Weight loss before and after pregnancy...a confessional

Before becoming pregnant I decided I needed to lose weight. I was not happy with myself. I hated how I looked. I hated the fact that in all my sibling's wedding pictures I was the overweight sister. It had to change. I have a daughter and and now 3 sons and I wanted - no - needed to get healthy for me and for them and for my dearest husband. I needed to lose about 50 pounds and it needed to stay gone. I was introduced to Sparkpeople by my cousin, who had also been on her own weight loss journey. This is a free diet and healthy lifestyle website, and it changed my life. I got on and explored the website. I entered my information and according to their BMI calculator I was on the edge of being obese. I didn't feel obese...just a bit overweight. So I decided it was time to get serious. I decided it would be easier to make my own menu's rather than try and follow theirs. I entered everything I ate. I exercised everyday and logged it. I made friends on my "Spark Team". And about 10 weeks into my new adventure I discovered I was about 8 weeks pregnant! I had been on the mini-pill for birth control and my cycles were a little off. So I didn't realize that I was pregnant! I was a bit devastated. I had already lost about 20 pounds and wanted to continue. I continued to watch what I ate and exercised when I found the energy. I ended up losing about 27 pounds before I started to gain baby weight. In the end I gained about 15 pounds above my pre-weight loss weight. The day after I gave birth (to a 10 pound 2 ounce boy) I was back to my pre-weight loss weight. By week one I was down another 15 or so. I told myself I would get 6 weeks to get back into the swing of things as far as eating lite and healthy. Well, 6 weeks came and went and I didn't get into the swing of things. In fact it was almost as if my mind and body were rebelling against the very idea. Needless to say I have gained back the weight that was lost. I need to get started again... keep me accountable. Please check up on me. Make sure that I am sticking with it. Weight loss after pregnancy has never been easy for me, as I am sure it is not easy for anyone. But we can do it! We can win this race! WE ARE WOMAN - HEAR US ROAR!!!