A little over three years ago I made the decision to talk with my Dr. about my weight. We discussed me taking phentermine as an appetite suppressant (which I used for about 3 months) and I decided to attend Overeaters Anonymous meetings as well. OA was wonderful and I found a nice intimate meeting just a few minutes from home. I also used Spark People to design a food plan as well as to track what I was eating. Over the next 6 months I did well, I lost more than 65 pounds, I was able to fit into my wedding dress again, even after giving birth to twins and another baby in the previous 5 years.
Unfortunately I fell back into old habits. I got busy with my twins starting school and I stopped tracking my food as carefully. I started missing meetings here and there and then in November of 2010 I injured my ankle, a common enough occurrence for me but this time it needed to be surgically repaired. Unfortunately while I spent the next three months recovering from my injury and the resulting surgery I destroyed the partial recover I had made from my compulsive eating behaviors. I missed more meetings, even though friends from the group offered rides while I was unable to drive, and when I started working from home doing data entry online my overnight hours were just one more excuse.
It has been more than 2 years since I have been to an OA meeting.
In June of 2011 I went back to college. In May of this year I earned my Associate of Arts Teaching degree and next month I will be back at the original university where I started 21 years ago. I will be working to finish my Bachelor of Science Elementary Education degree with a concentration in Special Education.
In May of 2012 I was diagnosed with adult attention deficit disorder, which explains a lot about what happened during my first college stint.
At this moment in my life I am waiting for the results of an endometrial biopsy to find out if I have cancer or precancerous cells. One of the biggest risk factors for this type of cancer is obesity. Because I am still fairly young for this type of cancer my risks aren't terribly high that there will be a problem. While I realize that I am probably cancer free I cannot help but take stock in how I am living my life. At this moment in time I am about 120 pounds above healthy. I have somehow managed to keep about 20 pounds of the weight I lost three years ago off but I know that I have to do better.
My twins start third grade this year and my youngest begins preschool as well. My babies are all miracles. The twins are the result of nearly four years of trying to conceive and the help of my parents who saw my broken heart and offered their help to pay for us to go through fertility treatments. Our youngest was one of those surprise babies that comes to so many couples who used fertility specialists the first time around. They are all bright and creative. They are my joy and the cause of all most of the gray hairs on my head. I want a very long life with these kids and I want to be healthy and strong when they have their own children one day. I want to grow old with my husband and I want to teach for many years to come.
So, today I am committing myself to getting to that 8 a.m. OA meeting on Saturday morning. I am committing myself to eating the way I am supposed to eat instead of eating like my health doesn't matter. So, today is my first day to return to living "one day at a time" when dealing with my food and remembering that protecting my health is important to more than just me.
If you are interested in my original journey you can find my blog about it here.
If you are interested in my original journey you can find my blog about it here.
