November 28, 2012: I haven't been on Sparkpeople all summer. It's good to be back! In May, we had a wonderful family vacation for all ten of us at Disney where we celebrated our twins' 5th birthday. While in Florida, our kitchen remodel began so that we could avoid much of the demolition. We returned home to supervise the last couple of weeks of the install when the unthinkable happened: on June 13, our house caught on fire. The fire started in the wall between the master bath and closet. We ...

November 28, 2012: I haven't been on Sparkpeople all summer. It's good to be back! In May, we had a wonderful family vacation for all ten of us at Disney where we celebrated our twins' 5th birthday. While in Florida, our kitchen remodel began so that we could avoid much of the demolition. We returned home to supervise the last couple of weeks of the install when the unthinkable happened: on June 13, our house caught on fire. The fire started in the wall between the master bath and closet. We lost all of the contents upstairs. We spent 2 weeks in a hotel, 3 months in a rental house, then another 4 weeks in a hotel until our home was restored. Also during these 4 1/2 months, we had 4 weddings (twins were flower girls at one), a funeral, and 3 of our children had birthdays. Obviously, life got in the way of me taking care of me this summer. That, and eating every meal out for 6 weeks, consoling myself with carbs, has put some pounds back on. I'm not discouraged, though. I'm here, re-sparked, and I realize that it's all part of the journey!
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I joined Spark People on January 27, 2010 and reclaimed my life! I have lost 116 pounds by faithfully using the nutrition tracker and exercising. Including my loss through tracking Weight Watchers points on my own before joining Spark, I'm 147 pounds less and in a size 6 in some brands, 8 in others. My skirts and dresses are size 4, mostly 6 and a few 8's. I had been wearing 3x, size 22/ 24. I had no idea that I could be this small after spending 20 years well over 200 pounds! And here I thought I was big boned! LOL

I have learned so much through Spark-- including the importance of goals, the power of choice, and how to fuel my body with a balanced diet of great nutrition (real food) and plenty of protein (I ate so carb-heavy on Weight Watchers) I also learned that exercise is key. I also never gave much credence to the "mind-body connection" prior to this journey. I had no idea that I was missing out on so much during the years that I was resigned to being overweight and depressed!


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From January 1010:
I'm Laura-- and I am really good at losing and gaining weight. Lose forty pounds, gain thirty, have another baby, gain fifteen preg. pounds, lose twenty... and so the cycle continued until I turned forty and realized that I need to snap out of the lose/gain cycle NOW. I know that God has not created me to be like this, and I am so DONE putting myself last on my list. It is not at all selfish to want to live to go to ALL of my children's 40th birthday parties :)

My husband and I are in our 21st year of wedded bliss. We have eight children. What blessings!

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