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I have been overweight 3x in my life.

It began when I was a stressed out 7 yr old and part of the first generation of 70's latch-key kids who came home to an empty house after school. This allowed me to eat whatever I could find until mom came home. Cartoons, Gilligan's Island and Star Trek while munching on cookies, peanut butter, cheese slices, ice cream, chips, white bread, pickles, sugary

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I have been overweight 3x in my life.

It began when I was a stressed out 7 yr old and part of the first generation of 70's latch-key kids who came home to an empty house after school. This allowed me to eat whatever I could find until mom came home. Cartoons, Gilligan's Island and Star Trek while munching on cookies, peanut butter, cheese slices, ice cream, chips, white bread, pickles, sugary drinks and candy...the usual pre-dinner fare.

By the time 3rd grade rolled around I was 85 lbs and deemed one of the fat kids, wearing a training bra, donning fresh stretch marks and called names like...elephant...the "heavy" girl.

I was one of those painfully shy kids who cried easily and didn't like activities and would rather watch than participate in games, relay and dancing. When I did play I tired easily and didn't like anyone seeing me that way.

It wasn't until I was 11 yrs old that I began to lose the "baby fat" as I grew taller and moved to the country side of Oahu and attended a different school after my parents divorced. More walking was required and there was more room to roam...but I did tinker with anorexia as well. I basked in the euphoric high whenever my hip bones stuck out and...I was starving. I thought that if I could be 5'5" and 90 lbs everything would be great! I had secret dreams of becoming a model...maybe.

So now I was thin throughout my teen years!

However, one month after graduating high school in 1980 at the age of 17, I became pregnant for my son Robby. I was able to hide my pregnancy for 5 months until I had no choice but to tell everyone. Once my pregnancy was out in the open I ate like there was no tomorrow. Wasn't I supposed to be eating for two?

By the time my son was born in April 1981, my weight had sky-rocketed from 110 lbs to 162 lbs in just 4 months...I was 18 yrs old. I started having those "fat kid" feelings again. Slow, lethargic with my self-esteem plummeting ever so quickly as a teen mother.

When my son was old enough to be alone in his play pen, I started to work-out to a TV program called "Morning Stretch" with Joanie Greggains for 30 minutes Mon thru Fri. I also went back to the and and off anorexia and within one year I lost the 52 lbs.

I finally realized my dream of modeling when I was 24 yrs old and was thin for a while. However, I never exercised on a regular or consistent basis and by the time I was in my early 30's I noticed that the weight started creeping up so I spent a lot of money on short-cuts like fad diets, "magic" pills, body wraps & creams, patches, potions...whatever came my way and, of course, the weight kept coming slowly but surely.

I was now 38 yrs old and 134 lbs when I became pregnant for my daughter Victoria. This time I tried to eat smarter and do more exercises during pregnancy but, again, was not consistent. Victoria was born in December 2001 and I was 39 yrs old, 165 lbs and battling post-partum depression with thoughts of suicide and harming my baby. Things were not good.

I immediately recognized that I needed help so when Victoria was 2 months old I went to a psychiatrist who specialized in women's medicine. I began taking anti-depressants which helped but now the extra 30 lbs was literally weighing me down. My daughter, unlike my son, did not sleep through the night and was very, very active. I felt like I was always dragging myself around just trying to get through the day.

At 41 yrs old my doctor recommended that I have my C-reactive protein levels check during my physical exam. The results showed that my levels were high and I was a candidate for a heart attack! I was tested on the treadmill and did EKG's...the bottom line was...I had to lose weight.

I thought, "Not again." Just getting started was an uphill battle again. I began to walk 15 minutes 3x per day increasing to 30 minutes then added a little jogging which winded me tremendously! I was not consistent...again...feeling like a failure over and over again.

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