New Here

SearcyCampbell

Hey everyone! My name is Searcy and I'm new to the message boards! I've used MFP in the past, but never consistently. The last few weeks I'm really working hard at maintaining and updating my journal. Here's a little information about me:

As I said, my name is Searcy. I live in South Texas. I am married (have been married for 4 years on 2/14 and we have been together for 9 years) and I have a soon-to-be 3 year old son. I teach English as a Second Language on the local university campus and absolutely love my job. I am also in my last semester with University of Southern California's online master's program. I have dealt with weight issues my whole life. I was a chubby kid with skinny friends, then when I got to high school, I only drank a soda during the day and ate a candy bar, then ran in track. I thought that was the only way to lose weight. That didn't work out so well for me, and I basically slowly started gaining weight. A mixture of depression, bad relationships, and stress caused me to rely on food as a form of support. 6 years ago I was involved in a shooting (I witnessed a friend and coworker be murdered by her exboyfriend) and that's when I really started gaining the weight. I ate and ate and just couldn't get ahold of my life. I got as high as 230, and then started taking diet suppliments and eating salad, and got down to 205. Then I found out I was pregnant, and I ballooned up to 262 by the time I had my son. After Kiernan, I dropped 20 pounds, but have been stuck at 240 for 3 years. After having my son, I battled with my post-tramatic stress from the shooting and then post partum depression. It's taken me time to heal, but now I feel like I'm ready to be incharge of my life again. I'm ready to stop taking antidepressants and hypothyroid medicine. I'm ready to lose the weight and get the old me back.

My weight loss challange not only is me overcoming my dependency on food, but also battling PCOS and hypothyroidism. I'm lucky to never have been diagnosed as diabetic, but I have been flagged for pre-diabetes. As of now, I have changed my eating habits (with the occasional girl scout cookie slip up...) and will be adding exercise into my routine within the next week or so. So far, I have lost 6 pounds and I really do wish to keep it up.

I am looking for a place with support, guidance, and the occassional shoulder to cry on. I think this might be the place to be!