Newbie in Kentucky

julie9200

Hi, I’m Julie. I’m 36 years old, live in central Kentucky (US), a single mom with 3 kids. I work as an accountant for a small, locally-owned soft drink manufacturer. Until about 7 years ago, I had never had a weight problem. I was always scrawny, even after having kids. I’m 5’2” and when I got pregnant with my 3rd child, I weighed 105. I kept about 20 lbs of baby weight after having her, so I was around 125. I went back to work when she was 18 months and gained about 10 pounds. I took tae-kwon-do for a couple years and went back down to about 125, only this time I was super lean and muscular for the first and only time in my life. Then I got divorced, was diagnosed with narcolepsy, and became a single mom. I stopped taking classes around the same time I started dating my boyfriend, who liked to take me out to eat a lot. I would eat the same amount as I did before, only now I wasn’t burning the calories off. For the past 7 years, my weight has slowly creeped up to my highest of 172. (I’m now at 163.5 with the help of MFP!)

A year ago, I switched insurance companies and had a full checkup. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, hypertension, osteopenia, and pre-diabetic. It was your cliché wake-up call. I had a lot of false starts last year but I did make some lifestyle changes, including eliminating caffeine, switching jobs, and starting/stopping medications for different conditions. I’ve been off the blood pressure meds since November and found a medication that helps somewhat with the fibromyalgia without interfering with my narcolepsy meds.

In February, my kids started talking about all the things they want to do this summer and I realized at the rate I was going, I wouldn’t be able to do any of it with them. The fibromyalgia causes a lot of pain when I do most activities. But I told myself to stop making excuses because I’m going to be hurting whether I work out or whether I lay in bed doing nothing, so I might as well get the benefits from working out to go along with the pain. I started walking on my lunch. I started out very slowly, like 10 minutes a day, 2x a week. Then slowly increased it. It has taken three months, but I’m now doing a minimum of 30 minutes of fast walking, 3x a week, adding in hills and periods of “slow jogging” during my walks. I can’t quite do a full blown jog yet, but I’m hoping to not only be jogging, but actually running by the end of the summer.

I love the MFP phone app, and the tools on the website, but I think I love the message boards even more. I’ve tried out several new recipes and saved even more for later.

P.S. I need more kindred spirits as friends, so please feel free to add me

julie9200

bumping cause I need friends

AnitaVolpato

Hey Julie, I am in Lexington. I just gave birth to my 3rd child in September. My children are 18, 15 and 9 month's old. I never had a weight problem. I have always been thin and athletic. This pregnancy was so different. I gained a lot of weight and I haven't lost any of it. I wonder if it's because I am 37 this time. I am also stuck in the house with nothing to do, total 180 of what my life used to be. My normal size is 5'2" 120-130 lbs. I would like to get back down to at least 130. I am at 160 right now. I am sorry about your health problems. I haven't had any thank God. Keep in touch though and good luck with the weight loss.