Can I do this at last?

alejandralidia

Hey guys, thought I'd give MFP a try! Here's my story:

I started piling on weight as a teenager and by the time I was a young adult (21-22) I tipped the scales at 250+ lbs (at 5'7"). I was finally miserable enough to start exercising and lost loads of weight. That was over 10 years ago. For the next few years I stabilised in the high 180's, with a bit of up and down in between.

4 years ago I turned 30 and I decided to give weight loss another push. I joined a ladies-only fitness bootcamp which worked great. I made lots of fit friends, I ran half-marathons and my weight got as low as 167 which, to me, was nothing short of miraculous (which is a bit sad, considering 167 is a starting weight for some people here!). I bought lots of nice clothes and felt massively more confident in my body. More importantly, I felt like myself - like this was the size I should be! I never wanted to be skinny minny - my ultimate goal was 159lbs.

Around the same time I started getting back problems due to running injuries and I also changed jobs, started a post-graduate degree and had issues in my relationship. Things got really stressful and I was diagnosed with depression Ironically it was during my recovery from depression last year - not during - that I gained all the weight back. So, here I am - 190 as of this morning.

I'm now back at bootcamp and have already lost 4 lbs. My goal is fairly modest - to be back to below 170 sometime this year. Please wish me luck! I know I can do this!