Hi ladies. Once again, I find myself back here after a couple of months away from this thread. Once again, I find myself humbled and needing the support that I have always been able to find in this little corner of 3fc.
After a couple months binge-free, I thought I had it all figured out. Boy was I wrong. I have been bingeing on-and-off for the entire month of March and have gained 10 lbs as a result. My ticker is from the end of February. I actually weigh 155 lbs currently. Possibly a few lbs is water weight, but most of it is real weight. I have had a few things going on in my life that have contributed to this weight gain. These include getting sick w/ a nasty upper respiratory/sinus infection (never went to the dr, so I don't have a proper diagnosis) in early March, for which my body told me to eat, eat, eat. So I did.

That lovely illness lasted for 3 weeks. I seem to get it every winter. Riding it out seems to be the best way to go. Also, as I'm writing this tonight, I am dealing w/ heartbreak from losing the 10 year old lab (he would have been 11 in July) I adopted late last October from a neglectful and abusive situation. He passed away last Monday morning. His name was Black Knight Colt and he was such a sweet, handsome, intelligent boy. We took him into the vet the week before he passed b/c he was very weak and lethargic and he was tested for Valley Fever (a fungal infection indigenous to the dirt in the southwestern USA) and the results came back on Monday that he was positive. Unfortunately it was too late. He most likely had had it for years, as the place where we rescued him from was just all dirt, which is where the spores live. It was not contagious to anybody b/c he did not have any open sores on his body. However, it most likely got into his bones and affected his organs as well. He had warped joints and could not walk very well. As it is, we had to use a stretcher to get him into the vet. For the last of the 5 months that I was blessed to have him in my life, taking care of him was very stressful. I truly did my best with him. However, that was not enough. We get his ashes back later this week but I have not had a chance to mourn him yet.
I am also freaking out about my 22 month old lab, Zachary. After his walk this morning he started to excessively drool. It has continued on and off throughout the day. My very ignorant town sprayed the heck out of the rocks, dirt and bushes at the parks and along the sidewalks on the route we took this morning and while I mostly kept him off of the areas that were sprayed there was minimal contact w/ those areas that I could not prevent. He didn't put his face in it or lick it or anything, though--he just walked on a small area. I cleaned his paws off when we got home but there is a possibility of poisoning. If the drooling continues tomorrow then I am calling his vet first thing in the morning and taking him in. I mostly need some prayers and good thoughts sent my way. I don't know what I would do if I lost Zachary. He is my family and I love him w/ all of my heart. As pathetic as this sounds, he is the only one in my life who has ever shown me unconditional love. B/c of my childhood I have a hard time opening up to people. I have already lost too much already. I can't lose Zach.
As for my bingeing, I don't have an appetite right now. I'm too worried. However, earlier in the day the stress was making me hungry and I ate far too many chocolate covered pretzels. I need to find a way to deal w/ the stress and unhappiness in my life w/out eating. I need to address the problems in my life w/ real solutions. I need to take action that does not involve food. I know I have depression. I have had it since I was a young child. The first time I binged I was 8 years old in my parents' variety store. I didn't know what I was doing at the time but I knew I could not get satisfied no matter how many bags of chips or candy I ate. I sort of understood at the time that I was trying to smush down unpleasant emotions I didn't want to feel. My parents worked from sun up to midnight every day and me and my 8 siblings were left to take care of each other in a dangerous neighborhood. My oldest brother, who was 15/16 at the time, also began to exhibit symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia around that time and my parents didn't even notice. He sustained massive brain injuries when he was 12 and hit by a car on his bike. When he woke up from his coma, he had a drastically different, and worse, personality. I was 4 when that happened. We had drug dealers trying to break down our door to get to my brother. Our parents were not home of course. I tried to get my mother's attention and love but she didn't even notice when my 8 year old self ballooned from a normal weight to very obviously overweight. My father was (and still is) very hurtful, abusive and deeply critical of me. He was always calling me names and trying to hurt me. Vicious is the word that comes to mind when describing his treatment of me. I grew up feeling very much unloved. My mother has never even asked me if I have depression. She instead calls me lazy and tells me there is something wrong with me.
I have tried to manage my depression w/ exercise (I exercise every day thanks to my puppy Zach insisting on daily early morning walk/runs) and eating healthy, but it doesn't seem to be working. I know the next step is to get professional help. The hard part for me is to actually take that step instead of self medicating with food, which is actually hurting and not helping me. I am a very private person and hold everything inside. In fact, I almost didn't post this b/c I was too embarrassed. But I know that I need to trust another person enough to help me. I don't trust anybody b/c early on in life I was let down by the people who are supposed to love and protect me. I have always felt like I should be able to handle everything all by myself. I am beginning to understand that it is far braver to reach out for and accept help for your problems than to pretend that you can take care of them all by yourself but never actually do anything about them.
If you have read all of this, thank you very much. I am only 27 years old and I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders tonight. I am hoping that by sharing w/ you all I will feel a little lighter and also get back on the road to being binge-free and losing the 10 lbs I've gained as well as get down to goal by mid-summer. I would also appreciate any and all prayers/positive thoughts for my puppy Zach. He's all I have left and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me so far in my life. I need him to be with me for quite a while longer. He is not even 2 yet and has a lot of life left to live.
I will be back on tomorrow with an update and to start day 1 binge-free. I will probably be too embarrassed to come on here after posting this but I will make myself. This is my truth, as awful as it is, after all.