Who is Yo-Yo?

Yo-Yo Girl

It’s an up and down world.

Who is Yo-Yo Girl?

Hi! My name is Dena and here’s my story. I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life. Until my late 20’s, I usually won the battle. When I was 26, however, I got Grave’s Disease, which was aggravated by not being diagnosed until 9 months after I started complaining that something was wrong. After radiation therapy, it took about 2 years to get my body settled on a particular medicine. I thought I was done. Just take this little pill every morning and everything will be fine.

NOT! As everyone with thyroid disease knows, it’s a constant struggle to maintain a healthy weight. For quite a few years, this tendency was worsened by my working like a crazy woman. Working long hours for me meant take-out pizza, McDonald’s etc. But then I got fed up. I decided to take back my life (and my health). I thought the easiest way to do this was to have a goal that would help me lose weight. I started with training for the 4 daagse. This is a four day walk of 40 kilometers. My husband agreed to do it with me, but only if we would walk 50 kilometers a day like the ‘real’ men! I lost quite a bit of weight training for this event. But as soon as the event was over, up! Goes the scale. Next came my first 5 km. Then, a half-marathon, 10 km and even a full marathon. I’d lose weight and get in shape with each event, but as soon as the training was over, the bad habits came back.

I had become the queen of yo-yo dieting! After the marathon, I decided that I didn’t want to always have a goal in order to lose weight. Well, it’s been two years now and I’m at my heaviest weight in the past 4 years. UGH! Not only do I need to stop this yo-yoing, I clearly need goals along the way. So, I signed up for a 10 km in a few months and starting on this website to keep me accountable even after the 10 km is done.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, registered nurse or dietician. Even though I am a certified weight loss consultant and am working, albeit slowly, on a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, I’m not here to provide you with medical advice. I’m just sharing my experiences in the hopes that it will help someone else. In the meantime, I’m a lawyer trying to not let billable hours increase my billable space!