Djburney

I didn't realize that I had never filled this in...assuming everyone is just dying to learn more about me.

I live in Phoenix, AZ and I recently packed my youngest daughter off to college. What a weird feeling to have the entire house to myself now, just me and the dogs and my anorexic kitty. Actually, I am kind of loving it.

So here is my story:

I was never thin, even in childhood, although I certainly wasn't obese. My teen years and beyond were filled with uncertainty, insecurity, and even self-loathing at times. I remember as a young teenager having a dream about finding an entire box of Milky Way candy bars and I got to eat them all by myself and not have to share with my brothers and sister. And emotional eating was born....

My weight has gone up and down throughout my life, as high as 272 in my late 30s. I could get it down to where I looked fairly good, then back up it would go again, although never again that high (close though). All of those years of carrying around extra weight caught up with me a few years ago when I had arthritis in the joints on the top of my left foot. I had surgery on it, but still had pain. Then my right knee pain became unbearable, and I had a total knee replacement in 2011. That was hell to go through, let me tell you. Be very nice to anyone who has to go through that. So in March of this year, 9 months after the knee surgery, I found myself gaining weight at an alarming pace, eating absolutely anything, and as much of it as I could consume. I had challenges in my life for sure...a dysfunctional relationship, a daughter diagnosed with a mental disorder, a stressful job that wasn't going as well as I'd hoped.

I'm happy to say that my daughter is night and day different, so much better and I've lost over 50 lbs (hopefully I can soon update this to 60 lbs). I was passed over for the promotion, which hurt, but that very same week a recruiter called me about an even better position with a different company. I got the new