In short, my name is Kristie Pennington. I am a 39 year old stay at home mom, wife, and aspiring screenwriter (aspiring means I don’t get paid…..yet). In April of 2008 I weighed 252 pounds and wore a size 22 pants. Those are big pants. I was sick of feeling like a slug and decided to take control of my life. I have always enjoyed exercising, but have never been athletic. I never competed in anything other than acting competitions in high school and would have competed in a pie eating contests had I known where any were being held until I ran my first 5k race in May. I am currently 189 pounds and wear a size 12/14 and attempting to reach my goal weight. I don’t know what that weight is yet, but I will know when I get there. I want to show people that if I can do it, anyone can. We all have an athlete within, you just have to find something you enjoy. As of today, I have run three 5k’s, walked one 5k (after being diagnosed with bursitis in both hips), one half-marathon, one sprint triathlon. .
The Long Story:
I have struggled with my weight and have been an emotional eater since I was a child. I didn’t like to let people see me cry when I was growing up and began turning to food for a variety of emotions. I would eat out of boredom, I would eat for comfort, out of loneliness, sadness, celebrations, rewarding myself, you name an emotion and I can give you a food that I have eaten to feed it.
I was not a popular kid and that is putting it mildly. I wasn’t a complete reject, but I was told on many, many occassions that I was weird and I never had confidence in my appearance. I was tall with really big boobs in junior high and high school, so I always wore clothes to hide myself. I have always had a good sense of humor and can find something funny in just about any situation. I learned early on that making other people laugh was something that I truly enjoyed. It made me feel really good. When someone I cared about was sad or having a hard time, I would always find the funny thing and make them laugh. I always threw in some impersonations with wacky voices and I was very animated.
Comedy coping skills lead me down the path of performing stand up comedy and comedy writing. That path also lead me to a very unhealthy lifestyle. Eating on the road is tough especially late night dining with other comics.
Over the next few years, I had steadily began to gain weight and gained a whopping forty pounds after the move to TN. I gained that weight within seven months. l never had a problem exercising. I love to exercise. I just had a problem eating less. I eat very healthy foods 90% of the time. I just eat too much of whatever I have.
I come from an overweight family. My paternal grandmother used to be overweight, my mom is overweight, my sisters, my brother, aunts and uncles, cousins. I think you get the picture. We all love to eat. That is the reason.
Both of my sisters had type 2 diabetes and I am so fortunate that I have not had to deal with that. My sister, Brandi died four years ago due to a heart attack at the age of twenty-nine. She was my dearest, closest, and best friend in this world. I absolutely adored her and loved being with her. She has two beautfiul little girls just like I do. It was just another thing that bonded us closer together.
I didn’t want to go down that same road. Heart disease runs in my family and I know that my risks are higher being overweight. I joined Weight Watchers in 2008. I began working out more. I decided to train for a marathon and began running.
Now I write this blog in hopes that I can inspire and encourage others to live a healthier lifestyle. Before and present photos can be seen below:
