brief intro:

My name is Ashley. I'm a derp just trying to improve my health both physically and mentally. I've been overweight/obese for all of my adult life. I'm 5'9. At my highest weight I was 345 lbs. I'm now currently 274.3 lbs. At this time I want to get down to around 200 lbs and go from there.

I have ongoing physical and mental health struggles that I battle with on the regular. These include daily headaches, tmj, fatigue, chronic sinus problems, anxiety, depression, trichotillomania, etc.

I work as an early childhood educator. I'm a lead teacher for multiple preschool aged classrooms. It can be quite exhausting, but I adore my work and find it immensely rewarding.

I have a lovely husband named Steven. We've been married a little over a year now and together for over three. I have a large pet family consisting of a dog (Artie), three cats (Sawyer, Hades, & Persephone), and five hamsters (Doodles, Doughnut, Nimue, Guinevere, & Brambles). My list of fandom interests is eclectic and lengthy so I will spare everyone from that.

life update:

physical health: My eating habits have been a rollercoaster the past few months. Lots of ups and downs. I haven't lost a substantial amount of weight in a couple of months. I am pleased that I haven't seemed to gain anything. I am down a bit from my last official weigh in. I've seen several of my doctors and have tried some new treatments to address my chronic/daily headaches. I tried physical therapy for 6 weeks to address my neck pain, which could be a factor. The pt did help reduce my neck pain slightly, no difference in my headache pain/frequency. Everything I was doing there I can apply at home, so I'm going to take what I learned and apply it. I can't keep affording to go when it is $120 a week, the slight neck pain relief pay off isn't worth it. My neurologist increased my dose of aimovig as my prevention medication, no difference. I go back in May. The next thing they want to try is Botox. Physical health is unfortunately still steadily the same.

mental health: Antidepressants were increased and I was prescribed a medication for sleep. But I've been having an increasingly challenging time dealing with chronic pain.

personal: I got another hamster, which is Brambles. She is a sweet skittish girl. Been working on trying to tame here/get her more comfortable with me. I also rescued a cat (Persephone) off the street. Turns out she is prego. We're expecting kittens any day now.

work: There has been several changes at work lately. I was put in charge of additional classrooms, which has added on to my list of responsibilities. One of the rooms isn't open yet and needs an overhaul of work done to it.