I have been with SparkPeople since Oct 2008 and I have learned a lot from articles and videos on here.

I am a writer (obviously). A journalist by profession, to be exact. I also do a lot of creative writing. Unless I get some divine inspiration on a subject and/or I know you well enough, I'm not much of a talker. (But that "quietness" is becoming less apparent as I go through life.) Otherwise, in writing, I can seem to be a talker. Writing is one of the things has helped me ...

I have been with SparkPeople since Oct 2008 and I have learned a lot from articles and videos on here.

I am a writer (obviously). A journalist by profession, to be exact. I also do a lot of creative writing. Unless I get some divine inspiration on a subject and/or I know you well enough, I'm not much of a talker. (But that "quietness" is becoming less apparent as I go through life.) Otherwise, in writing, I can seem to be a talker. Writing is one of the things has helped me throughout my life.

The biggest thing that has helped me in my life right is my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have known him since I was a child, and I have been strong in my beliefs since 12-13 yrs old. And this year, I am thankfully that I have taken the time to learn to walk even close with Him.

My story? Well, I have been fortunately most of my life to just be around 10-11 pounds above what I should weight. But I flucuated the whole time. When I began to work in HS and when I attended college, I had to walk everywhere I went (and ride the bus) so that kept my weight relatively average. Then in 2005, I was introduced with what was at first an outlandish idea-- join the Army to start a journalism career. With all the up and downs with meeting the requirements to enlist, including giving up on it for a little while, I ended up weighing a weight I hadn't seen since my mid teens. I joined in April 2006. After going to basic training, I lost even more weight, noticably in inches, as I kept a tighter reign on what I ate than the drill sergeants. That was until advanced training, where I gained more weight (not sure how much). Then I came to Fort Hood, Texas, and I gained even more weight. From then until I left the Army--early and honorably in Dec. 2007, I struggled with my weight. When I was released, I started to neglect myself as I became more and more depressed. Fortunately, once I got a job and an apt, the depression of that caliber left. But through all of it, I gained more weight than I ever have at one time, and now weigh the highest I ever had in my life. And with now having a car, I don't depend on walking as much as I use to. Even though when I first separated, I finished up and later picked up more sessions with personal trainers, I continued to gain weight.

Weight gain got me off the high of thankfulness in not doing any more PT. What demotivated me in the first place was when I was Army, I would do what I knew to do, including exercise and cutting back on food, but getting nowhere. No kidding, I was eating pretty much whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. (Sometimes watching it, but I never counted calories). I was also mainly doing required exercise and not This year I was diagnosed with GERD/acid reflux, which I tried to use as a motivator.

But when I read about sparkpeople.com online, free at that, that was a motivator. But it is new for me to do this losing weight on my own and be conscious of eating and exercising.

So my goal is not just get to a certain weight, I want to be happy with my body. I wasn't before I joined, and rarely was since my teens. And I am forcing myself to reach out. I am use to pursuing some things on my own, and I don't know many people around me who is trying to lose weight, and those people have a different pattern of everyday life than me. So, I am not sure what to do, other than this program, but I should stop gaining weight first of all.

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