My Story

this is my story...


Where to begin. 

As the story goes, I've been overweight ALL my life. I can honestly say that I don't ever remember being in "Onderland". I grew up in a very small town of 1,200 people. Everyone knew everyone's business and no one seemed to want to leave. Fortunately, I was never bullied (too much!) and I grew up with a great group of friends. In high school I was invited to parties, had a lot of friends, and had some great experiences! However, I always felt like I was missing out on something. I was always just the friend and nothing else. I tried losing weight in high school, but never succeeded. I don't remember weighing myself a lot in high school, but I remember at one point weighing over 300lbs!

When it was time for graduation and going to college I knew that I wanted to go somewhere far away. I'm not sure why I wanted to move so far from my family and friends, but something inside of me just knew it was the right thing to do. When it came to choosing schools I decided on one about 10 hours from home. So on Sept 1st, 2005 (my 18th birthday), my parents drove me to my new home where I'd end up staying for the next 3 years. College was THE best 3 years of my life! I studied Graphic Design, lived on res for 2 years, met some amazing people and lost about 60 lbs. 

Second semester of my first year was a turning point. I'm not sure what "clicked", but I decided that I was going to lose weight. I joined a gym and weighed in around 285lb. This particular gym weighed you in weekly (which was awsome!) and helped you with nutrition and exercise. I lost a lot of weight in my first year away. When summer rolled around and it was time to head back to my home town for a visit, I was looking a lot different. It was the first time my parents and friends had seen me since losing the weight. I got SOOO many compliments and was floating on cloud nine. 

When my second year started, everything changed. Guys started to notice me, clothes fit WAY better and I was getting a lot of attention in general. It was great! I spent the next two years partying, going to school and working. By the time graduation rolled around, I was weighing in around 220ish and I felt great. But now it was time to enter the "real world". 

I was hired on as a Graphic Designer at a small company in a big city near Toronto where I didn't know a single soul. So I started online dating. In college I met a lot of guys and had some fun, but I never really "dated". The second guy I met online ended up being my boyfriend for the next 10 months. I fell hard from him and was definitely "blinded by love". Long story short, we met, "fell in love", moved in together, realized he had a drinking problem, everything went to shit and I eventually grew the balls to break up with him. End scene. 

During that 10 months I gained some weight back. The week we broke up, I started a new job and moved out of a toxic environment. I felt like myself again. This was just over 3 years ago. Since then, life has been pretty darn good. I dated, A LOT!! And met my now boyfriend on August 30th 2010. We moved in with each other the following summer and I now weigh 264 lbs. That's right, I've gained all but 20lbs back.. (actually I gained all but 10lbs back, but I've lost some in the past few months).  

So here I am. Pretty much starting over and hoping that you will join me in my journey to Onderland! I think it will be my best trip yet :)

~Bailey


7 comments:

  1. Hi, Bailey! I found you via Minus One Hundred...I stopped on over and now I'm in love with all the great pictures and great graphics--a kindred spirt! I'll enjoy following your journey...keep up the great work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I recognized the name "That Loud Redhead" when I saw that you had commented...I think it was from "Runs for Cookies". I will have to check out your blog :)

      Delete
  2. Hey Bailey,
    I'm so glad to be following your blog! We are sort of on the same page with weight loss. I've gained, lost, gained and now I'm trying to lose again. I've been stuck in a rut the past few weeks but I'm hoping to climb out soon. I have a question... have you always liked running? I was catching up on some of your posts and saw that you run. I have personally always hated running and have never been a runner, but I really have this desire now to start. At my current weight of 275 it is sort of hard to get moving. I go to the gym and use the elliptical, and walk when I can but I want to run a 5k one day. Any advice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Ashley!
      Thanks for following my blog :) I'm still new to it and I'm not that best writer, so it's nice to see people actually reading it.

      My boss started a "learn to run" program 2 summer's ago. It was similar to a Couch to 5k program where you started running 1 minute walking 5min, and so on. At that time, I probably weighed around 250-260 and I did not enjoy it that first year. If my memory serves me right, I don't think I stuck with it very long either. Actually, I suffered from tendentious (caused by flip flops and partially from running)

      The next summer when the running club started again, I decided that I wasn't going to follow the program...instead I just ran continuously until I couldn't anymore. Eventually I could run for longer distance. I found myself somewhat enjoying it and not dreading every "run" day. I stuck with it for the most part, but rarely did I get my third run of the week in, which is important if you actually want to get better. Come September, I stopped.

      This summer, however, I'm determined to follow through and continue to run! I've been diligent about getting 3 runs in per week. I made sure to buy new shoes (which is very important) and I've even worked my way through a groin injury that most likely resulted from poor stretching. I'm actually enjoying it this year :)
      Some tips from a "wanna be runner" would be:
      - make sure to get new shoes. Mine are addidas that I bought from costco, nothing fancy, but it was amazing how much better my joints felts once I got a new pair this year.

      - Ease in to it. I found running for a few minutes straight really hard the first year, but it does get easier!

      - Do what works best for you. Like I said, the Couch to 5k doesnt work for me. I find it VERY difficult to run/walk. My legs get very tired this way and I find after about 5 minutes of running straight you get into this groove. Play around and see what works for you.

      - Stretch!! I learned this the hard way this year. My first day back running I just took off like a bat out of hell and I ended up pulling my groin. It hurt, a lot.. even just going for walks hurt. Apparently it's the hardest injury to heal, so I was lucky that it healed after a few weeks.

      - Listen to music. Not everyone does this, but I personally HAVE to listen to my ipod while running. It's amazing what a good song will do to your pace, energy level and determination. Yesterday I had my best run yet and I think it's because I came across my old playlist :)

      - Run 3x per week (or more if you like). It's really hard to improve otherwise.

      - sign up for a 5k once you get more comfortable with running. This will be my very first 5k and it has definitely given me way more motivation to stick with my 3 runs/week.

      - This isn't a tip, but I personally hate the treadmill and for some reason I actually find it harder than outside.

      I'm sure I'll think of more, but I hope this helps. Just remember that it won't be easy for the first little bit and you likely won't be running fast. I'm still pretty damn slow when I run, but for now I'm just focusing on running 5k and later I'll worry about improving my time. I saw a quote recently that said "no matter how slow you're going, you're still lapping everyone on the couch"... so true!! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

      Delete
  3. Hi, Bailey:

    Your blog is so inspiring, so I'll stick around if you don't mind.

    Here I am, struggling with my weight again. I'll get married in 3 weeks, lost 13 pounds in 2 months and 5 pounds away from my goal.

    I hope you have a great trip to losing weight and thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

    Regards from Chile!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course you can stick around!! :)

      Sounds like you're well on your way to your goal weight and have had some great success.

      Thanks for stopping by :)

      Delete
  4. Found you via Runs For Cookies.
    Im going to become a regular reader now...!
    Iam in the process of making my own blog, & both yu & SlimKatie are my inspirations.
    Xo

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!