Why hello there!!!! I'mmmmmmm baaacccckkkkk!!! And more thrilled than ever!!! Are you as excited as I am?? Ok, truth be told, probably not, but I am hoping that through this blog I can help get YOU as excited as I am. So as some of you might know, I was blogging with my sister, then life, and a big move, and a little baby kinda made it difficult... so here I am again.
Let's do a lil' back story for those of you who are new, then I'll get into what my goals are with this blog.
So my name is Tassja, pronounced Tasha, and I am currently the big 3-0... well, and, since I already brought it up.... I'm big. Or pleasantly plump, or hefty, or round, or fluffy, or curvy.... call it what you will, I'm over-weight. Fortunately and unfortunately, I haven't always been this way. Hell, in high school I weighed in at a whopping 120 pounds. And I thought I was fat. I WISH I had the "fat" problems I thought I had back then. Unfortunately because of my morbid view of my body back then, I did some terrible things to myself. I popped diet pills like they were candy, I joined every running sport I could find short of soccer, I did an obscene amount of crunches every night, I ran some more, then I purged. And then I purged again. And again. And again. Yup, my thin body was maintained by a sick obsession with bulimia. I didn't want to do it, i HAD to do it. My worst fear was, well, getting fat. That's karma kicking me in the ass, isn't it? Well, the thin parade began to march into the whole foods store when I was about 19. I met my now husband and saw how much he loved me, for me, which helped me stop the bulimia (with some counseling). I was on my way to being healthy, or so I thought. +15 pounds. We went on in marital bliss... wait, that's not right, we went on, in sometimes marital bliss, and sometimes listening to stupid friends, and eventually decided to call it quits when I was 24. We took a 10 month break and ended up back together. The stress, the emotional drag and the overall just hell of the entire thing allowed some weight to sneak up on me again. +20 pounds. So we went on, partying it up. Vegas, bbq's, local bars. +another 20. Yippie.
So we went on, doing our thing, and secretly were entertaining the idea of maybe havin' babies. We tried for 2 years, all with the doctors telling me nothing was wrong. Though I was trying desperately to lose weight to be healthy in case we did get pregnant, I was taking 21 units in college and the stress of NOT getting prego took its toll on me. +15. Shortly after graduating, and just over 2 years after we started trying to get pregnant, we were. I was thrilled, my hubby was terrified. At the beginning of my pregnancy I weighed in at a whopping 196. Holy shit. When the hell did THAT happen. Regardless, I went through my pregnancy with the goal and strict guidelines of being healthy. It wasn't just for me anymore, now I had this little Lima bean that I had to protect. So I did. I cut out fast food. I started drinking more water. Cut out all soda, most processed foods and all caffeine. I was kicking ass in the mommy department and "it" wasn't even here yet. :) I had only gained an amazing 6 pounds in the first 16 weeks. I was the almighty prego woman. And I was doin it right. A few weeks later I found out that I had gestational diabetes... crappy, but no biggie. I changed my diet, went on a pill and went along my way. At 20 weeks I was only up another 6-7 pounds. SCORE. I would be the prego woman all others would follow, people would call for advice, ask for a hug. I. Was. The. Shit. Then being pregnant hit me. I went into pre-term labor. After a scary stint in the hospital they threw a bomb shell at me... I was also teetering on the edge of preclampsia. To get through this quickly, preclampsia is hell in a hand grenade. From week 20.5 to week 34.5 (my daughter decided to come a bit early) I gained a staggering 75 pounds. Want to cry for me? Go ahead. I'll wait.
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Good? Good. Yeah. You read that right. Fun stuff. So my daughter, Braelynn, came out without any major issues, and we got to go home 3 days after she was born. I was on a kick to get fit. I was ready to get into shape. I got released from my OB and started walking with the dog and Brae in tow. I was doing good. My facankles (fatter than canckle ankles) started to deflate, my tummy started to go down. I was excited. I was doing great. I was still fat, but I was doing something about it. So then my sister and I decided to do a blog and start the P90X workouts. We we're kicking ass. We were on fire. We were going to be skinny. We.... got busy. My daughter needed more attention, we opted out of renewing our lease and needed to find a new place... and move. My sis got busier than ever with her baking company. Life got in the way. SO I didn't really gain weight, but i surely wasn't losing it. We moved. I got lonely. If you don't know this, take note, being a mommy is the most rewarding job you will ever do, but it is lonely. I was getting depressed. I stopped walking.... I started eating. Not good.
So as fate would have it, I was telling my husband (ok, nagging would be more accurate) that I needed a place where I could go meet with other moms, and get a workout, and brae could play with other babies. This conversation happened on the way to the Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, Ca. We got there, did our thing and eventually entered Brae in a last minute baby contest. The lady that was in front of me told me about a moms fitness group she did called Stroller Strides. Over the next week I contemplated it, then eventually tried the free week, and on the first day I signed up. Now, I am NOT a paid endorser of Stroller Strides, I am just a participant, but I can tell you that in the last 6 weeks I have busted my ass and lost 12 pounds. It works if you let it.
So that leads us to the here and now. 12 pounds down leaves me at a staggering... ready for it? 267.4. Yupppp. A boat load. So, there it is. In black and white..... bold lettering. But, I am doing something about it. I am eating better, exercising everyday for a minimum of 2 hours, and on Saturday night I am starting an 8 week CORE Challenge, starting with a cleanse. Well, for now I have to go, but I am SOOOO excited to back and even more excited to share my weight loss journey with all of you.
