Name: Kellie
Age: 31
Live: Live in Grand Rapids, MI with my Hubby Chris.
Places where I lived: I lived in Ferndale / Oak Park, MI until the age of 11 then moved to St. Clair, MI for 6 months then moved to Marine City, MI (China Township) until the age of 18, then moved to Mt. Pleasant, MI for 5 years to attend undergrad, then moved to Louisville, KY for grad school and lived in the summer in London, KY where I spent 2 years, then I moved to my apartment, moved to a rental house, and bought a HUD home.
Partner Status: Presently in a blissful wedded relationship with Chris, 34 who works as a rep at an insurance rep..
Family: My sister Carrie, 29, who is married to Dennis, 32, live in MI and my beloved parents Ken, 72, and Betty, 56, who live in part time in London, KY and Lake County, MI.
Hobbies: Camping, hiking, backpacking, geocaching, home remodeling, and becoming a reformed pack rat. Goal to maintain debt free living.
Career: Homebased Family Therapist at a rural Community Mental Health. Specialization in working with teenage girls who struggle with depression, anxiety, borderline features, and other disorders.
Degrees: MSSW (Master of Science Social Work) from the University of Louisville. BS (Bachelor of Science) from Central Michigan University where I had a double major in Sociology and Family Studies with a Substance Abuse minor. I changed my major 5 times. I stuck to social work because it was basically the only classes where I excelled.
Weightloss History and Current Program: I started to diet when I was in the fifth grade after my house had burned down. I attended TOPS. I was way too young for this program. Looking back, I think that tragedy caused me to turn to food. So I dieted off and on in high school. I remember doing the Rotation Diet in high school where my calorie intake was 600-900-1200 calories, which rotated. The highest weight in high school I ever was 150. I left for college at a weight of 145; I graduate under grad at a weight of 245. So basically I gained about 100 pounds. The weight problem started to arise a little my freshman year but my junior year, it went out of control where I went from 172 to 225 in 6 months. Eventually, my weight rose to 245 my senior year, I dabbled in diet drugs at this time but I stopped after getting too nervous. During my first year in Louisville, I tried the ATKINS Program but after taking his recommended Ephedra Based diet VITAMINS, I landed in the ER. I then vowed never to take another diet drug. As a result of this incidence, I had severe panic attacks for 2 years. My sister talked me into getting on the WW Program in May of 99. I went from 237 to 190 in 10 months. After graduation, I moved back to Michigan and slowly regained some of the weight until I hit 226.5. In late 2001, I decided that something needed to change, so I vowed to return to WW in January of 2002. I’ve been on the program since January 5th of 2002 and as a result, have lost an average of a pound a week. I’ve also been working out at CURVES for Women since March of 2001. I think the combination of both have helped me in this journey.
My thoughts on losing weight: It is a totally behavior modification program that you must engage yourself in, in order to lose the weight. Not only do you have to change your eating patterns but you also have to also change your thought patterns psychologically and battle your dependence on unhealthy eating. I think weightloss is 90% mental and if you are in the right mental stage, you will lose.
Good luck on your own journey!
Kellie