how i'm losing weight.

I'm losing a lot of weight right now. 36 pounds since the first week of October, to be exact. Add in the weight I lost after Kennedy was born in July and I've lost 63 pounds since my delivery. Not too shabby. In fact, when I weighed in last week, I hit my pre-pregnancy weight - as in, the weight I was when I got pregnant with Bennet back in 2007. I'm pretty excited about it.

The tiniest I've ever been -

148 pounds and on my honeymoon in Costa Rica.

I lost nearly 100 pounds in my early twenties taking Phentermine, prescribed by our family doctor. Everyone has an opinion, and a lot of the opinions out there are that losing weight with a diet drug is merely a quick fix, that it's unhealthy, and that you'll just gain all of the weight back because you lost it so fast. None of this was true in my case. Taking Phentermine changed my life. I got the weight off in a fast, effective manner and I never looked back. I kept the weight off for more than five years. I changed the kind of food choices I was making, I started making healthy choices, I worked out at the gym - I was the confident, healthy person I had always dreamed of being as an overweight teenager. I met Andrew, got married, and put on the usual newlywed 10 or 15 pounds. I was still happy, still thin - life was good.

163 pounds & pregnant with Bennet here -

but wouldn't find out until later that week!

Then, I gained 60 pounds during my Bennet-pregnancy. I've battled my weight throughout my life - and my tendency to pack on pounds easily really kicked in with pregnancy. When Bennet was 7 months old, my dad passed away and, being the emotional eater that I am, I dealt with his sudden passing by eating when I felt sad. My weight was up and down through those next months, and in 2009, I found myself weighing almost 200 pounds and newly pregnant, this time with Kennedy. I only gained 25 pounds in that pregnancy, but having started out at 200, I found myself weighing 225 pounds on the day I was induced, the same weight I was on the day I was induced with Bennet.

Somewhere in the 200's - a few weeks after Bennet's birth.

I turned 30 a month after Kennedy was born and, if my metabolism was slow before, it crept along at a snail's pace once I hit the big 3-0. I had dropped 25 pounds (presumably of fluid and baby) right after delivering Kennedy, and had been stuck at 200 pounds for months - despite my best efforts to eat healthy and hit the gym. It was then that I remembered Phentermine and the success I had had taking it years ago. I asked our doctor about it and she agreed that I sounded like the perfect candidate for Phentermine and prescribed it for me on the spot.

220-something - just days after Kennedy was born.

So, there's my big secret - for those of you who've been wondering - Phentermine. It may not work for everyone, but it's working for me. It suppresses my appetite, it stops me from craving carbs and french fries when I'm stressed out or sad, it gives me energy and it is presumably boosting my metabolism because some weeks I feel like I haven't been giving dieting my best effort and I still lose weight.I probably only have another month or two left on the medicine. Now that I've reached my first-pregnant-with-Bennet weight - I'd like to reach the weight I was at when I got married. With only 14 pounds to go - I think that's a do-able goal!

Back to 163 - feeling great and excited to lose that last 14!

The best part of losing weight is definitely clothes. As of last week, I've unpacked every bag of "skinny clothes" I'd stored in the basement. It feels great to be back to a size I am comfortable at, and I'm starting to look toward trying out some of the new fashions that I've been too pregnant or too fat to try out for the last few years. I'm soon launching a new review segment on the blog, where I'll try out some of the newer fashion trends out there, and see if this 30-year-old momma of two can pull them off with her new, post-baby body!

If you're thinking of trying Phentermine yourself, I'd tell you to do it! It may be frowned upon to take diet drugs, but I feel like it's more unhealthy for me to be 75 pounds overweight than it is for me to complete a 3 or 4 month stint on Phentermine. I was just telling my doctor that I have been hesitant to share with people how I am losing the weight, because people see diet drugs as being so scandalous. She told me that as long as a doctor is prescribing it and I am seeing a doctor monthly for follow-ups, there is nothing to feel scandalous about. She's really right - it's not like I'm buying diet pills on the black market!

At the end of the day, I know that I am a happier person, a better wife, a more loving mommy - because I am not sad about my weight. When I don't have to think about how miserable I feel at 200 pounds, I have a lot more time to enjoy my life and appreciate my sweet family and that means everything to this Momma!