Hi! I'm Lucy...I'm a 41 year old single mother to a very active 5 year old Kindergartener I'm living in cold New England with my brother and his girlfriend and I am absolutely miserable. I was a solid 150 lb active girl before the end of a long, destructive relationship and then it just escalated after I had my son. After the break-up, I gained 20 bringing me to 170...then I got pregnant and gained almost 50 lbs. I lost the prego weight while breastfeeding then steadily gained since. Now I am at my highest non-pregnant weight of 209. I wanted to die when I stepped on the scale today. Instead, I am here...turning to you all. I've battled depression for 8 years as well as alcoholism for about 9. I kicked the alcohol issue but I still suffer terribly from the depression so that factors in at times. I take Prozac daily for it.

I would like to be more active for my son. With that, I think I would like to try the South Beach Diet again (was on once and lost easily) as well as sticking to a steady calorie count. Has anyone done this? I'm really discouraged. I feel like a failure to my son. I want to be a better mother...more active and fun!

Anywho... thanks for reading my novel! I look forward to using this site for support!

First off,

You'll find plenty of support here. We're all doing this together to lose that weight! And good for you for beating the alcohol issue!

I don't know anything about the South Beach diet, but I am a calorie counter. I eat 1200 calories everyday and have found success with that, but you may not want to start that low.

Good luck!

Welcome, Lucy! Glad you found the Forum, there's so much support here. If you haven't already, peruse the sub-forums & you'll find SB and calorie counter followers, as well as depression and other obstacles help.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the welcome! <3

This is my first time on this site however I wanted to respond to this thread right away! I too have suffered with depression on and off and have found that exercise seems to be the only thing that helps ease it. I recently started reading fitness magazines and the one I'm reading now lists and talks about the importance of cardio. One of the major benefits it talks about is it's just as effective as drugs for fighting depression and anxiety with out the risks some medications come with. It increases your endorphins thus making your mood more stable. Food for thought! Now the battle is being "compliant" with taking your daily dose of "cardio" thus why i think a forum is great to have others motivate you when you feel you can't go on. No matter what isolation you feel in your heart know there is always a glimmer of hope and a little boy who will someday be a man that loves you. Mold yourself into a role model for who you want him to be too! Good luck on your journey and I hope this helps!

Welcome!!Good luck with your efforts!!