My name is Michele Dillon and I grew up in a food-oriented family where watched my Mom whip up these wonderful meals. I always looked forward to dinner time! I was always so amazed even back then how she could put everything together. On holidays, we had a feast of food that went on for hours. My Dad was an officer in the Navy, but he so enjoyed the ice cream, snacks, Little Debbie’s, donuts – all the yummy stuff!. We were the type of family to talk about what we were going to have at dinner while we were still eating breakfast. I have memories and photographs of our holiday feasts over the years. We all stood waiting for the pictures to be taken before we were allowed to sit down around the table.
I wasn’t a fat kid growing up for the most part. From time to time I may have looked chubby. When I look back at photos now, I see just a normal kid. Maybe I was five or ten pounds more than anyone else. I was active growing up playing sports and being in the school marching band. Like all kids, I played outside as long as I could and never really slowed down. I stayed at a decent weight until I hit 14 or 15 yrs old. My Mom has been off and on diets her whole life it seems, so I’m sure that’s affected my relationship with food. I remember her being on the Cambridge shake diet. I tried if a few times, but back then it was “costly” (at $18 a container) she didn’t want to waste it. My Mom is in her 80’s now and still watches what she eats, well sometimes. She is still overweight, although in her earlier years I remember she lost 120 lbs. I’m sure she gained it all back. Now she pretty much snacks and always has a bag of Cheetos beside her chair. She doesn’t eat near the food she once did.
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| High School |
I considered myself to be an athlete back in the day. When I was younger I was on a swim team, and in my teen years I played softball. I did ride my bike and walk a lot. I don’t remember my first diet, but I do remember all the different kinds of diets I tried over the years. In high school I wore a size 16/18. I was bigger than some of my classmates, but there were a few who were way bigger than me.
In high school I was always on the run, going roller skating, I was active with school...just always doing something. I'm sure I did,but I don't really remember taking my lunch to school much. I mostly bought it at school. I have no memory of them serving anything nutritious. So again, I ate mostly junk (I remember the pizza burgers!). I also worked at McDonald's during my 9th & 10th grade years. That didn't help my girlish figure any.
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| College ~ 1986 |
In college, I think I gained the Freshman 15, (which was really 20). I was overweight (then in a size 22) but I felt I was in good shape because I was walking everywhere and I was in the marching band. I certainly got the exercise, but in college I didn’t take the time to really eat a healthy meal. I ate lots of burgers and pizza or whatever was quick. Near my dorm at the University Center there was a place we would get what is similar to a philly steak sandwich. I ate those A LOT! Ohhh, they were wonderful! When my Mom would go through the checks I had written for the month, she would see all the checks I wrote to Dominos, Wendy’s & McDonald’s.
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| 1996 |
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| 1997 |
My first big weight loss was after my breakup with a guy I was engaged to. I exercised, lost 50 lbs and started hitting the country dance bars with a friend of mine. That’s where I met my first husband, who was overweight. He was a bad influence on me. He joined a gym and would go several nights a week to work out. On the way home he rewarded himself with an ice cream cone. Right before our divorce, I weighed 200 lbs. I remarried a year or so later, gained some weight and ate my way through heartbreak when the marriage fell apart by his cheating. I eventually lost the weight, but it crept back on.
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| 2005 |
When I met my (now) husband, I was still overweight, and as I got comfortable and lazy), I gained and gained and gained. He’s one of those people who eats whatever he wants and never really gains. He doesn’t work out at all, but the kind of work he does, he walks all day long. It’s sad when you weigh more than your husband. To my defense, my husband doesn’t like hardly anything that isn’t junk. So instead of getting upset about why he didn’t eat the dinner I cooked (he’s very picky!), it was easier to eat the things I know he did like, which was junk food. Now I have to say, he didn’t force the food down my throat, but like I said, it was comfortable and it was good. I ate my share and over-enjoyed it.
Over the years, I’ve tried more diets than I care to remember (because it’s also admitting my failure). I’ve joined and quit WW, the Atkins Diet, Mayo Diet, the famous diet soup, Slim Fast, diet pills, etc. I stopped looking at the scale. I began to just gorge on whatever I wanted. Now it’s causing health problems and I watch the scale closely now. My scale and I are BFF’s! On August 1, 2011, I decided to make a life change. I need to lose an entire person to get to my goal weight.
This time I am paying much more attention to exercise, and I am incorporating it into my daily life. I am reaching out to friends, family, fellow Biggest Loser Contestants for support, for advice, for inspiration and education. This time I am committed to getting my life back. It’s not going to happen overnight or even in a month, but I am in this for good. I have everything to lose and so much to gain!
