This is my get healthy journey!

Hello readers,

My name is Jamie, and I'm fat, sick and overweight.

Back in 2009 when I gave birth to my youngest child, I had gained a lot of weight with my pregnancy. I had undiagnosed gestational diabetes (diagnosed after delivery due to a hypoglycemic infant) which caused me to go from a weight of 140 lbs before pregnancy to a staggering 220 lbs at delivery.

Three months after giving birth, while struggling to lose the pregnancy weight, I was diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder and put on anti-psychotic medication. Although I have taken my medication every day since my diagnosis, these medications are NOTORIOUS for weight gain and making it hard to lose weight. My weight has fluctuated steadily up and down between 180 lbs and 200 lbs ever since.

In May of 2013, I separated from my husband of 5 years (together for 7 years) and started smoking again as a way to cope with the stress of not only separating from my husband, but also coming out as a lesbian woman. Since last summer, it's been one rough time after another. Lost jobs, dropping out of school (I am already a college graduate, this would have been my second diploma), homelessness, domestic troubles with my current partner, debt mounting, you name it. It has not been a good year for me.

Through all of these troubles, I relied on junk food, cigarettes and a heavy caffeine addiction to get me through it all, but at what cost? I have redeveloped my childhood asthma, I'm not sleeping well, I'm overweight, and it's a struggle to walk up a staircase. It's safe to say that this is rock bottom, folks.

That's what brings me here today. My partner of 16 months is moving out this weekend due to a breakdown in our relationship (we remain best friends) and I find myself for the first time in 8 years facing down the barrel of living on my own. I have decided to take this opportunity to focus on me, and get back to healthy! I want a healthier body, mind, spirit, finances, just all around better health!

Here are my current goals that I will be tackling on this blog, one step at a time:

1.  Quit smoking
2. Quit Caffeine
3. Continue the ban on Alcohol (quit March 2014)
4. Get my finances in order
5. Reach my goal weight of 150 lbs
6. Raise my fitness level by exercising 5 times per week
7. Grow my hair out so it fits in a ponytail again (okay, not essential to my overall health, but this is about making ME feel GOOD.
8. Drink 8 glasses of water per day
9. Meditate every day
10. Keep this blog updated on my progress!

And that's it! This blog will be a way for me to laugh through the good times, cry through the bad, and keep myself focused on my goals. It's a way for me to be accountable to myself and remind myself why I'm doing all these things that seem so difficult now, because the end result is a healthier me!

Wish me luck!

- J xo