My Journey

Welcome to Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants!

I am a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Specialist, Zumba Instructor and Weight Watchers Leader. I enjoy long walks on the beach, dancing, yoga, wine, shoes that hurt my feet, singing in my car, and various other things that make me look like a crazy lady.

On January 2, 2009 I started my journey to a healthier ME! After years of being overweight I hit my highest weight ever of 220 lbs and went from overweight to obese. My joints started to hurt, my heart felt like it was working overtime and to top it off, I didn’t fit into any of my clothes.

Before we go forward let's backtrack a bit. I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I used to travel with my mum to volleyball practices when she was a player for her college and then when she became a coach. We were never home because we were always at practice or traveling to games so McDonalds became a staple in my diet (this explains my current addiction to nuggets and fries).

At the age of 12 I had a huge growth spurt; all the weight seemed to stretch upward and suddenly I was a healthy size. I remember feeling fantastic.

I went to arts high school where I played volleyball for the school and for a club team and was dancing & singing in stage shows, music videos and television pilots; I was completely in shape and felt amazing.

In University I gained the freshman 15 but lost it when I decided to play varsity volleyball in my 2nd year. In my latter years of University I stopped playing volleyball and started eating junk again which is never a good combination.

For my 20th birthday a group of friends and I went camping. When we came back from Sauble beach I looked at all of the pictures taken over the weekend and was horrified. I joined Weight Watchers for the first time the following week to the tune of 197.6. I was scared that I was almost 200 lbs and got to work losing. I changed the entire way I ate and cried every time my mum would order a pizza because I felt like I couldn’t have it. A couple of months and – 15 lbs later I decided I could do it on my own and quit WW.

Yada Yada Yada 2 years later I was 220.

Christmas 2008 - 220 lbs

I started doing Weight Watchers on my own with the books I had from the previous time. I lost nearly 20 lbs and hit a mental plateau so I decided to go back to Weight Watchers meetings on March 28, 2009.

March 28, 2009 - First WW Weigh-In

I kept plugging away at my weight pound by pound enjoying foods I love. On Saturday, August 8, 2009 I had lost 10% of my body weight since March. Officially I had hit it a lot sooner but since I joined meetings late my start weight was lower than what I'd actually started at.

Hitting my 10% weight loss milestone was a big deal for me as it had been the elusive goal that I didn't reach my first go on Weight Watchers. Things really did change for me after this. I found my confidence and knew that it was no longer a matter of 'if' I would hit goal but 'when'.

10 months after reaching my 10% I was celebrating reaching my goal weight and subsequent Lifetime Membership with Weight Watchers.

My food philosophy is: Eat what pleases you and practice common sense. You want to eat the best foods for your body but life happens. Enjoy your treats in moderation and have fun! Experiment with different types of food and a variety of cooking methods. You only live once but you want to be around to enjoy it!

My exercise philosophy is: MOVE YOUR ASS! Who said you have to frequent the gym or pick up running? If you love it, go for it but I firmly believe you'll never stick to any form of exercise if you don't enjoy it. Same with food, you need to experiment to figure out if you like it or not. Try everything!

Cheers!