When did your weight struggles begin?
The truth of the matter is I was always a heavy kid. There was never an inciting incident that made me gain weight. From the time I started elementary school I was overweight and it got progressively more out of hand.
Where did your your bad eating habits come from?
My mom has told me before she wishes she’d have known or she’d have taken the bagel out of my hand, but it’s hard to tell your kid no. I agree with her. I think I would have very much resented my family for doing that.
What changed?
A series of failed ventures. When I moved to LA it was a little after I graduated college, the first time out being out on my own and being responsible for myself. I was talking to my mom and she said Nutrisystem was having a half-off sale. She said I wouldn’t have to cook for a month, and to get her off my back I signed up for a month. It wasn’t expensive at all. It was just around what I was spending, but cheaper because I used to eat out a lot. I hate to say it, but my mom was right. After the first month I lost 20 pounds. Eleven months later I was down 100 pounds.
Do you exercise?
At the beginning I couldn’t exercise because I was so overweight. I couldn’t even run. After I’d lost 20-30 pounds, I was able to move around better so I started walking two miles four times a week. Then the weight started coming off more. Once I hit the next milestone, I joined a gym. The first day I finished a full mile on the treadmill I came home and just cried. Last month I ran my first 5K. In a million years if you’d have asked me if I would ever run a 5K, I would’ve laughed in your face.
Do you have any current/future goals?
There is this thing called birth right where Jewish kids are afforded the ability to travel to Israel to get in touch with their heritage. I put it off forever because I knew you had to ride a camel and part of the trip you had to be in a bathing suit. I didn’t want to be the one where they say ‘You’re a big girl, maybe you shouldn’t get on this camel.’ But, I’m leaving May 1 to go to Israel, and I was always a one-piece bathing suit girl and now I have some two pieces. So I’m pretty excited to take those for a whirl.
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Julie was not paid by Nutrisystem to do this interview or share this review. Although she has received compensation from Nutrisystem in the past when sharing her formal story for their advertising purposes, her opinions remain her own.
