Inspire! Day 17- Jammie

From Madelynn: Today we have yet another wonderful Jammie (pronounced Jamie) with us! Jammie and I have traveled to both Haiti and India together and have had wonderful conversations on healthy eating and living. I am so happy she is joining us today! Thanks for stopping by…Meet Jammie…

Hello all! My name is Jammie and I was so blessed to meet Madelynn on one of our mission trips to Haiti. It was actually during our trip that it hit home for me what it felt like for the 100th time in my life that I needed to address my weight. Our transportation into and then across Haiti was mainly by air and in order to fly on the little planes safely everyone’s luggage had to be weighed but each person also had to be weighed…..In front of EVERYONE. Yes that is in cap locks because it about took my breath away. It’s not like anyone was staring at the scale that day but when you feel insecure it seems like the whole world is watching.

Two years leading up to the trip I had different routes to lose my baby weight but never was successful due to not following through with my commitments. I made every excuse in the book…no time, kids, hubby not doing it, no one really cares and on. However deep down I knew how much it got to me and it always brought me back to my elementary years where I was overweight and one small comment made by another child turned me into a raging bulimic who had to be hospitalized. It took me a year to turn my life around and get back into the real world.

After that episode I vowed to never take it to that extreme again. However I didn’t mean to be allow me to let myself be overweight either…so that brings me back to the here and now. When I was on the scale almost a year ago I weighed in at 203lbs, the heaviest weight of my life. I came back struggled with a few more diets and routines and failed. Then during the process of trying to take the next step to adopt our niece we were told we all needed physicals and it was during this time that team Hall started! My hubby was told he too needed to address his weight. So we started tag teaming at the beginning of January to make better food choices, to watch our intake and to exercise. Together we have lost over 35 pounds. I myself am down to 186…which still didn’t seem like enough until 2 weeks ago when I started to tell myself it’s the little milestones that make the difference!

We are all beautiful and as long as we are doing our best that’s all we need to do in the moment. That is the phrase I use with my kids all the time. I want them to feel proud of their accomplishments and truly give it what they’ve got without trying to give what they don’t have. “Did you give it your best?” If the answer is yes, then you’ve done what you should! Be proud!