Hello,
I'm back again after some time away, because I really need people to talk to about the successes and struggles of trying to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
My biggest problem has always been trying to control my emotions. Food is soothing and kind of quells my need to talk, but the result is that I feel much worse about myself and isolate myself more.
I have stayed consistently towards the lower end of the obesity range for my height since at least 8th grade (I am 32 now), but have tended to yo-yo back and forth over the years. I had a major success about two years ago, after buying a treadmill and dedicating myself to it and went from 233 lbs to 165.
I felt ecstatic just to be in Onederland and feeling healthier and more confident, but after a series of deaths in the family, loss of some friendships, financial trouble and even a devastating house fire, I went back to my old coping habits and have gained all of the weight back, and then some.
I want to turn things around, stop feeling sorry for myself and enjoy my life again.. and also meet this challenge head on and show it that I'm not afraid of it at all, haha
. My initial goal is just to reach Onederland again, because the fact that I am still capable of accomplishing it in 2015 is more motivating for me. My ultimate goal is to reach about 150, stop and see how I feel (mostly to let my mind catch up, because last time when I reached 165, it did kind of feel like I was in someone else's body, which was very weird and kind of jarring, haha!).
I think the greatest challenge will be in training myself to react to obstacles differently and not run to food for comfort, but I feel that I will learn a lot from the people here.
Nice to meet all of you and thanks for listening to my story! Here goes!
Let's do this! *Puts shades on*
BACK NyanMcMeow! I am so sorry for the tragedies you've faced! It really is no wonder you used food to self-medicate your emotions, but time to put all that in the past, and focus on the positive! Wow, you went from 233 to 165?! That's fantastic! That means you know exactly how to do it again, and I have no doubt you will! Dust off that treadmill, lol! This time, when you are well into Onederland, it's going to feel familiar and you'll recognize that's the healthy body you are meant to have! 
