Countdown to a Better Me!! Weight Loss Help!!!

Well...where to start. I am 33 years old. I am the proud mother of 5 beautiful daughters. 14,11,7,6, and 3. My husband says he has it pretty good, he is always surrounded by beautiful girls:) I was always very athletic and healthy while in my teens. I was never skinny really, but strong and fit. Then, I started having children young and that youthful strong body was gone. 5 kids in about 10 years has taken it's toll.

I know that you can have children and stay fit. But, unfortunately I just didn't. 2011 was the hardest year of my life. My mother died in 2010 and it was quite a blow. She lived with us and was so close to my children and me. After that I feel like I was on auto pilot. At the beginning of 2011 I looked up and didn't like what I saw. I was depressed and was trying to eat my pain away. My marriage was suffering and I had lost the person I used to be.

Have you ever looked up and thought, "How did I get here?" I was 235 pounds and felt hopeless. But, I am thankful that I know the ONE who gives hope to the hopeless. I began to take some serious time to look at my life. Inside and out. I realized that I didn't value myself. I spent all my time trying to "serve" my family and never took any time for myself. I didn't realize that taking time for and loving myself only made me a better mom and wife. So I began the journey to becoming the best me I could be.

I began walking...a lot. As the summer of 2011 got here I was walking 3 or 4 miles a day. I was using that time to think and reflect. I then started to change my eating habits and the weight began coming off slowly. By the time I went back to work in August I was down to 198. I found as I lost weight my stomach actually looked worse. That was a bit disheartening. But I have known for years I wanted to get a TT.

But I have also known that I would have to lose a substanial amount of weight before. Now that I have lost 37 pounds I can see the end in sight. My goal is to be down to 170-175 before my surgery. I had my first consult on Jan. 20. I went really well. I loved my PS. I loved having a woman for my PS. She spent 1.5 hours with me explaining everything, answering all my questions, and I never felt rushed.

Originally I planned to have the surgery around spring break. After thinking about it I felt that was rushing things. I am just sooooo eager!!!!! But, I am going to wait until the end of May. I have summers off, so I will have as much time as I need to recover. My plan is to have a full TT and a breast lift. I have some pretty serious muscle seperation at the top of my stomach and so much lose skin and stretch marks. I have been reading all the stories on here for months. I figured it was time to get on. I am excited, nervous, scared and impatient. The wait seems like forever. I just want to spend every day between now and then becoming as healthy as I possibly can.