal and voila), a napkin, a nice set of flatware, your water in crystal (why wait for company?), a colorful meal nicely plated. The trouble when you are trying to do a plan like Jenny, which focuses not only on healthy ingredients but on portion control, is that the size of today's dinner plates is huge. So today I decided: I am serving myself on salad plates. They are the perfect size for my meals, and will help retrain my eye in what a proper and healthy portion looks like. As Yoda told Luke, "You must unlearn what you have learned."

Hey Guys - Wanted to post a picture of me at a lower weight when I started dating 6 months ago. I was still a little high for my maintenance but not where I am today. So as I embark on Jenny now - with the goal to get back down to my lower goal I wanted to see what I am shooting for. Net-net I am proud of how I look today - and of the weight loss. Sure I want to get back down to have wiggle room and fit into my smaller clothes. But seeing this picture - and I know I am not a size 24W and at Lane Bryant (Bless their hearts - they really have a fantastic store for me back in the day so I am grateful they are in business). But I am grateful I only have 10-15 lbs to lose now and sooo happy I know how and know we can do this Thank you all for your support! This forum is a ton helpful for me. So I do apologize for a keeping it real and personal and being long-winded. But hey we used to spend a lot of time eating... now we can read and write. Here's the picture of me yesterday (In shorts) at my JCC Center). This is my before shot for this go-around at about 155 .... and the picture of me in Black is at about 145-147 back from the date where Greg and I got to know each other in San Antonio and Austin. Let's do this. I am looking forward to a fantastic after shot in a couple of months or even before I start my job in 2 weeks - maybe a progress shot? OK so here's the updated progress week 2.. seems crazy that so much stuff fits better - it's officially on jenny scale 3.6lbs but I feel better,. No dating or happy hours. No alcohol, no job right now (i start Monday) and only 1 party where I had club soda and not too much food. Anyway, this morning scale said 150.5 which is what it said the ay I weighed in at Jenny - so same as Wednesday, I guess now it will move slow maybe. But also I'm using new muscles in my gold lessons and practice.. so I feel better, Check out my Before and After if you want inspiration was I am sure my small weight loss is not that inspiring. But the real deal was when I went from 207 to 137 starting in August of 2016.. Now I have luxury problems - but for a lifelong compulsive overeater it's super important to get back to having a better relationship with food and not gaining,! Here's the July 2018 shot where I am trying to get back to... or even before that when my weight was at the low end of my goal... for wiggle room

Synergy noun two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. I've discovered the perfect podcast to support me on my weight loss journey. Today my weigh in was 139.5 which is a number I've not seen in decades and just 3 lbs from goal. After 6 months of ups and downs of Week 1-2-3-4 rotations --- I am so close to actually doing it! I can hardly believe it! So close to actually reaching a goal and not quitting after a few weeks (or days). Heck Ya! This feels awesome. But I'm scared. Scared of what will happen when I step off the JC track and start to plan and prepare my own diet plans and meals. What will I do to keep up the momentum and HOW will I do? Lucky for me that I discovered a podcast that resonates deeply and brings me the realization that to move beyond the diet I need to end my habits of emotional eating and over eating. Why do I eat when I'm not hungry? Why do I get urges at 4pm like clockwork to start eating and eating? Sometimes I can't stop myself! What can I do to save me from myself? The podcast Real Weight Loss Real Woman ( realweightlossrealwomen.com) has been a game changer for me and I now see a path forward - building on what I've learned and how I have changed through my months on Jenny Craig diet. The coach, Cookie Rosenblum, gets me and challenges the very behaviors that I see struggle with today. I am evolving in my weight-loss journey from aiming for a number on a scale to having a goal to be a naturally slender woman eating my own natural diet. Ending my emotional eating and bad binge habits. I would never have come this far without Jenny Craig and it is so exciting to feel the synergy and power within me.

I spoke to my JCC last night. It went well enough, I suppose. I lost weight, which is the focus of it all. But the truth is, she sounds as if she is on some kind of a script. Here I am, reminding her (she had clearly, clearly forgotten) how I had gone down to see my father in the hospital last week. How he was dying. How I had to say good-bye. I told her I went off-program for six days. She glossed over all of that; it just was not in her notes and she did not know how to respond. I told her that being back had been good; that having the program, the scheduled meals, the meditation practice, has been so healthy and mind-saving for me. She acknowledged what I had said, but didn't really have more to add. I felt let down. I know. I know. I am very sensitive right now. But I desperately wanted some kind of validation about everything I have been going through, and the fact that JC has been a bit of an anchor for me these days. Instead, she just went right into, "Do you think you'll have any obstacles this coming week?" I wanted to laugh. Or cry. I mean, I don't know, sweetie. It's possible that my father will die this week. Oh, and I am working on my taxes, which are totally up in the air right now. And I have to start my Continuing Legal Ed. And did I mention my father is in hospice care and might die this week? But don't you worry, I am not reaching for the raw cookie dough. Not yet. Meh, don't listen to me. I have a migraine, and am in a bit of a mood.

I am grateful that Jenny Craig diet has helped me put an end to mindless snacking and drinking in early evening hours. It feels really amazing to skip the evening glass(es) of wine which on bad nights might turn into a dinner of wine, baguette and Camembert cheese. Not drinking alcohol regularly has made me realize how bloated and fatigued I used to feel. I'm also coming home earlier in the evening because I don't succumb to the late afternoon munchies - chips and candy bars. I get hungry around 4:00 so that is my signal to pack up and go home and eat dinner. Since I'm home earlier and not drinking alcohol I have enough energy to tackle projects at home or head to the gym. My face is looking great - clear, redness has gone away and amazingly so have the dark circles under my eyes. Moving my diet to eat more healthfully and earlier in the day I think has helped make me have better mental alertness and clarity at work. There are a ton of benefits beyond just the number on the scale and in many ways those are more important to my overall health.

Something fun that you may or may not know about me is that I used to be a blogger! One of the main topics I always enjoyed sharing and writing about was my weight loss journey. Another interesting fact that you probably don't know about me, is that I am a brain stem surgery survivor. I underwent life saving and life changing brain stem surgery back in February 2012. I used my recovery as an opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do... start a blog! Essentially, during and after my recovery, my blog was something I used as an important tool to get my life back on track after a traumatic experience. It was my recovery tool. It was a means of building community and bringing attention to topics that I found inspiring and wanted to share with others. I enjoyed life as a blogger for a whole six years then decided that it was time to move on. I work full-time and it was unreasonable for me to try and keep my blog going when I know I was not able to put into it what I knew in my heart, it deserved. In February 2018, I decided to shut down my blog. xtinedanielle.com will always live on in my heart as a passion project turned recovery tool that I enjoyed doing for a certain, very crucial season of my life. You can best I saved every post ever written. It was an outlet that I treasured. It was an outlet that I miss! ANYWAYS - back to starting this new blog here on the Jenny Craig community that I love so much. I am excited to get back into the groove of blogging. I've been reinvigorated to be as active as possible on these forums. There are so many great people here and I'm blessed to be a part of this community. We are doing awesome things everyday, with the help of Jenny Craig, to reach our help goals and reach for more for ourselves. So welcome to my blog! I'll be writing as often as I can and sharing my journey. Please feel free to follow along, leave a comment, and get in touch! We are here to support each other, inspire each other, and help each other. - Christine Danielle

This is Week 3 and I am psyched up for great things this week. No distractions - i.e. business lunches, business trips, social dinners. Focus is the word this week. I'm feeling well nourished, heightened clarity and a sense of control despite being at a ski cabin with all manner of Distractions (chips, wine, ya' know...). In my Ink+Volt work planner/journal the quote this week is "Starve your Distractions. Feed your Focus." How perfect is that!? What does "starving my distractions" mean? Back at home it means removing Husband's cookies sitting on top of the microwave to a drawer in another room of the house! And feeding my focus with a motivational quote in it's place. What distractions in your home need to be starved? How can you feed your focus and lose the weight this week?

SO as many of you know , i have had some struggles lately. Travelling againn for work - and eating up a storm. Broke up with a man - and started a new job. And I am a Compulsive Overeater.. So I let that impact my food decisions and now I am 20 lbs up form my goal and ready to get back on the horse. I would love to literally hit the ground running - but had a keratin treatment and no exercise allowed for a few days - cant get hair wet. So I am just going to work on food consumption, Which is really DO Jenny, Keep away from wine, and drink a ton of water. OK _ Lets get some now...OK OK So starting a plan again actually makes me happy. That seems weird right? I love and adore food - yet starting myself off here, starting the challenge, just getting my water seriously gives me hope and makes me happy. Need to remember that when I decide to open a bottle of wine etc. So my plan is to get through Day 1 tonight - Just a day of Jenny (I'll post on daily thread the food plan) and water... And then tonight pack for work week and go to Jury Duty, Depending on when they let me out of Jury duty (assuming I am not part of the jury) . Anyway for four weeks I have travelled, eaten anything, drank anything - and well that is not working, So this week I start a new plan - I jump on to actually sticking to Jenny - and being the one who does not eat. This should be interesting. OK Off to MAcy's to find a few items for work. ..Pack and do taxes today. WE got this.

I have come back and forth to Jenny a few times over the years, and now I'm back again. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who thought that I would NEVER be at the weight I am. I lost weight after having both of my kids, but after some hard knocks by life, lots of emotional eating, a metabolism that I'm sure is slowing down, I'm around 80 pounds above my ideal weight. Even writing those words is just crazy to me! In my mind I still think, "It's not that bad." And thats why I most likely keep going out and overeating. I always LOVE to read peoples stats, journeys, and success stories, so I'm going to give you mine. I'm 36, two kids (9 and 6, so the baby weight excuse isn't holding up in the same way anymore), I am 5'1, and I currently weight 217. DEAR GOD. My goal weight is 130. My first goal weight is 160. My first first goal weight is 195. I just want to get out of the 200's. I've tried all the diets out there, but the fact is that I just can't come to grips about doing a ketosis plan again, or some plan where 'calories don't matter' as long as I'm eating certain things, or even a plan where I have to cook and meal plan right now. I've got so much going on in my life that the idea of grabbing something out of the freezer and knowing that if I eat it (and not anything else) I WILL lose. Its about patience for me, and getting comfortable that it won't happen overnight. Its about getting comfortable with not eating as much as I want, and about just not stopping. I started Jenny again last week, but I honestly wasn't prepared for how hungry I was going to be. It shocked me. I was stressed several times and I thought, its not really going to matter if I eat more, or eat off plan, and just fell right into my excuses again. And guess what, I gained two pounds. Talk about going in for your week 1 weigh in and gaining weight. Hard to justify that one in your head. The bottom line is that the only person I'm letting down is myself. I can use this time or I can waste this time. Chose to use it, start again, and give myself some tough love. I want to be able to run with my kids, wear the millions of clothes in my closet that are so flipping cute but don't fit. I want to do the things I want to do in life, hike, swim, dress up, feel pretty and confident, without my weight being an ever present issue. I also want to LIVE for a long time, and experience actual health.

his young woman called Holly Butcher posted her advice to the world, 24 hours before she died of cancer. This was her message... “It’s a strange thing to realise and accept your mortality at 26 years young. It’s just one of those things you ignore. The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming; Until the unexpected happens. I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey- most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts. That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right. I’m 27 now. I don’t want to go. I love my life. I am happy.. I owe that to my loved ones. But the control is out of my hands. I haven’t started this ‘note before I die’ so that death is feared – I like the fact that we are mostly ignorant to it’s inevitability.. Except when I want to talk about it and it is treated like a ‘taboo’ topic that will never happen to any of us.. That’s been a bit tough. I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bullshit. I have dropped lots of my thoughts below as I have had a lot of time to ponder life these last few months. Of course it’s the middle of the night when these random things pop in my head most! 1) Those times you are whinging about ridiculous things (something I have noticed so much these past few months), just think about someone who is really facing a problem. Be grateful for your minor issue and get over it. It’s okay to acknowledge that something is annoying but try not to carry on about it and negatively effect other people’s days. 2) Once you do that, get out there and take a freaking big breath of that fresh Aussie air deep in your lungs, look at how blue the sky is and how green the trees are; It is so beautiful. Think how lucky you are to be able to do just that – breathe. 3) You might have got caught in bad traffic today, or had a bad sleep because your beautiful babies kept you awake, or your hairdresser cut your hair too short. Your new fake nails might have got a chip, your boobs are too small, or you have cellulite on your arse and your belly is wobbling. Let all that **** go.. I swear you will not be thinking of those things when it is your turn to go. It is all SO insignificant when you look at life as a whole. I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more Birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more. 4) I hear people complaining about how terrible work is or about how hard it is to exercise – Be grateful you are physically able to. Work and exercise may seem like such trivial things … until your body doesn’t allow you to do either of them. I tried to live a healthy life, in fact, that was probably my major passion. Appreciate your good health and functioning body- even if it isn’t your ideal size. Look after it and embrace how amazing it is. Move it and nourish it with fresh food. Don’t obsess over it. 5) Remember there are more aspects to good health than the physical body.. work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too. That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is.. While on this topic, delete any account that pops up on your news feeds that gives you any sense of feeling **** about yourself. Friend or not.. Be ruthless for your own well-being. 6) Be grateful for each day you don’t have pain and even the days where you are unwell with man flu, a sore back or a sprained ankle, accept it is **** but be thankful it isn’t life threatening and will go away. 7) Whinge less, people! .. And help each other more. 😎 Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more. Since I have been sick, I have met the most incredibly giving and kind people and been the receiver of the most thoughtful and loving words and support from my family, friends and strangers; More than I could I ever give in return. I will never forget this and will be forever grateful to all of these people. 9) It is a weird thing having money to spend at the end.. when you’re dying. It’s not a time you go out and buy material things that you usually would, like a new dress. It makes you think how silly it is that we think it is worth spending so much money on new clothes and ‘things’ in our lives. Buy your friend something kind instead of another dress, beauty product or jewellery for that next wedding. 1. No-one cares if you wear the same thing twice 2. It feels good. Take them out for a meal, or better yet, cook them a meal. Shout their coffee. Give/ buy them a plant, a massage or a candle and tell them you love them when you give it to them. 10) Value other people’s time. Don’t keep them waiting because you are **** at being on time. Get ready earlier if you are one of those people and appreciate that your friends want to share their time with you, not sit by themselves, waiting on a mate. You will gain respect too! Amen sister. 11) This year, our family agreed to do no presents and despite the tree looking rather sad and empty (I nearly cracked Christmas Eve!), it was so nice because people didn’t have the pressure of shopping and the effort went into writing a nice card for each other. Plus imagine my family trying to buy me a present knowing they would probably end up with it themselves.. strange! It might seem lame but those cards mean more to me than any impulse purchase could. Mind you, it was also easier to do in our house because we had no little kiddies there. Anyway, moral of the story- presents are not needed for a meaningful Christmas. Moving on. 12) Use your money on experiences.. Or at least don’t miss out on experiences because you spent all your money on material ****. 13) Put in the effort to do that day trip to the beach you keep putting off. Dip your feet in the water and dig your toes in the sand. Wet your face with salt water. 14) Get amongst nature. 15) Try just enjoying and being in moments rather than capturing them through the screen of your phone. Life isn’t meant to be lived through a screen nor is it about getting the perfect photo.. enjoy the bloody moment, people! Stop trying to capture it for everyone else. Random rhetorical question. Are those several hours you spend doing your hair and make up each day or to go out for one night really worth it? I’ve never understood this about females 🤔. 16) Get up early sometimes and listen to the birds while you watch the beautiful colours the sun makes as it rises. 17) Listen to music.. really listen. Music is therapy. Old is best. 18) Cuddle your dog. Far out, I will miss that. 19) Talk to your friends. Put down your phone. Are they doing okay? 20) Travel if it’s your desire, don’t if it’s not. 21) Work to live, don’t live to work. Seriously, do what makes your heart feel happy. 22) Eat the cake. Zero guilt. 23) Say no to things you really don’t want to do. 24) Don’t feel pressured to do what other people might think is a fulfilling life.. you might want a mediocre life and that is so okay. 25) Tell your loved ones you love them every time you get the chance and love them with everything you have. 26) Also, remember if something is making you miserable, you do have the power to change it – in work or love or whatever it may be. Have the guts to change. You don’t know how much time you’ve got on this earth so don’t waste it being miserable. I know that is said all the time but it couldn’t be more true. Anyway, that’s just this one young gals life advice. Take it or leave it, I don’t mind! Oh and one last thing, if you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives. I feel like it is something that is so overlooked considering every donation can save 3 lives! That is a massive impact each person can have and the process really is so simple. Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year - a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life. ..’Til we meet again. Hol Xoxo”

I love taking a restorative yoga class at my gym. One of the favorite parts is the pieces of wisdom that I collect from the teacher - Kristine. She reminds us to set a daily intention through the choice of a word. Often my intentions are around clarity or calmness and usually I think of my weight loss goals in context with that intention. Lately, I have been gathering new ideas from my Jenny Craig consultant - Jessie. This past week she shared with me that she thinks of her meal as just something that will hold her over until her next meal/snack in a couple hours. I realized that before JC - I often thought of lunch as needing to hold me until dinner - which would often be 6-7 hours later which would give me an excuse to load up on a huge sandwich or a full size enchilada platter. Often consuming 800+ calories in that one meal. When I think about just eating enough for 2 hours of nourishment/energy it really helps me with portion control and the recognition that my hunger is gone. What are some ah-ha moments you have had on our Jenny Craig journey? Do you have one you can share? Post it here, please!

The phone rang early this morning. I hate it when that happens. When the phone rings early in the morning, it is either telemarketers or bad news in the family. Either way, brace yourself, right? It turned out to be bad news in my extended family. Not a death or anything like that, but something stressful and unpleasant (forgive the vagueness, but it is personal to someone else, and I want to respect their privacy). It upset me quite a but (and will place some level of stress and burden upon me, some known already, some vague and unknown for now). Normally, I would have reached for cookies or cake or donuts or some other form of sugary comfort. After all, I "deserve" it, right? I "need" it right now. Well, no. Not today. I went about my day. Drank my water. Told my husband what was going on. Had a mug of tea. Ate my Jenny breakfast. Lit a candle in the bathroom and made a bit of a spa morning of it (exfoliated, moisturized my body, etc.). As noon rolled around, I had lunch. Classic Chicken Carbonara. It was soooo good! If that turns out to be the highlight of my day, I'm good with it. I realize I am blogging a lot, and most people are not. This is my way of keeping myself accountable. Time to take an Extra Strength Tylenol. And to remind myself that life happens, but I will do what I can to help those that I can help.

SO here's my newest project. Hopefully when it is done - I weigh 137 & have learned more on maintenance. 10170191_LoveableLacyJumper2-in-Paintbox-Yarns-Downloadable-PDF_2.pdf.pdf

First week into the program and I have lost 6 pounds! I know the rate of weight loss will slow down and that is okay; I have lost weight and gained a few times over the past 10 years. This might be a long story but I am asking that you read this to the end with the hope that it will encourage someone and maybe give me some encouragement also. I have been on Slim-Fast, Nutri-System and Weight Watchers. I am the heaviest now then I have ever been. Day one of Jenny Craig - 188 lbs and 5'2". One week later - 182 lbs. I am almost 41, married for 18 years and have 2 kids. I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. There was quite a bit of traffic tonight on the way home tonight; so that gave me sometime to think. I was trying to figure out how my weight plummetted to 188 lbs. I can't say that my weight started becoming out of control; it was me. My son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4. This was 7 years ago. This was truly a shock for me. I suspected he had ADHD, but never autism. Anyways, I was desperately searching for everything and anything that could help him. I was strained. My marriage was getting strained. It was around this time that I slowly began to gain the weight. I was not taking care of myself. Also, I began to have a glass of wine at night which soon grew into 3 or 4 glasses every night. Well, you know the saying, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months and months turn into years. Not paying attention to my health had brought me to 188 lbs which I was just one week ago. I also need to mention that I started Jenny Craig just 2 days after my mother-in-law passed away of a heart attack. She had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. My parents were so worried about me that they offered to pay for Jenny Craig if I would like to do the program. I accepted their offer. I realized that my time to lose the weight and get healthier was now. I could not put it off anymore. I need to be here for my children for a long time. And so, this is the beginning of my journey...