Well, In August of 2011 I was doing really well on my fitness goals and weight loss. I had lost a total of 47 pounds and was feeling much better. I was swimming every day for at least an hour or walking/jogging on days I didn't swim. Then....life happened. I was offered a job in a small town in New Mexico. Population ~2000 and not growing, lol. So I arrived in my new digs August 7th and began my middle school English teaching career around the 15th of the same month. I started out logging and then I got busy. I mean super busy like wake up, go to work, come home, grade papers and then go to bed. Only diversion from this routine was teach Sunday school/got to church and church choir practice and bible study on Wednesdays. Over a few days of this schedule I quit logging my food or even visiting MFP. I kept meaning to go back and get back on track once things got less hectic. But guess what? They don't. Not ever. Then, the unimaginable, at least in my mind, happened. I went home to El Paso for Thanksgiving and I when I returned to NM I had been robbed. Not only robbed but vandalized. My front windows had been shot through, my laptop, nook and several other irreplaceable items (heirlooms) were gone, and everything was overturned and ransacked. I was heartbroken and my sense of security/privacy as a single woman living alone was shattered. I was having nightmares and not sleeping well. I even quit going to church there for a while... Then even worse, I found out who had robbed my house. Four kids from the school. Three of whom were my very own students. Needless to say they are no longer my students. Still not much has been done about this since this is such a small town and they were minors. This sent me into a depression. I turned to food for comfort and I stopped caring to the point that one of the counselors at the school asked me if I needed help because I was showing signs of depression. Then I went back to El Paso for Christmas break and got a much needed rest. As of January 2nd, I started my weight loss journey again. To my dismay I had gained back 24 pounds. I was definitely less healthy due to lack of exercise. But I haven't let that phase me too much. SO in January I lost a total of 13 pounds and I am hoping I can do the same in February or at least come close and then I will almost be back where I started. I have increased my activity level a great deal. I walk to and from work and everywhere I go in this little town. I also do not sit down in my classroom. I am constantly moving around. It has improved my health and my teaching. If you have read this far then you get the benefit of the moral of my story. Don't give up. I think if I had stuck with MFP through all of the busyness and depression, I would be much closer to my goal weight by now. I would be healthier and happier not stuck in this time warp. Many things in life will happen that are tough and unpleasant but that doesn't mean you can just let yourself go. In fact your healthy lifestyle can become the one thing you are doing right when everything else around you seems to be falling apart. Many of you are new and have made a resolution to lose weight and if you stick with this then you will succeed. If you give up because life is too hard (like I did) you may end up having to catch back up to yourself. Good luck all! Happy weight loss!
