Here we go!

Hi! I'm a busy single mom of 3 great kids that has taken little time for herself - or at least been REALLY inconsistent about it. You know that story about putting the oxygen mask on yourself first and then helping the others around you? I didn't listen...

Two years ago my doctor told me my bad cholesterol was worse than it should be and my good cholesterol wasn't as good as it should be. I was overweight, a heavy smoker, and new I needed to make changes. The doc visit got me moving more - within a week I had joined a Curves club. At first, I focused on just getting more exercise, and as I did the desire to change my eating habits came - quickly! I no longer wanted to ruin a great round of exercise by putting junk food and lattes into my body. Curves was effective for me - I lost pounds and inches and felt great. Then I discovered elliptical machines and fell in love. I joined another fitness club where I could run and got even more invested in myself. I felt awesome - I was eating well, had quit smoking, had confidence like never before, and my ability to think and process anything (seriously freaked me out sometimes) was unbelievably clear. Over the course of about a year, I had shed a little over 40 pounds and had about 20 I wanted to continue to work on. I couldn't believe how awesome I felt - and looked!

And then I moved my family from one community to another to lose my commute to work. Things at my job weren't going well and I found myself hating getting up in the morning. I made an excuse so that I could smoke again (boy does that look stupid in writing...). I got a scholarship to go back to school to finish my degree (online)...a good thing...an fantastic thing...but another thing to take up large amounts of my time. I found excuse after excuse to avoid the gym even though I missed how good I felt when I was there every day - and even though I knew that I would actually have MORE time if I went because when I did, life was somehow more efficient. The weight started to creep back. I reacquainted myself with Diet Coke (it's soooo good, but it's the devil!), quick processed meals, and not enough sleep.

Then the rental I had moved my kids into suffered a fire. Not a devastating-lose-everything fire, just a small one that had us living out of suitcases for three months while all of our things were in storage and the house was being repaired. I gave up a little more. And more weight crept back.

This past month I've been trying to get my motivation going again. Two weeks ago I ran the elliptical 4 times. I thought I was going to die, but I did it. I quit smoking for 36 hours. Started again (short-lived, I know), but really do hate them and smoke less than before...even when my cravings say "must smoke now!" the thought of smoking turns my stomach. This is good - I've been here before and I know this means I'm about ready to let them go again, hopefully for good this time. I'm having trouble with my feet - recurring plantar fasciitis - but this morning I finally quit putting it off and called for an appointment to get it addressed. The foot pain has had me wavering with my activity level (another great excuse), but I ran again yesterday and it felt good. I think I'm finally past the thinking and planning stages that happen in my head before I'm REALLY ready to go and DO. This is good, this is progress

It's been a year since I was a regular gym-goer and I've gained ALL of the weight back that I lost. I'm back at 235 pounds this morning (I really hated typing that...that really, really sucked), but I'm not going to let that hold me back. I did this once before - and I can do it again I used MFP before, too, and the accountability really helped me - as did the weight report where I could see the line going down down down.

So - the final piece - is to reach out to the community here and ask for some friends. Trying to go it alone is a noble concept, but it doesn't work. We need others along with us. I'm happy to be your cheerleader if you'll be mine. So send your requests and let's be friends!

Sue from Minnesota