A little about me:
I'm Selena. I'm in my late 20's and my life is pretty sweet right now. I've been married to my husband for 6 years. He's the love of my life. We have two boys, Ben and Andrew. And we have the family dog, Shania. We live in the suburbs of Chicago and just try to enjoy our time together.
My family loves baseball and football and we are avid Chicago White Sox and Bears fans. I am also a big Indianapolis Colts fan, but I'm the only one. We like to watch the games together.
As a child, I always thought I was heavy. Looking back, I probably wasn't much heavier than the average kid. When I got to my teen years, I lost weight but still weighed more than most of the popular girls at school. I've always had curves. Looking back on my days of 135-140 lbs, I realize I was very healthy, just curvy. I'm Mexican. We Latinas have hips and boobs and we shouldn't apologize for them. But at the time I thought I was huge. The smallest size I could get my rice and bean fed hips in was an 8. I'd kill to be an 8 now. When I went to college, I stayed at home and worked and took classes. At some point, I decided it would be a good idea to carry a full course load, a full time job and a part time job. When I had time to eat, it was mostly fast food. And when it wasn't, it was home cooking from my Mom. My Mom also had a weight problem and my Dad still has one. I grew up with two older brothers and an older sister and the motto at the table was "It's the quick and the hungry" and we were all members of the "Clean Plate Club." That meant I ate fast and I ate too much. That led to an expansion of my waistline.
I was probably a size 10 when I met my husband. I was also all of 17. We were friends for over a year before we started dating. I knew I was going to marry him and I was really happy for the first time in a relationship. The happier I got, the more I ate. Bill, my husband, had bad eating habits and most of our dates involved dinner or lunch. We gained weight together and were both heavier than we wanted to be when we got married. Fat but happy.
I had joined Weight Watchers several times over that time period. I'd lose about 25 pounds and then would go back to my ways. I joined and did really well and then I got pregnant with my son. Everything went out the window and I had him. Then I told myself I didn't need meetings and I could do it myself. I know a lot of people who can do this with success. I'm not one of them. I grew up to a size 22. Then I woke up and joined Weight Watchers for what I said would be the final time. I was doing well. I had lost 48.2 pounds. Then I got pregnant with number 2. I didn't follow the points program while pregnant although I was much more aware of what I was putting in my mouth. Still, I gained 50 lbs! I ended up giving birth at the same exact weight as I did with my first pregnancy. I wonder if that's genetics playing. My second son, Andrew, was born January 2008. So, it's back to Weight Watchers for me.
I'm doing this for more reasons than I want to be the hot mom or fit in certain jeans. I am doing this because there are a lot of problems that are health related in my family and being overweight or obese makes my chances of developing these problems more likely. I don't want diabetes, cholesterol problems or high blood pressure. But if I'm not careful and I don't take care of my body, that's exactly what I'll end up with. I also don't want my kids to deal with these problems. The best defense is a good offense. I'm hoping they will learn to be healthy young and retain those habits for life.