Introduction ~ Stephanie

My name is Stephanie. I'm a 35-y/o work from home mom. I have an 8-y/o son who is currently diagnosed with a learning disability, Aspergers Syndrome, ADD & petit mal (absence) seizures. I also have a 4-y/o *typical* daughter who is very bright & wants to learn everything her older brother knows. :) I transcribe cases before the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals & know WAY more than I ever wanted to about illegal immigration in the U.S.
All my life I was thin & *fit* until I got engaged & graduated from college. I discovered I was a *stress-eater* when I went for my wedding dress fitting & couldn't fit ~ I gained about 40 lbs in 9 months! :O That 40 lbs took me nearly 2 YEARS to lose! When I got married, my step-son was 10 & my hubby & I had decided we were okay with not having any kids of our own. After 2 years of marriage, though, he changed his mind, and I was okay with that. We decided to try to have a baby. I was FINALLY back at my *old* weight when I got pregnant with my son. I gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy. :O By the time my son was 3 years old I was within 10 lbs of my pre-baby weight. It was around this time that my hubby who had gone from not necessarily wanting any more kids, to *well, maybe just one* thought maybe we should have *just one more*. ;) So we decided to try again, and still carrying 10 lbs of weight I'd gained during my first pregnancy, I got pregnant again. I gained nearly 60 lbs AGAIN! :O My daughter is now 4 & I've been down as much as 40 lbs, only to gain it back.
While I regularly track my weight & semi-regularly track my measurements (though not all of the ones used here) I've never REALLY been accountable before. My goal is to lose 20 lbs over the next 10 weeks ~ this would bring my weight out of the *obese* category & into the *overweight* category. From there I still need to lose another 30 lbs to be within the *healthy* weight range for my height & frame.