Halloween Hello!

[Pandamomma]

Hello everyone! Pandamomma here and I'm finding myself at the crossroads of getting my health back in order once again. This seems to be a reoccurring theme with me because I am usually defeated by some sort of health issue that sidelines me for months at a time so my fitness never really gets the chance to take off and flourish. However, this time I'm more educated, I'm armed with the tools I need to keep myself healthy and I'm ready for fitness to become as much a part of my daily routine as getting out of bed in the mornings and having coffee.

 

I was extremely active all throughout school. I ran, I played, I climbed trees, I swam. I got into marching band, various sports such as volleyball, track, some soccer, swim team and even some gymnastics. Once I graduated high school my activity level dropped slightly because I didn't have those structured sports to keep me in line but I walked everywhere and I would go clubbing on the weekends and dance for hours on end. Unfortunately I had a bad relationship with food and I was anorexic for a long time. I would go days without eating a real meal and I tried to simply drink my calories because it was faster than eating. This was not healthy and my body suffered tremendously for it. When people realized I wasn't eating, I had to do something to get them off my back so I decided that binging and purging would work to keep them from continuously nagging me to eat. Well this too was a poor choice and I ended up with serious health repercussions because of it. I just wanted to be skinny and even though at 5 foot 7 inches I weighed 110 pounds, that was "fat" to me back then and I was dealing with it like any person with a disorder would, by enpowering my eating disorders and letting them rule my life. 

 

I didn't get my stuff together until I got pregnant when I was 25 years old. However even then, I can't say that I made good healthy choices. For the first 6 months of my pregnancy all I ate was Taco Bell or Del Taco, the spicier the better. Then for the remainder of the pregnancy I ate salad and avocados. I gained 83 pounds during my pregnancy, had toxemia and was not a picture of health when I gave birth either. 

 

Fast forward to 2010. I'd decided that I wanted to seriously get into shape and that I was tired of being overweight. When my husband and I married in 2006 I was 235lbs. I was eating my emotions daily and the pounds just kept packing on. By 2010 I'd gotten down to 215 pounds but I wanted to seriously shed the weight and take control of my life again. He purchased an exercise program called The Pink Method for me and I started on it. I had success with it, I was losing inches, I lost a few pounds and I was learning to eat better. However after about 3 months on the program I got tired of all the food restrictions and effort to do the workouts and I quit. I had gotten down to 195 pounds in the 3 months I was on the program but the weight crept back up on me when I just threw my hands in the air and said "I'm done!"

 

The next few years were riddled with illnesses and trial and error situations with my body. Trying to find out what works for me specifically and not feeling "normal". I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, lower lumbar degenerative arthritis, several food allergies (gluten, dairy, soy, and a fructose malabsorption issue) and possibly rheumatoid arthritis (not diagnosed yet). My depression was winning and I just couldn't figure out what I did to deserve all this! All I wanted to do was lose weight, get healthy and stop being sick all the time.

 

Once I got my diet on point and I eliminated all the foods that were causing my inflammation issues, I felt so much better and able to actually get off my rear end and start working out again. I started by walking, only doing 2 miles at a time. Going extremely slow focusing on distance over time taken. Over the next few months I worked myself up to now being about to do over 4 miles and my fastest pace is 15:07/mile. However I'm ready to do more than just walk and hope for the best. It's time to get back into a structured routine so I can build muscle and develop that core strength that I've lost over the years. I'm starting now, at 187 pounds and 39 years old. I've come this far, I have further to go but I look forward to the journey!

[Nedwin]

Welcome the boards! We're glad to have you! You've had quite a journey so far.