My name is Melissa. I am the proud mother of 4 active boys, and the wife of the best husband in the world. I'm also a NASM Certified Personal Trainer.
My story begins like many others, I'm sure. I started gaining weight as a teenager. Married life and 4 pregnancies helped the weight pile on. In January of 2008 I weighed in at 255 lbs. I weighed almost as much as I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my 4th son, and that was a huge wake up call. I lost 15 lbs over the next few months, but eventually quit trying. I maintained a weight of 240 lbs for the rest of 2008. In January of 2009 my workplace was having a "biggest loser" competition, so I signed up hoping that it would help keep me motivated. After a few weeks I decided to get more serious about weight loss so I joined Weight Watchers on February 4, 2009 (for the 5th or 6th time).
The first time I had joined Weight Watchers (in 2001) I successfully lost 62 lbs. I then got pregnant with my 3rd son, and gained all of it back (plus some). So, I knew that I could lose weight with the program, but I didn't know if I could keep it off. I knew that I was going to have to do more than lose the weight this time. I was going to have to make true and lasting changes.
I began exercising a few months into my journey. Exercise was something that I had always avoided if possible. I am asthmatic, and I used that as an excuse for many, many years. I didn't like it, but I knew that exercise as a must. Not only would it help the weight come off, but hopefully it would help it stay off! I tried to find exercises/activities that I didn't totally despise, and before within a couple of months I realized that I no longer hated working out. I liked the way it made me feel afterwards, and I liked what it was doing to my body. Before long I realized that I not only liked exercising, but that it was quickly becoming a passion of mine. That is when the "personal trainer" bug bit, but it took several months for me to get up the courage to do anything about it.
Along with Weight Watchers and exercising there was a lot of soul searching that I had to do on this journey. I had to figure out why I let myself get to 255 pounds in the first place before I could keep myself from going back there! I've learned a lot about myself during this time, but I think the most important one is that I AM WORTH IT! Somewhere along the way I had lost sight of the fact that I am just as important as all of the people and things that I had always put first (and moreso than some). I had to quit lying to myself and letting myself down.
Even though I am now done losing weight, I know that my journey is not over. Not only do I still have things to work on and learn about myself, but I'm looking forward to helping others be successful on their own journey.
