Amazon?? Is that a good thing?

The definition of "Amazon" is a tall, powerful and aggressive woman.  I remember being a freshman in college coming to a far away town, in a far away state, meeting and making lots of new friends.  I was 6'1", relatively well-endowed, not fat but by no means petite!  I definitely stood out in a crowd.  The young men within my new circle of friends were not particularly tall, yet they were very funny and fun to be around.  Somewhere along the way they began to refer to me as "Amazon".  I didn't quite know what to make of this new nickname.  Was it a compliment? an insult? or just an observation?  At 18 and somewhat insecure, I just wasn't sure.  So I stood up tall, stuck my chest out and laughed it off.  But inside I was a little hurt, offended and somewhat ashamed.  Then the weight came.  First the "Freshman 15", then as the years went by the pounds just continued to pile on.  My youth was no match for my appetite and my total lack of exercise.  I really didn't care though - my health wasn't my priority, having fun was.  By now my Amazonian nickname had gone to past.  By my mid 20's I was overweight but happy just the same.  I met a wonderful man, fell in love and we married 3 years later.  But by the time I was 30 I had ballooned to 235 lbs; it was then I realized I had better do something about my weight.  My husband and I were wanting to start our family soon and I wanted to be able to get pregnant and be healthy for my baby.  I began some exercising: aerobics, Jane Fonda videos, step aerobics, some yoga, I even joined a "women's gym" for awhile.  I did lose some weight but nothing too tremendous and nothing really stuck.  Even though I was still overweight, a few years later I got pregnant with our first child.  During my pregnancy I was HUGE!!  I remember visiting the hospital 2 months before I was due and this woman asked me if I was there to deliver!  I calmly replied no, that I still had a ways to go ... so she said "Oh!  Twins then!!"   I can see why she thought that - my maternity shirts weren't big enough to hide the pregnancy panel on my pants!!  Of course it was easy to chalk it all up to pregnancy.  A few months later my healthy baby boy was born but unfortuately my poor eating habits didn't change.  A year after my son was born I was tipping the scales at 250 lbs and wearing a size 22.  The following year we moved to Miami and it was there that I saw the infomercial for Power 90 (the predecessor to P90X) and ordered it.  I had started a job where they offered "Weight Watchers at Work" and I began to get up early in the mornings to do my P90 workouts.  Getting up early has always been a challenge for me and if anything was going to throw me off of my exercise routine it was having to get up early!  But I perservered and even though I was only working out 3, maybe 4 days a week, I was starting to lose weight.  Then my company opened a small gym for employees to use that had a tv/vcr, a treadmill, an eliptical, a few weight machines and some free weights.  I started exercising every day during my lunch break - taking my P90 video tapes or running on the treadmill or doing the elliptical.  I signed up for and completed my first 5K ever!  And slowly - lb. by lb. - I made it to my Weight Watchers goal weight of 188 and was wearing a size 12 (even sometimes a size 10)!!  It took almost 3 years to lose that 62 lbs.  I swore I'd never go back there again......
Then I got pregnant with baby #2.  I was just about to turn 39 when our second son was born.  I didn't gain as much weight as I had in my first pregnancy and I was in much better shape!  But the weight crept back on (or should I say "held on") after my pregnancy.  And as luck would have it, I ended up with an abdominal hernia from the c-section AND then ended up with a somewhat chronic case of plantar fasciitis (where the bottom of your foot hurts so badly you can barely walk).  By the time my new little one was 2 yrs old my weight had gotten back up to 235.  Another informercial caught my eye - Slim in 6 - and I decided that a new workout program was just what I needed to get me motivated!  I ordered it, started working out regularly again, watching what I ate and the weight slowly started to come off again.  I lost 24 lbs!  THEN in the summer of 2010 I had surgery to repair the hernia AND we moved to North Florida.  It was been a little bit of a stressful time and of course, the weight has come back on.
So here I am now...... with 37 pounds to lose....again.  Last month I renewed my commitment to myself and my fitness and in a way to my family.  I know what I need to do, what works for me and what I have to do to get where I want to be!  I am 45 years old with a wonderful husband and 2 wonderful boys ages 12 and 6 and a crazy life full of wonder, excitment and adventure in front of me!  I want to be in the best shape of my life so that I can live and experience this ride to the fullest.  So I decided to challenge myself.  I ordered a new workout program (always a good way to get motivated!), ChaLEAN Extreme, I signed back up with Weight Watchers (online), I enrolled in Beachbody's 90 day Challenge, registered for my first 5K in 8 years (on March 17th) and I signed on to be a Beachbody Coach.  I knew if I was going through this journey - once more - there were probably other people out there who were either starting their journeys or renewing their commitment after they realized what they are doing is no longer working and I want to connect with those people.  We can all offer motivation and support to each other; we are all here for each other.  NO ONE IS ALONE! 
So here I am now .... having put this story to words and throwing it out there for the world to see and I want you to know - that THIS Amazon is ready to embrace her inner warrior and become that tall, powerful and (let's take out aggressive and insert...) statuesque woman that the Greeks and Romans wrote about!  Are you ready to join me????