New member in search of some motivational friends!

Hello there! My name is Jillian and I am 18. I am new to this site, but it seems to be really helping so far! The only problem is that I don't have any friends on here. I believe that a strong network of motivated individuals will make my goals much easier to reach! Hopefully I can find a nice mix of people, some who are just where I'm at, some who have been there and succeeded, and some who have yet to begin! I'll share a bit about myself and can hopefully attract the right people so that we can do this together!


I have been struggling with my weight for my entire life. I was always the "fat girl" at school, and I've never known anything different. When I was 16 years old, my weight reached a staggering 330 lbs! It was at that point that I had, had enough! I began to diet in unhealthy ways, desperate to make a change. I tried crash diets, purging, cutting out food all together.. but it never seemed to stick. I did manage to get my weight down a bit (about 300 lbs) and keep it off. When I turned 17, I was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a medicine called Adderall. I thought it was a miracle! My insatiable hunger was no more! I was motivated to stick to a diet, to exercise and to eat healthy foods in much smaller portions. Before I knew it, in less than a year, I was down to 195 lbs! At 5'10" I was looking and FEELING great! I was able to experience confidence and feeling beautiful for the first time in my life. I was on top of the world!

But, then I stopped taking my medicine because I no longer received my health coverage once I turned 18 and ventured into the world on my own. I stopped taking the medicine, the insatiable hunger returned and I began to lose my motivation. In the past 6 months, I have gained over 50 lbs! (I now weigh 250) I couldn't believe it! I was feeling so amazing, then everything crashed and burned. I am motivated to get back to where I was before, but without the medicine this time. If I do it on my own and don't rely on a miracle pill, then perhaps I will learn new habits, a new lifestyle, and be able to KEEP the weight off this time! I have been very down about my appearance my whole life, and being thin changed that! I'm not about to give in and let myself go back to that sad, unhealthy girl I was for so long! I'm ready to get it back the right way this time!