First, I would like to thank everyone for the support that I have received in only a week on this site. Secondly I want to wish you all the best! I believe that everyone deserves to have as positive experience with much love and support, especially as we all make this journey together. We may be at different points in our journey, but we all share a singular goal. That all being said, my name is Samantha, I have been married to my wonderful husband for almost 11 years. We have 3 beautiful children that keep us on our toes. I am don't currently work, I chose for my kids to go out of our zone to school and therefore am required to spend 2 hours in car lines everyday. I am trying desperately to get into a nursing program and have been for the past year but every school in this area has a long wait list or messed up point systems an I slide in under the cut off because of my mispent youth aka my first semester of college (14 years ago).
I was never a heavy child or teen. I may have had an extra 5 pounds on me at anytime until I hit 19. I married the man I shouldn't have because I was told I needed to. I have always been overly eager to please my parents. I was pregnant and entirely too young to deal with the choices I was making. The baby was premature, she lived not quite 6 weeks and the marriage died with her. This was the first time I started really eating when I was depressed, but I only gained 15 pounds. I stayed this way until I met my wonderful husband. I was a little older and had learned to cook somewhere along the way. Truth be told, it was a old man who was my neighbor that taught me how to cook. I enjoy cooking, it relaxes me in the way that gardening or other hobbie do for other people. I had 3 high risk pregnancies and 3 beautiful healthy happy kids in less than 4 years. With these kids came bedrest and special diets. I did always seem to lose a chunk weight after I had them though. The last baby, my mini-me, I had gestational diabetes and bedrest, I actually gained more weight after I had her than I did when I was pregnant...only me lol! I had a few other surgeries for miscelaneous issues and with each one I seemed to put on 10 pounds. I was put on adipex and lost about 50 pounds in a few months. I maintained until I had a hysterectomy later that year. I put all of the weight and then 10 pounds more on. Tried everything since to lose it and have been at a stand still. I am pre-diabetic, pre-hypertensive and a hormonal train wreck. I got sleeved on October 30, 2012 and it was by far the best thing I have done for myself. EVER.
I want to be able to keep up with my kids and enjoy their childhood with them, not watch from the sideline. I want to be able to be healthy and set a good example for my kids most of all. As I said earlier, I love to cook and I mean I can cook almost anything. I am almost always the place to go for the holidays because we always have a good spread! I have also perfected a moist and flavorful turkey, which is something my mother has never done...think National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Yup, thats her turkey. The big thing for me now, is to learn ways to cut the calories from some of the food my family eats while still having the kids actually eat. It is a work in progress, I sneak healthy stuff in every chance I get! So now to the end of my long winded speal, I am a mom, wife, cook, and soon to be fabulous again! Thanks for making it this far!!! God bless and I look forward to sharing this incredible journey with you all!