My One Year Anniversary

November 8, 2008 I decided to do something about my obesity. I decided I could no longer do it on my own. I needed help and I needed to stop making excuses and just get my butt in gear and get healthy once and for all. I had watched my mom become overweight and watched her die young at the age of 53. She was overweight when she got sick and still overweight when she died.

You would think that would have been my wake up call. That would be what would have done it. My mom made me promise, on her death bed, that I would do something about my weight. She made me promise that I would not die young like she did. She begged me to get healthy, so that I would not face the same fate that she did. Well, this coming Christmas 2009 will mark 13 years since my mom's passing.

I have yo-yoed up and down year after year. I have had kids. I have gone to a fitness camp and I have been on Weight Watchers since 2003. Nothing worked because mentally I was not dealing with the WHY's of why I eat. Over the last 13 years I have gained 100 pounds if not more. At my highest I was 306 pounds. 306. That was a depressing day for me at Weight Watchers to step on that scale and see that I had reached over 300 pounds. If you would have asked me years ago if that would ever happen I would have told you NO WAY, but it has, it has.

I wish I could remember what it was that made it all clear to me on November 8, 2008, but something clicked with me. This was it I had to get healthy. The rate I was going I was on my way to the same fate as my Mom, an early death. Maybe it had something to do with not being able to do any triathlons due to a leg injury, maybe it had something to do with being tired all the time, maybe God knew I was ready to deal with it all. Whatever, the reason I made the decision to hire a coach and get going.

November 8, 2008 was a scary day for me.I was starting my journey at 297.5 pounds. I had lost 8 pounds the couple weeks before starting with my coach. Walking into that Work out studio was horrible, talking to my new coach Matt, was horrible. I just remember him saying the first few times we met, "That's an excuse, what's the real reason." "Knock off the excuses and tell me the truth." "You are so full of excuses." It was the first time that I realized in my whole life just how easy it had become to make excuses for my bad habits. I was able to justify everything and have an excuse for everything. It was a real turning point for me. I was no longer making excuses I was doing. I was being truthful with myself for the first time and I tell you the truth hurt, but as the old saying goes, The truth will set you free. I was on my way. The first few months were still very hard, but I was able to work through them and really start to be on my way.

I started my journey with my coach Matt, but as time went on and some things changed in my life, I changed coaches. Now I have a coach named Bob. I started meeting with him on August 8, 2009. Before meeting with Bob I was doing really well with my weight loss. I was starting to see major losses at the weight watchers scale. Before I knew it was up to 40 pounds lost, and on my way to 50 pounds lost. I was realizing that I was doing it and wanted it to be for real this time and not like before. I had lost 40 pounds before, but I had also gained it back and then some. What was going to make this time different? How would I do it for real? I had to face some pretty tough things in my life. What was different this time is that I was ready to face the mental aspects of my weight loss journey, which I was never ready to do. I needed to know WHY I gained over 100 pounds. Why did I turn to food when I was down? Why was food my comfort? This past summer I started exploring those questions. What I realized through all of this soul searching is that the main issue, among many, was my Mom's death. It has been almost 13 years and I hadn't dealt with her death. I got really good at telling people that I was ok and shoving it down. I got really good at looking good on the outside, but dying on the inside.

I have since started counseling. The first day I met with my counselor he said, "In a nutshell tell me why you are here? Why do you need counseling?" Here is what my answer was, "I REFUSE to ever be 306 pounds AGAIN!" We are now working on the issues that caused me to gain weight, so I will never be that way again and although the process hurts I am the happiest I have been in a long time and I can say that I will NEVER be that 306 pound person again.

November 8, 2009 was my 1 year anniversary of starting my weight loss journey for the last time. I am happy to say that in that time I have lost 63.6 pounds. I have gained great strides in my mental journey and the most exciting part of it all is I am able to help people get going on their journeys. I couldn't ask for anything else. I am getting healthy, I am happy, I am looking forward to what lies ahead. Whatever it is I know that I can do it. I'm realistic I know there will be tough days, I may turn to food in a tough time, I may not choose to get out of bed and get to the pool before the sun rises, but I will overcome those days and little by little there will be fewer and fewer of them. November 8, 2009 also is the one year anniversary of not missing a weigh in at Weight Watchers, so between my coaches, my weight watchers, and my getting counseling this is all coming together and I am very happy.

I am a new person and I am a new athlete and everything and I'm loving every minute of my journey. Those of you who know me are probably sick of me always talking about Ironman and about my Ironman in 2012, but maybe now you can understand my excitement a little better. Ironman Wisconsin 2012 will signify so much more to me than just doing a hard race. It will signify all that I have overcome both mentally and physically to get to the starting line and when I cross that finish line and hear them say, "MELISSA BLACK YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" it will signify all that I have become in life and all that I can and will be able to do. It is much more than just a race, it is my life.

Two AWESOME phone calls

Yesterday I got to talk to two amazing people on the phone.

As I mentioned in my last post about Ironman Wisconsin I met an amazing man named Michael Hennessy. IMWI was his 13th Ironman this year as he is going towards a goal of beating the Guiness World Record of 14 in a year. He is set to do number 14 this weekend in Oklahoma.

He is racing to raise awareness for kids with Trisomy 13 and 18. I have joined his cause and yesterday we got to talk on the phone for the first time. I am very excited to see where this goes. I will be TRI-ing for TRI-somy to give a voice to these children who do not have one.

I have been reading so much about Trisomy since meeting him. A lot of these children are diagnosed in Utero. Most of the time parents are encouraged to abort them. They are told that their child, this precious gift from God, is incompatible with life. Who are we to say who is or is not compatible with life? Trisomy 21 is Down Syndrome and what I learned from Michael yesterday is that ony 10% of babies in Utero diagnosed with Down Syndrome, make it. The other 90% are aborted. I know that some of you will comment to me that it is the parents choice, but parents need to be given more choices than just abortion. These are precious gifts from God. Maybe their wrapping paper is a little different, but they are wrapped in His love and parents need to be aware of all their choices and that is why I am joing TEAM TRISOMY.

I challange you to look up Trisomy 13 and 18 on YOUTUBE. Look at these precious children and their families. Most of them have been told "you're child won't live long, so why do you want to try?" I had a sister that lived only 5 days. She did not have Trisomy, but as hard as it was, I loved seeing her. We have pictures of her and she touched our lives in such a beautiful way. Her name is Blessing and she truly blessed our lives no matter how short our time was with her. Don't these parents have the same right? A mom said in one of the Trisomy stories I was reading, "My baby is not just a syndrome. This is my baby. They deserve a chance at life." I know these parents probably wonder why their child, but God does not make mistakes and each of these babies are precious.

Most of these babies do not live to see their first birthday, but as I am searching on the Internet and finding stories I'm seeing that some kids are living to be 8, 12, 18 (check out bubbaforpresident.org) and even 32. These children have been a blessing to their families and everyone they come in contact with. Let's raise awareness for these kids and for their families so they know they are not alone and that we see their children as a gift to us and that they ARE compatible with life.

Stay tuned for more ways you can help. In the mean time check out this video of a little boy named Eliott who had Trisomy 18. Get the kleenix!:



Also, I had another aweomse phone call yesterday. I got to talk to Caroline Schnog who as I put in my last post was the last person to cross the finish line. I looked her up on the Internet and called her to tell her I had a picture of me putting on her medal. We had a great conversation and am so excited that I talked to her. She has lost about 120 pounds on her journey to doing an Ironman. We talked for awhile and I know that I must made a new friend for life. She even said to let her know when I do my 1/2 Ironman and maybe she'll come and do it with me.

Also, I have HUGE news. I wasn't going to say this yet, but I have decided to do an IRONMAN. After volunteering, meeting Michael, talking to my hubby, and talking to Caroline I have decided to do it. My 1/2 Ironman will be in 2011, so I am thinking of doing my IRONMAN in 2013. We'll see. I have a lot to overcome, but with God all things are possible. I cannot wait to see how God uses my journey to help others.

Stay Tuned.

Bike the Drive 2008

I did Bike The Drive again today. This is my third year. This is where they close down Lake Shore Drive and open it to bikers for 5 hours. It is right on the Lake Front and it is fun. I biked 33 miles , which was the total ride including biking to and from the train. There will be more to come (including video inspired by Bold's biking video), but I'm tired, I'm hurting (I'll tell that story later) and I have homework. UGH!!

Later my friends.

WW UPDATE and STARBUCKS UPDATE and PICKED MY 1/2 IRONMAN

Starting Weight: 306.2
This week's Weightloss: 1.2
Total Weightloss: 11.8 pounds total
Current Weight: 294.4

I am on my way!!

Well, today was my one month anniversary or studying at the same Starbucks. I love my Saturday evening crew. Tonight there was someone new that I hadn't met before. Ryanon (pronounced Reeannin. She is named after a Fleetwood Mac song) is a mom of a 5 year old little girl and a 1 year old little boy. She goes to curves and is working on getting healthy too. She really is a cool person to know and I cannot wait to get to know her better.

Regina is great too. She makes me laugh all the time. Tyler has the coolest Mom Tattoo that I have ever seen. Adam is one of a set of triplets. He is always wondering how I am doing and asks about my homework and remembers that I am watching what I eat and drink, so he tries to advise me on what drinks are more healthy (if you can even say that about Starbucks) and hooks me up and I'm starting to get to know Jeremy too. He also helps me pick out what to drink.

Tonight they were more than generous. They gave me a free drink of the mint chocolate chip frappacino. They gave me the smallest size and I couldn't even drink half if it, it was so sweet. Ryanon said she didn't like it, but I tried it anyway and I didn't like it either, but I will say it sure beats the Green Tea drink that Regina had me try a couple weeks ago. BLAH!! They also gave me some pastries that they were going to throw out. I took them home for the kids and Keith. They will be having scones for breakfast.

If you ever want free food from Starbucks be there on Saturday nights at closing.

Here is a poem that I wrote a long time ago about my favorite Starbucks drink evah!! They do not make it anymore, so I have to have a Raspberry flavored one instead of Blackberry. It is good, but not as good. :-( I miss you BBGT Frap.

BBGT Frap by Melissa Black

I learned about a product at Starbucks the other day.
It's called a Blackberry Green Tea Frappicino they say.

I ordered a Venti not realizing it was bigger than a Grande.
I walked out the door, drink in hand it was early Monday.

I got in my car and headed to work,
took a sip of my drink and my taste buds went berserk.

I couldn't believe this light green creation.
It was the beginning of a taste bud sensation.

I knew this was love at first taste,
so I savored every sip, I didn't drink it in haste.

I knew that something had just begun.
It was a love affair with this flavor upon my tongue.

BBGT Frap is what I nicknamed my new favorite drink.
"When's my next trip to Starbucks?" is now what I think.

I'd go everyday if I could,
but I'm trying to lose weight, so that's no good.

So, once a week is where I'm at, "
I'll see you next week my dear, sweet BBGT Frap."

I think that it is funny that my post is called WW UPDATE and STARBUCKS. I am working hard all week and allowing my treat to be Saturday at Starbucks. It's working for me. :-) I know by the sounds of this post you are all probably wondering if I ever get any work done. I do. Tonight I was there for about 5 1/2 hours and I wrote 6 essays ranging from 2-5 paragraphs each. I also read about 20-30 pages for another assignment.

I'm enjoying my recent weightloss accomplishments and my schooling. I am on a roll and cannot wait so see what's next.

May 25th I am doing a 30 mile bike ride called BIKE THE DRIVE. This will be my third year doing it and I cannot wait.

I decided that I am going to do the Cutting Edge 1/2 Ironman in Effingham, Illinois June of 2011. Go Me!! I'm scared to death, but totally pumped!! I was talking to my bestbud of 23 years about this and she might actually do it with me. We picked this one cause we like the name of the town and it is the only one in Illinois that I can find.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Count your blessings!!