Time for a change, Just need a little boost. :)
 

Hi everybody :) My name is Shannon and I am painfully aware that I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to this whole losing weight thing. Every time I have lost weight, it's been because I was so sick that I couldn't eat anything, so I'm pretty much starting from scratch here.
Little bit of history
I was never a "fat" kid. Instead I was the little girl who developed very early, and instead of looking 9, I looked 12. I never went over 80 pounds until I was 11 years old and spent the summer with my aunt and uncle in Florida, where despite constantly playing, running, swimming, walking on the beach, I jumped to 120. Yeah, it only took me to a size 4 in womens, and I then looked to be about 15.
Little did I know one of the real reasons I went down that summer was because my grandmother, who was always sick to me, had been diagnosed with cancer, and because of our bond, she always did better when I was around.
I gained about 20 pound between middle school and high school, but my body was once again putting it all towards looking older than I was. Then on December 26, 2004 we found out the news that from that moment on spelled the demise of me being small. My grandmother had ovarian cancer, and the doctors hadn't listened to her when she said something was wrong, that the cancer was coming back. From that point, until the next September, we spent as much time between Maryland and Florida as possible, and 5 days after my birthday, she passed away.
During that time, I gained another 25 pounds. There I stabalized for a couple years till stress, and medical problems made me gain again, this time sending me over the 250 mark. Now, I sit at 225, and the last 25 pounds has been because of a big time reducement of available spending money, and working more than is healthy.
Why the change?
Last month, my fiance woke up with a cough. 3 weeks later the cough wasn't gone and he's starting to get dizzy when walking. We go to the hospital, he has pneumonia. He rests, soon as meds are gone tho, it's back. We head back to the er, and as we are driving by, he almost passes out. After a week in the hospital ICU, we find out he's got an 87% chance of making it out of the next five years alive.
The next day I find out that my mother, who has always been stick skinny, has arthritis, and is showing some of the same issues my grandmother had before she passed, issues I've had for a while now.
With all the stress of moving and health problems, I'm determined not to fall back into old habits. I have only 2 pairs of jeans that fit me right now, the rest I've given to my new roommate because they were too big for me, and they're becoming snug. I am not going to let that happen, but with all that I want, I know that I need help, and I'm hoping I can find that here. Thanks for reading all that...it was a lot... :o

Welcome! Good for you for wanting to take the leap to a healthier you. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother. Sounds like you may be a stress eater? Anyway, good luck to you!

Welcome to the forum! Thank you so much for sharing your story. Many of us are different plans to lose the weight. Have you thought about what type of plan (journey) you want to take to lose weight?

@Missy: Yeah...I know I'm a big time stress eater. And the foods I stress eat are the worst. But the Ben and Jerry's is so yummy.
@Linda: I really don't have a plan yet, but so far I'm starting off with many many walks a day with my darling doggy, who just came back in from her 7th walk of the day and is sleeping. Thank goodness she's up for a walk any time, any where. No matter what, the journey is going to be a little bit easier since my fiance and I's roommates do not eat anything even remotely healthy in the least bit, so as long as we keep healthy food around, it doesn't go anywhere.
Other than that, I have no clue. lol. I don't even know how I'm going to fit this all in with Christmas season coming up, and me working for the biggest toy retailer in the States...*shrug* Thanks for the welcomes already :)

It is good that you are thinking about the Christmas sweets. It gives you plenty of time to get serious. Try cutting back all sweets and sodas.

Hi Shannon and welcome to the forum.
I'm sorry for the rough time you're going through, it probably feels very overwhelming right now, but You're stronger than you give yourself credit for.
"A human being is the most amazing thing in the world" (this is a quote that has helped me in the past through similar times you're experiencing)

Your family is very fortunate to have you! :hug:

Wish you great success on your journey


Cristina

Welcome to 3FC, I can honestly say that using this site has helped me address my weight issues. Even if I do not comment on alot of posts I read most of them and they help me to stay motivated. There is a wealth of advice and support.

One of the things I did was to start a log of what I am eating, this helped me become more accountable for the things I was eaten. I found I was less likely to reach for junk food if I had to admit it in writing.

I have also tried healthy foods and recipes I never thought I would, it is good to experiment to find healthy foods that you do enjoy.