Hi there. I'm extremely shy, so I probably won't post alot til I feel more comfortable but I do want to at least get my toes wet and say hello.
I'm a 35 yr. old mom of 3, living in Idaho. I've been heavy since my first child and my weight has bounced up and down through the years (firstborn was in 92, he's just turned 16) so it's been a long time. I spent most of that time in denial. I never got on the dieting train until just before I had my youngest in 2005. I was told I was "almost" type 2 diabetic and needed to monitor my diet and carbs. I started Atkins and dropped almost 40 lbs in just a few months. Then I discovered I was pregnant and that put a halt to that. Throughout my pregnancy, I was very conscious of my eating, exercised daily and actually did really well with my weight gain, only 35 lbs in comparison to the 50 - 80 with my other two kids. I was insulin-dependent, had a nutritionist monitoring me and went to a really great support forum. I definitely learned some good habits there. Once I delivered, I was told by one of my nurses that my blood sugar would probably return to normal and I'd be taken off the insulin. Yay!! That was exactly what happened. I no longer had a doctor or nutritionist monitoring my diet and didn't continue keeping my food journal, my sugar went to normal and aside from a very bad infection which kept my bed ridden and unable to nurse my child for 6 weeks postpartum, I was great.
What I didn't realize was that lying bedridden for 6 weeks and not taking care of myself ( had severe PPD but didn't realize til much later) was putting pounds on like crazy. By the time I'd healed enough to be mobile again I was OVER my labor-ready weight of 250 lbs and incredibly discouraged. I was miserable, depressed, focused solely on the baby and was stuck in that rut for over a year. We were living in FL at the time, near my parents and the price of living is insane there, especially on one income. So we packed up and moved to Idaho, land of the cold and the cold and not much else. I got back to work and dropped a few pounds, started to feel really good about myself again, then my husband had to go back to FL to have back surgery. Once again I found myself homebound taking care of the baby as it was more expensive to pay for daycare, etc than continue working. My DH recieved workman's comp and our landlord was very forgiving.
While DH was in FL, I discovered several things that I'd not noticed while I was busy working every day and crashing early every night. My daughter wasn't speaking at 18 months. Not a peep. So I started bugging everyone about it, was told it was no big deal, to let her develop at her own pace and all would be fine. I'm very lazy in regards to myself, but when it comes to my kids, I'm super mom. That being said, I put on my cape and started kicking butts til someone listened to me. Three months later, we got a diagnosis of autism and epilepsy. Surprise - I wasn't imagining things. Her psychologist very strongly suggested one of her parents stay home in order for her to receive the care she needed. My DH was the biggest earner, so it fell to me. Over the next year I completely embraced learing everything I could to help her overcome her disabilities and learn sign language, and push past milestones appropriate for her range. While doing that, I spent alot of time shoving food in my face and learning more about how to care for her and didn't spare a thought for myself. Now she's 3 and going to a developmental pre-school and I suddenly find myself at 270 pounds and with time on my hands and guzzling coffee in my sweatpants while my sexy DH works his tail off.
So, here I am. I guess my shyness must have forgotten to show up or I really needed to vent. Hope it wasn't too long and at least one person got to the end. LOL
I really loved Glory's story, I'm terrified of dieting and am not sure just where to begin but I wanted to say hello and if nothing else, I'll be lurking in the background reading about all of you.
Natasha
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