Returning to MFP a Few Years Later

When I was a recent college grad, I signed up for MFP under a different username to try to continue after a substantial study abroad weight loss and had a lot of success. I wound up stopping because I felt like I was obsessing over calories an emotionally unhealthy amount and about to spend a year abroad that I didn't want to spend my time berating myself.

Well, I spent the year abroad, had a fantastic life there, came home, and got my first full-time office job. That lead to me sitting down all day every day, eating a lot of convenience foods, and going out with my friends most nights. It was also when I started getting sick. I was diagnosed with chronic anemia that made me feel a kind of weak/out of control that I'd never experienced before. I had massive fatigue, weakness, dizziness, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations that just seemed to get worse and worse to the point where I didn't feel strong enough to get out of bed some days.

I also got laid off from my first job last year, which pretty much destroyed my self-esteem. I've always struggled with depression and anxiety, but was previously at a point where I'd been able to wean myself off of medication and manage it on my own with therapy and exercise. Getting laid off was a shock and for the better part of the last year of my life, I've been really struggling again. The health issues, physically and emotionally, affect every part of me and it took a long time for me to get back into a place where I felt like I could take back control of all aspects of my life.

Six months ago, I switched iron supplements to something I can absorb more readily. It's worked really well. Now that I've found the right supplements to manage my anemia and enough time has passed to build my iron up enough to feel like I can do the things I used to do again, I want to start to taking care of every part of myself. I especially want to move my body, since that's the #1 tool I have for managing my mental health. For me, I want to measure my progress in energy and strength rather than pounds, although I definitely wouldn't mind getting back to the weight I was when I'd previously used MFP.

Anyways, I'm glad to be back and, even after only being back for the last two weeks, I've continued to feel better and better. I'd love to have a few friends on here for mutual support!