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Introduction Text Hi, my name is Anna. I started Spark way back near the origins ;-), and lost some grief-weight, and gained some wonderful friends here. In 2008, I started having trouble with my thyroid (or....probably before then, but it was diagnosed then). Then, in Feb 2009, my thyroid was ablated (killed by radioactive iodine). The process of killing it off and having no metabolism for months, and slowly adding in the thyroid-replacement drug, Synthroid over more months-to-years was difficult to say the least. What it is, is akin to to opposite of weight-loss surgery (sooo...weight-gain surgery?), or at least that's how it happened for me. So when I started spark early on, as someone who had been an athlete but had put on 20+lbs from grief-eating, I never thought I'd need to be here to lose over 100lbs. Here I am. I tried coming back a few times in between, but since the meds still weren't tweaked correctly, it was an exercise in despondency---to be on a weight-loss journey, with no chance or possibility medically of losing weight, yikes~! I think the meds are close to tweaked correctly now, and I have my myriad of medical issues being managed along with my lack of thyroid. I'm looking for friends to connect (and re-connect) with, to live healthy within community. Sparkfriends made a HUGE difference when I was on Spark before~!



Do the best I can with each day, one moment at a time. I love to hike, bike, kayak, and especially to play with my kids. With those activiites in regular life, plus strength training, watching what I eat, and making sure I'm hydrated, I hope to make significant progress. Those were my 2006 goals. Now I'm at a re-start. I'd like to get to the YMCA at least 1x / week for aerobic exercise; 1x / week for yoga. I've joined a hiking group and am working on hiking once a week. Between those activities, a short walk should help :-). I've transitioned to a mostly vegan lifestyle in recent months and it helps SO much.

I'm from Long Island, have lived in upstate NY since 1990, first in Ithaca, and now in the Albany area. I'm currently disabled, but I hope move forward into health in a way that I can go back to school again. I have 2 boys, one in Crane School of Music / SUNY Potsdam, and the other a sophomore in high school.

I love nature, gardening, movies, books, MUSIC (and my boys supply me well with that~!), kayaking, hiking and yummy vegan food. I love waterfalls and beaches, mountains and starry skies, rainbows and sunsets. I don't love floods (Irene hit our house badly in 2011, Sandy got my relatives a bit in 2012).

Add a Link --Anna "There's so much beauty around us, but just two eyes to see // Everywhere I go, I'm looking." -- Rich Mullins
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