Hi!
 

Hi guys, my name is Ashley and I'm a 26 year old mom of 2. I've been married to my wonderful husband for 6-1/2 years. I have struggled with weight loss since my first pregnancy, my oldest will be 5 in just a few days.

I never dealt with weight growing up, I was always the skinny, awkward looking girl. When I got pregnant I weighed 130, gained 25 pounds and had a really great pregnancy. I weighed 155 at the time of delivery. I was hit with PPD soon after my daughter was born and struggled with it for a long time, it ended up turning into clinical depression and I feel like this has a lot to do with my weight issues. I was able to get down to 143 when my daughter was about 8 months old. The next month I found out I was pregnant again. My pregnancy was riddled with complications from the beginning, from 6-11 weeks I was on modified bedrest, then at the end of my second trimester I went into PreTerm Labor and was put on bedrest through the rest of my pregnancy. I ended up weighing almost 180 at my son's delivery.

I breastfed and thought that would help, after all, everybody says it does...it didn't for me. My weight actually didn't budge until after I stopped breastfeeding. I have just recently been able to get myself down to 164. I definitely don't feel good about myself, I hate the way I feel and look. My family constantly makes comments about how I'm not skinny anymore and make rude comments.

I'm ashamed to admit that my doctor prescriped adipex earlier this year, of course I lost some weight but gained it all back. Nobody around me thinks I can do this, they don't think you can change your eating habits and add exercise into your life and see any results. I want to lose this weight so that not only I can feel good about myself but so that I can teach my kids that you can do anything that you put your mind to. I also want to lead by example and show them how to live a healthy life. More than anything I want to do this not to show the people around me that I can do this by changing my diet and exercising (of course that'll be a great bonus) but more importantly to prove to myself that I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!

I look forward to getting to know everyone and to take this journey with y'all!!!

Hi Ashley! :welcome: You have some great goals and for great reasons and you CAN do this! You'll find lots of support here! As you browse around, be sure to check out the "Depression and Weight Issues" forum. I believe a brand new chat thread "Ups and Downs" has started there, and having a place to post regularly, where you feel comfortable with people who know what you've been through, is helpful! Good luck in your journey!

Any suggestions on where to start? I'm doing calorie counting right now and making sure that I get enough cardio but I honestly don't know what I'm doing.

Lots of people here use a phone and/or computer app called myfitnesspal, which helps them keep track of calories. It tells them how many calories are in the food they eat and how many calories they burn when they exercise. You might look into it if you haven't already. Most people shoot for a calorie range of 1200-1500. Below 1200 is usually not recommended. I don't know if you weight often, but if you do, keep in mind that the body holds on to water in varying degrees, so your weight will fluctuate daily. It fluctuates whether you are dieting or not, but while on a diet you can be completely sticking to your plan and the number on the scale will go up or hold steady and it can be very frustrating. But try not to let it upset you. Water weight will always drop back off, so it's really no big deal. Losing weight takes patience! You may not know what you are doing, but if you are counting calories and doing cardio, you are doing things right! Hang in there!