(sigh) I swore I wouldn't do this.... I swore once I lost the weight I would never regain it. And yet here I am! I fell into the trap of a little more food and less exercise, one thing leads to another and suddenly I wake up one day, having gained almost 40 pounds back and realize that I'm fat again. Yuck.

So, greetings... here I am again. A little about me... I'm 39, Canadian, unemployed and bipolar. I was laid off from an oil company in February. My husband is out of work also so there's quite a bit of stress in our house. Thankfully we're not taking it out on each other, our relationship is still really strong. He is my rock and my best friend. Also thankfully we live in a family owned house so we're not paying rent and will not be kicked out. Because otherwise we'd probably be homeless.

I know, I know, what a negative nelly right? Sorry, I'm trying not to be, it's the bipolar. Before I lost my job I was doing really well, doctor was even going to take me off of one of my meds. Now I'm still trying but it's a struggle.

Besides the bipolar my biggest issue is my back, I have a collapsed disc which is painful and really limits what I can do for exercise. With the back pain comes a lot of nerve pain in both of my legs from the pinched nerve. Also the bottoms of my feet are numb and I think it's starting to spread up my right leg. I have an appointment for an MRI in January (holy wait list!) and am thankful I live in Canada where health care is paid for with taxes instead of individual insurance because there is no way in heck we could afford that.

So if you've actually read all of this, holy ****. And if not I don't mind, I know I've rambled on. But just wanted to say "Hi".... again.

BACK, Aunty_Jam! Yep, it happens! I did the same thing, gained all my weight back and then some! But what's done is done and I'm taking it back off again and so can you!

I'm very sorry that you are dealing with your work, emotional, and back issues, but what I like about what you have to say about it is the silver lining. Your DH and you have lost your jobs, but you have a solid home and love for each other. You have bipolar, but you are capable of getting it under such control that your dr. thought about taking you off a med. That means you can reach that point again! You have a bad back and severe pain, but you have health insurance and an MRI scheduled (even if it is a wait.) You keep pointing out the good even under difficult circumstances. That tells me you may have fallen off the weight loss horse, but you are the type to get back on and make positive things happen! You can do it! Good luck!

Welcome back. This is my third go round, never have reached my goal but my enthusiasm for living healthy certainly waxes and wanes.

Don't worry about starting over on weight loss. You're just recommitting yourself to a more positive lifestyle and thats awesome. Weight loss is a sweet side effect of treating ourselves right.

Welcome Aunty_Jam my partner isn't working at the moment either so can understand a little bit of what you are going through! I find that if I am eating right and getting in a bit of exercise that helps to keep my positivity levels up which I am sure you know is really important in stressful situations like unemployment! Good luck on your journey

Thank you everyone! And yes, the ability to see the silver lining is part of my whole positive life epiphany thing. I am grateful for it, I think it's the only thing keeping me sane right now (that and my hubby). I'm also grateful that I recommitted before I gained all of my weight back.

My biggest issue right now is motivation. When I started the last time I was ssssooo good about my eating and exercising. I haven't been able to get back to that point yet. Working on it.