Keep It Together! (Help please!)

XfaithfactorX

Hello All!

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this. It means the world to me. My name is Faith and I'll be 25 Dec 3rd, 2013. I have a HUGE weight loss goal of 120-140 pounds by my 25th Birthday! Throughout my entire life I've been faced with enormous struggles...including emotional/physical abuse, rape, physical injuries, and I've even had to face off against demons. I'm sure that some of you are aware of how difficult it can be to carry on when all you've ever done is fight to survive your entire life. I have a weak immune system I was born almost four months premature and have always had a hard time fighting infections since my immune system is compromised. This year alone I've had bronchitis, an Upper Respiratory Infection, Two abscesses, three staph infections and a case of cellulitis that hospitalized me for four days and nearly killed me.

My weight gain started around the time I graduated High School and started college in 2006. I took six years of horseback riding lessons since middle school and had to quit my junior year because I flew off a horse named Chase going over a high jump and hurt my back pretty bad. I was on BC for quite a while after I quit riding and didn't really pay attention to my body or it's health needs and soon became pretty inactive since the pains in my body were getting worse and worse...

Fast forward to present day- I recently found out that I have two discs in my cervical spine that are herniated and pressing deep into my spinal canal flattening my spinal cord and the spinal nerves. I have small bone spurs too, plus spinal stenosis, degenerative changes and my cervical lordosis is starting to straighten. I weigh right around 260 lbs. In High School, before the accident I was a flawless 150 and built solid.

I don't know what went wrong...I didn't even really see the weight gain happening to my body until it was too late. Of course I stopped BC a while back and my weight has gone down a tiny bit but it really fluctuates between 240-260. I have such a hard time in the summer now and am embarassed to have such a hard time finding clothes that fit me right. I'm young, charismatic and an artist with a passion for working hard and going after my dreams. I've always been kind-hearted and have a bad habit of helping others and keeping my own struggles deep down inside myself. I have been diagnosed with major depression and have even at times wondered what I'm living for anymore...

My boyfriend of 9 months and I knew that we were right for each other from day one. He is the greatest love of my life and always tells me how beautiful I am however, while I am confident about many of my qualities it is in my body that I find the greatest flaws. I have a pretty face and a lot of muscle in my body but there is this ugly stubborn fat that just won't go away no matter what i've tried to do to get rid of it! I've tried various diets, pills, exercise programs...I can't do too much hard exercise because my spine has gotten a lot worse and I have to sit down just to do the dishes now.

My friend Christy recently went through an ugly divorce and worked hard to get her life back on track. She has a three year old son and a supportive new boyfriend but best of all she and I challenged each other last year to finally lose the stubborn weight we had gained after high school. She went from just over 200 lbs to getting back her high school figure in just over a year and I'm still right around the weight that I was before. I'm extremely competitive and when she posted the pics of her before and after shots and bragged about how much better she felt about herself I was angry...but I wasn't angry at her, I was angry at myself. I thought- this is it. If she can do this, I sure as heck can!!! So...I researched for a while and finally found a diet that works for me. I've just started the Special K challenge and I'm going to work towards getting a dancer's body by playing my classic favorite - DDR as well as the Wii Fit and fun challenges like Fruit Ninja on the kinect. I'm going to be pushing myself harder then ever before to achieve my weight loss goals and I have a few friends that are going to try to do this thing with me and/or support me along the way but I need an even bigger support force. I'm used to being the leader of the pack and helping others achieve their dreams and now I need help achieving mine.

Please, if you're also on the road to recovery and need to feel motivated or just want to work on this together or have already achieved your goal and know tips on how to help me with my own major challenges please help me out. I'd like to find some friends on here that are going through the same thing or have already conquered weight loss. Low impact exercises that WORK for people with back problems, knowing how to eat healthy on a budget, challenging tips, motivators, other depressed people that are trying to succeed, other chocoholics that are trying to quit (lol) , everyone is welcome!!

I'm not sure who will respond to this, or what I can expect to find from this site...all I know is that Christy joined this site when she lost weight and it helped her tremendously. I just want to get up and get moving and prove that I'm not out of the race.

At 23 years of age, we're supposed to be in the best shape of our lives. I couldn't wait another day, sitting in the dark, watching movies on the couch and just trying to escape reality...I want to do this for my health and for my happiness. my sister's wedding is in January and I want to lose 25 lbs by then and again 120-140 by my 25th birthday.

If you can be of any help, or want to join along with me then please respond ...I'm calling this my 'Faith Factor' challenge instead of 'Fear Factor'. My name is Faith so it fits and hey there might not be 20,000 waiting for me at the end of the day...but there's something a hell of a lot better- success...and a longer life down the road.

Let's do this thing! Thanks to everyone who read this and has decided to help me or challenge themselves to do this together in advance. I'm so motivated! Are you?

-Faith