Looking to gain by losing. New friends/co-supporters welcome

Skipeople

Hey y'all. Greetings from NC!

I recently joined MFP and have never experienced an app or site quite as open and informative, which is a great motivator! I love the combined feel of a health tracker, nutrition tracker, and social media site in one. With that, I would love to meet others struggling to lose weight like myself. My current aim is to lose 93 lbs., but to get to my ultimate goal, I'll need to lose around 120 lbs -- I feel confidence in your look and health is more important than the overall number.

About me: I'm 24 and I've always been a weight yo-yoer starting from a young age. I grew up a picky eater in a typical soul-food, fast-food loving, canned food microwaving southern family; I didn't get the best start or education when it came to my own health and healthy choices. By age 11, I was a lacto-vegetarian, which made meals harder for my meat loving family. I grew up playing soccer, but quit due to mental health reasons, but was forced to join the HS team by my parents. By HS, I was overweight borderline obese, so joining the team lead to a quick drop in weight which unfortunately triggered an eating disorder. Within 1.5 years, I went from about 175 to 119 lbs. before I finally got the help I needed for various disorders. Long-story short, the last 5+ years have been filled with insane weight gain. After restricting, eating again triggered binge eating and food addiction. I won't lie and say I haven't gotten discarded sweets out of the trash before. Food has become a comfort and self-medication, but I'm slowly stepping away from that bad coping style and making everyday changes to improve on myself. I've tried changing my lifestyle before, but I have realized I tried to do too much too quickly and for all the wrong reasons. I hope with some extra support and better information about my personal diet, I can truly make a positive change in my health and gain a life that is good for me.

Feel free to message or add me as a friend. I love hearing about others' stories and progress, sharing meal ideas, and just helping others' vent through their own tough times.

ebonyeparadise

It's going to be all good girl! I have had different struggles but the same, bad choices were made with food being my coping mechanism. To feel so alone, with people around who can't tell, that you turn to food is real. So here I am looking for support and to give whatever support I can. I am learning the site but I am using this as my personal accountant for my health. I look forward to getting better with a village then on my own. You are more than welcome to add me as a friend if you would like to. Good luck on this journey!

BelloAmore

Feel free to add me ..

Skipeople

ebonyeparadise wrote: »

It's going to be all good girl! I have had different struggles but the same, bad choices were made with food being my coping mechanism. To feel so alone, with people around who can't tell, that you turn to food is real. So here I am looking for support and to give whatever support I can. I am learning the site but I am using this as my personal accountant for my health. I look forward to getting better with a village then on my own. You are more than welcome to add me as a friend if you would like to. Good luck on this journey!

Thank you for your kind words. It's a shame so many of us suffer from these issues, but society doesn't accept food coping, binge eating, and food addiction as real issues. I am glad we have both found this community with like minded people dealing with similar issues. I will definitely add you and hopefully we can support each other through our journeys!

ashleykirven

I understand...my story is so similar. U have my support.