Shanna Intro :)

:)Hi all!
My name is Shanna Johnson, I was born in Tampa but moved to G'ville when I was 2 months old so I count myself a native. :)
After I graduated from PKY, I "took a year off" and moved out from the folks house and got a job at the original Bageland, back behind the old Purple Porpoise?  Once I got tired of making minimum wage while waiting on students, I ended up heading back to school when I was 22 (yes, 1 became 4), landing in Asheville, NC and attending a small liberal arts college called Warren Wilson.  I lived up there for 9 years (I am KICKING myself for not buying property back then!!), but once I met my husband the heart strings started pulling me back to my friends and family, so in 2001 we moved back here and got married in 2002.  My husband Glenn was born here, too, but when he was 5 his family moved up to Athens, GA, so yes.  He's a Bulldog.  But we have come to terms with our mixed marriage, we somehow make it work.

I've always thought that I've struggled with my weight, but in looking back I was unfairly comparing myself to others, when in actuality I was just right.  Damn that 20/20 hindsight...
My struggle truly began after my daughter Ella was born in 2002, I put on about 40 pounds.  After a few months of wallowing I went on the Atkins diet and actually got back to below my preggie weight, which felt right where I needed to be...but alas, I got pregnant with my son during the hurricanes of 2004 (big baby boom came the following June!), found my love for carbs too hard to fight and promptly put on 60+ pounds with Nate.  Unfortunately for me, he wasn't a 60 pound baby...

Pile on the following years with anxiety, stress, an Autism diagnosis for my son, my mom breaking an arm, breaking a hip AND fighting breast cancer, losing 2 friends to suicide in less than a year and the death of 3 family members (and don't EVEN get me started on the sister-in-law from HELL) and I'm now at the heaviest I've ever been.  To deal with the depression I found myself in (which I had never experienced before, a truly scary thing), I finally went to see Dr. Gabby (Gabrielle Peterson, I can't say ENOUGH about that amazing woman!) and she helped me go through all that grieving that I never let myself do.  See, I'm a perpetual volunteer (which Heidi, Cindy and Steph can attest to!), I want to help make things better for others, however I can.  My issue is, I need to put the care of myself within the top 3 of things I need to take care of; the problem is, I'm lucky if I ever make it ONTO freaking list!  I figured out when it was time to leave Dr. Gabby when we spent 30 minutes talking about our favorite parts in The Walking Dead...I LOVE zombies.

Heidi, Cindy and Steph have all been amazing friends to me these last few years, I've been blessed with their love and light in more ways than I can count, so it's fitting that I do this challenge with them, loves that I feel the most safe with.  And by proxy I feel safe with this new group of women, all on the path of health and well being. :)

So that's me, Shanna.  :)

PS:  My posted pic is my official "before", taken on May 5th, a day after I had wrenched my knee (hence the scooter).  The knee is better, but when I originally went in to have it looked at, my BP was 140 over 85, which freaked me the F*** OUT.  I've always had really low BP, like 105 - 110, so I knew something had to change.  I started the 17-day diet (which Glenn has been AMAZING with his support, cooking everything!!) and have lost 20 pounds since this pic was taken.  And when I went in for a progress check on my knee?  It was back down to 113 over 75.  I am SOLD on this healthy living thing. :)