WEIGHT LOSS STORY

Karen Blackburn

Before

Karen Blackburn

After

Karen After

NEVER GIVE UP

I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Most of my family are obese and have a long list of medical problems because of it. So as you can imagine I was not taught how to eat properly and to make exercise a part of my daily routine. The television was the biggest part of my daily routine. I managed to maintain a decent weight of about 155 -160 throughout high school. When I started working at Blue Cross, that’s when the trouble really started. I’d have cheese grits and bacon and eggs with a Pepsi almost every morning for breakfast. I’d make regular trips to the vending machines for whatever sugar loaded treat I craved at the moment and yet another Pepsi. Before long I had gained about 15 pounds and gone up a pants size. Sittin on your butt all day eating crap will do that to you, who knew. When I met my first husband and we got engaged, I had gone on a very strict diet and walked every day. I lost a lot of weight and looked great for my wedding but when I went on my honeymoon, I had to end up buying some clothes because my clothes were starting to get too tight. I was never given the tools to learn how to maintain that weight so when I had reached my goal, I just went right back to my regular eating habits. I gained back all the weight I had lost and then some. Well then, as you can guess, I got pregnant. I finally had an excuse to eat whatever I wanted and no one was gonna say crap to me about it! I mean who dares tell a pregnant woman she can’t have something. My mom, Mema, and even my dad would bake me whatever goodie I was craving. This was all well and good until after the baby was born and I got on the scale. Let’s just say the number brought tears to my eyes. Before I could even begin to really lose weight from baby one, I got pregnant with baby number two. As you may have guessed I had the same eating habits as my first pregnancy. During my second pregnancy, I started having problems in my marriage and food became my comfort. After my second child was born I started getting depressed and was eating more and more. I finally, in an attempt to keep my husbands attention, went on a fad diet and lost a considerable about of weight. Everyone noticed except for the one person I wanted to notice. Since he didn’t seem to care, I just gave up. My husband and I were trying to work on our marriage and things were going well and next thing I know here’s baby number three. All the weight came back and my marriage began to crumble even more. My husband and I finally separated. My eating had gotten so bad that I could not leave the store without buying 2 candy bars and a Pepsi and they would be eaten before I even got home. I hated myself for being like this but I didn’t see a way out. This was all I knew. I finally went to the doctor and he put me on some pills and I’d lost about 40-50 pounds and I felt great. I was working out some but it was mostly cardio. I didn’t really know much about weights. Then I met my second husband. When he moved in, my weight started going back up. He loved to eat and loved for me to eat with him. He had a great metabolism and wouldn’t gain anything whereas I had gained back all the weight I had lost. By the time we were married I was up to 225 pounds. He loved me anyway so I wasn’t too stressed about it. Then on September 18, 2010, he passed away at the young age of 37. Once I got past the initial shock and grieving, I started to think about my own life. I was only a few years younger than my husband and I had a family history of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer from both sides. Being obese only doubled my risks. I didn’t want to leave my kids behind. I had to do something now, but what? I’d done every diet before and taken every pill and it never seemed to stick. So I thought about it more and realized that not only had I been doing it wrong but for all the wrong reasons. This time was going to be different. I wasn’t going to do it for a man, or for cute clothes, or even for my kids. This time I was going to do it so I could live! So right after Christmas, I walked in my local gym and signed up. I even got a trainer to make sure that I was doing everything right and to have someone to be accountable to. It wasn’t enough though. I wanted something more and something that I could get my kids involved with. I remembered that my sister-in-law and her two boys took karate and their Sensei was a friend of mine on Facebook, so I messaged him and set up a time to meet. I was a little intimidated at first, not because of Sensei, although he is a little scary looking, but because I was not sure how well I would do with this. I was quite heavy and felt very awkward but I was determined to give this a shot. When I first decided to join the Dojo, I was only planning on learning karate then I saw they had a fitness class so I went ahead and joined that too. I mean, I could use all the help I could get. I had already joined a gym but I figured this would be that extra something that would challenge me and really help me get the weight off and keep it off. I even signed up for personal training with Sensei, not real sure what I was thinking on that one. However, this was one of the best decisions I’d made. When we would work out, he would yell at me and curse at me and kept telling me to never give up. Never give up! I’ve heard this phrase before, but it never held much meaning for me though. That is until now. When I first started trying to lose weight I was 264 pounds. Sensei pushed me and challenged me and never allowed me to give up. I have now lost over 80 pounds and I still have a few pounds to go but I’m never going to give up. I now know that I can do anything that I put my mind to. I am now living my life instead of watching it pass me by. I feel better than I have ever felt and I will never go back to the way I was. This is the me I want my kids to see and remember! I want to continue living and experiencing all that life has to offer and the way that will be achieved is by NEVER GIVING UP!!