Determined to find a way!

totallyawake

Hey There All;

I downloaded this app a while ago but was not faithfully using it and did not realize that the online version had more features and support and could toggle between it ~ after seeing the success a friend has had within the MFP community I have been motivated and been keeping my journal faithfully for a few weeks now and it is an awesome tool and I am so grateful to her for shouting its praises ~ thanks D!

A little background on me ... all my youth I was fairly thin regardless or what or how I ate and than I turned 25 and things changed in my body and my weight went up and up on me .... I have struggled with my weight for the past 20 years ... I have yo yo'd up and down eventually gaining more and more weight each time the yo yo bounced back up until I tipped the 200 scale, the 250 scale and this last physical tipped the 275 scale

For years I have blamed my increasing weight on health issues of having POCS and stage 4 endometriosis the treatment of which caused serious hormone issues, a herniated disc in '98, in '02 being diagnosed with cervical cancer resulting in a full hysterectomy and than being further complicated by damage to my thyroid and pancreas. A diagnosis of Celiac in 2005 as reasons for my failure to loose weight as well as having a really bad philosophy of life being too short not to just 'eat what you want'!

This year I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and have finally realized that my 'issues' have been more realistically just excuses .... yes they are challenges that may make my journey toward my goal a little harder but I know achieving my goal is not impossible and I need to stop using health challenges as a crutch to lean on as a reason to give up but rather as a catalyst to try harder ... because while life is too short to waste it worrying or stressing over silly things it is also too short to waste it unable to truly enjoy it because of the pain and growing 'disease' that being overweight brings!

In the new year the Dr put me on medication for the diabetes, I rejoined the gym and made attending at least 3 times a week a priority and to stop allowing 'a busy life' as an excuse not to make the time, while I have always eaten 'healthy foods' I started making healthier eating habits a priority including eating breakfast something I have always found a challenge but it definitely makes a difference in keeping the body in a fat burning mode as well as reducing portion sizes and refraining from 'evening eating' something we had made a bad habit of doing so even while we were eating 'healthy snacks' we were eating way too many of them and way too late at night a habit the entire family is changing too support me!

I had my follow up physical a couple weeks ago which indicated I had lost 25 pounds with these few changes .... I am motivated to keep making more to get to my goal and joining the MFP group is one change because keeping a journal will help keep me accountable and finding support in others on the same journey will certainly help with finding and maintaining motivation!

Thanks for reading ~ look forward to getting to know everyone and should would appreciate any feedback, support or advice others going through the same or similar challenges can give!

Cheers
M!