Hi,
I am Mel (Melissa), American (but have lived in Europe for 16 years), age 49, used to teach history and have worked in a UK school as a TA, married for 24 years to my best friend who is one of the finest men I have ever met, two children: male age 19 and in uni, and a girl nearly 12 and just got braces and boobs! lol -- We also have a rather large Yorkie dog (she is a big Yorkie -- 12 pounds and not fat).
I never had a weight problem until I moved to the UK (age 33) in November 1994. I had undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder and gained 2.5 to 3 stone in about 4 to 5 months.
I spent the next 13 years losing and regaining the same one to two stones. Had another child, lost that weight gain -- but never the initial amount.
I did LL in 2008,and got back to less than I weighed when I got off the plane at Heathrow in 1994! I did not do all of management, but I kept it all off for about 8months, then quit exercising and started to regain.
I spent 2009 letting it slide back on -- and 2010 yoyoing. Until December 2010, when I was up about half of what I lost and approching obese (again).
Now, I am working on relosing it, and learning how to keep it off. I am almost back to a "healthy" bmi and have noticed that it comes off a lot more slowly the second time around -- so, please make a plan for how you will keep it off once you have gotten it off.
MM