Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tori Leslie's Weighty Testimony

Hey Y'all, I'm so excited to be here with you and I'm looking forward to a great challenge! It's really gonna be a challenge for me too since I don't like to exercise, there I said it! It's true and I usually don't. SHOCK, GASP!!!

Anyhoo, I'm here and ready to give it a go!

A little about me, well I've always been a fluffy girl, even when I was a child. Hey that's me below on Santa's lap, and that's Santa waving at the camera man to cut and get this fat kid off my lap.

Most of my childhood I was over weight or at least felt that way. I was always larger than my friends even though that meant a size 5 it was still a bit embarrassing. To top it all off my Daddy's favorite name for me was Wide Load. Go ahead, laugh, I know it's funny but it wasn't then and he helped me to realize how huge I was and set me on a long road of never been small enough.

I'm 19 in the above photo and I was about 140 lbs. Below I'm also 19 but still hiding in huge clothes to cover my wide load.
Shooting forward to adulthood. We came to Croatia after 18 months of grueling deputation and an added 25 lbs. Then the roller coaster began, up and down and up and down, it was ridiculous and still is.
Here I am at about 230 and feeling awful. Why do they always make us sit in front??? It's a conspiracy I tell you!

Our first furlough was more difficult than deputation since we had been deprived of all the goodness of America for so long, I packed on more weight. The photo below is one of the worst ones I have, and it's a doozy!

After our first furlough we went to visit our co-worker here in Croatia and see his new baby. Cute little thing and the visit was rather sweet until it turned ugly. The lady of the house turned to me and said, "wow, you really gained a lot of weight while in America, you're the biggest I've ever seen you." I was devastated, I nodded my head and decided out of anger that that would never happen again.

I set out to lose weight and I did, losing 70 lbs and looking like the above photo. I got my hair cut and started a new life. I was happy until life threw us a curve ball. After living on credit on the field trying to wait out the sad dollar we realized we had to return to the states and raise more money and so I left skinny Croatia and headed to hunky America. I gained back all that I had lost and the cycle began again.

So here I am TODAY, a new day and a new change to make things happen. I've already lost 20 lbs. but I have a ton to go.

This is me now, I'm starting this challenge at 217 and ready to make some lbs move!

Weight: 217

Bust: 47"

Chest under arm: 43"

Waist: 38 1/2"

Hips: 47 1/2"

R. Thigh: 35 1/2"

L. Thigh: 36 1/2"

R. Arm: 16"

L. Arm: 15 3/4"

Skirt: 46 or a 16

Top: 48/50 XL

I'm tracking calories on Spark People and drinking lots of water. I'm gonna really try to get some exercise in over the next 10 weeks.

Looking forward to getting to know you all, don't know how well I'll do on points but I'll enjoy the fellowship and encouragement!

Thanks Dani Joy for everything!

Photobucket

10 comments:

Ketty said...

I´m glad you joined us Tori. Now, it´s no tiem to look back but to look forward. Day by day and little by little. We´ll be here to cheer you up.

Now, rememebr as Dani said. Try to stay away from sugar and flour. This is specially difficult for me as I am a SWEET TOOTH but I did great during last crunch.

And start crunching today!!! :-)
Ketty

Joy said...

Hi Tori,
So glad you´ve decided to join. We are all at different weights, but have the same goal...we want to be healthier and trim down the fat and extra weight which causes now and will cause so many problems in the future. I can totally relate with the weight gain in the U.S. Maybe we should just take a 3 month vacation at a spa in our own country and send our churches a video : )instead of visiting the churches, traveling in a car while we munch our way to more pounds.
I am headed to the U.S. in Sept. for 3 months and this is going to be the first time we return where I´m going to have a plan - for eating and for exercise!
One of the things that has worked for me, is the exercise. I started with 15 a day (that is all I could do) and got up to 40 min. a day. I actually started with Jillian - which resulted in some severe pain. Then I backed down to something more like walking for a few days and then slowly worked my way up, which is where I am at today.
Love,
Joy

Tori Leslie said...

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. I'm excited!

Ketty,
I hope I can stay away from flour and sugar but I'm not promising anything. I'm gonna do the best I can on my program and we'll see how I do.

Thanks Joy,
Wow, 3 months furlough sounds a lot more manageable than a year.
We take furlough in 11 months and I'm praying to be at goal weight by then but I'm not sure I will make it but anything is better than where I'm at now.

Looking forward to watching your progress too!

Shane and Kristy Davis said...

Hi Tori,
Glad to see you here!
We're all working together. With the Lord's help, we can get those extra pounds off.

Unknown said...

Oh Hey Tori!! So glad you are in on this with us!!

I laughed and cried through your testimony! I could be mine. I mean Deputation and furlough really did my weight in too!

I will lift you up in prayer as we keep each other accountable. You can do this thing! You did it once you can do it again and make it for a lifetime! I have a goal.. a funny goal.. I want to be fit and serving the Lord in my 70´s! A hip hoppin Missionary Mamma and Grandmama! jeje

Springing into Shape with ya,
Dani Joy

Unknown said...

oooo I love Joy´s idea!! Let´s do it, Missionaries.. Let´s revolutionaize Furlough!!! jejeje

Well, I can highly recommend the YMCA. We got our membership there while traveling on our last furlough and found one in almost every city we were in. They honored our memeberships and we got to work out for the monthy rate we were paying. Some even give discounts for full time ministers.

Dani Joy

Maribel said...

Welcome Tori! You've done it before! You can do it again. I'll be praying for you!

Theresa said...

I agree with your comment to me. I think we are weight-loss-gain sisters from different mothers. :)

I am going to keep an eye on you. See if I can keep up with you. I too am not sure about the points thing but I will journal!!

Good Luck....Let's shred some pounds.

Sarah K said...

Welcome Tori!
I also don't like to exercise and rarely did before the last challenge. One thing I've found that I LOVE to get my body moving is Pilates! Right now I am doing Louise Solomon's Yogalates. It works your muscles hard and makes you breathe but you end up relaxed at the end.
Praying for you as you start this journey!
Springing into shape with you!

Nina in Portugal said...

Hi tori!

It's great to ready your testimony....I'm praying for you!