My Life

Hi my name is Leigh Thomas. I am a 35 year old mother of a 3 year old daughter and a 11 month old son. I have been married to my husband, Robert aka Red, for 4 years. I have always struggled with my weight as long as I can remember, not that I was always fat just not what everyone thought I should be. When I was 16 years old I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disease and have battled with depression and manic episodes since I was 14 years old. I struggled through school trying to fit in and never feeling that I was quite there. I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love the gospel and the church but I still never felt like I fit in with others. So through my life I have tried everything to get people to like me and feel that acceptance. When I graduated from high school I moved to Provo, UT to get an education. With the bipolar it was hard and sometimes I had a hard time keeping my focus on school. While there a met an amazing man, Chad Snider, in a week of meeting we were engaged to be married. A week later he was killed in a car accident. I was so angry at everyone and everything. How could this happen to me I am finally happy and now he is gone. I went off the deep end. I started drinking, smoking and well lets just say other things that a single girl probably shouldn't be doing. Then when I turned 21 years old I decided to change my life around and get active in the church again and serve a mission for the church. I was called to the California Arcadia Mission. I was so excited. When I got into the field I struggled with my depression and keeping my focus on my mission. One day I received a letter from home saying that my two brother's health was not good and both were in the hospital and my baby brother wasn't expected to make it. Now you must know that Aaron, my baby brother, is my best friend. I went into a dark depression and couldn't stay out while this was going on at home. So I was sent home after only being out for 4 months. At this time I was weighing in at 250 lbs. Someone at this time told me I needed to get married but I needed to loose the weight. I was so heart broken that no one could love me when I was fat. At that moment was my decline in church activity. A few years later at age 23 I decided to move to Redding, CA and start a new life. I met some wonderful people, who I am proud to say are some of my best friends. I worked and went to school while I was out in Ca. While I worked at the airport I lost 100 lbs and was weighing in at 150 lbs. Feeling great but still struggling with my depression. I started seeing a therapist who diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and also boderline personality disorder. That diagnosis explained alot about me and my life. Still struggling with depression and life I quit my job at the airport and went to school full time. I enjoyed school, I was feeling accomplished. Then when I was 27 years old I met a man who would change my life forever. This man was a predator and found me at my weakest point in life and exploited that. We started dating. I didn't not know he was a drug addict and abusive. Now with borderline personality disorder (bpd) you are afraid of being alone and abandoned. So after a few months of dating he introduced me to crystal meth. I did not want to be alone or abandoned so I started using. At first it was only recreationally but it soon got to be everyday. Whatever he told me to do I did it. I even traveled across the country with him because he was running from the law. We stopped at my mom and dad's house in Vernal, Ut and they could see something wasn't quite right but I stayed with him despite their concerns. While we were in Tennesse he was arrested and extradited back to Redding. I went and lived with my mom and dad until he was released in 2004. At this time I was pretty consistant at keeping my weight around 170 lbs. When I went back to Redding to be with this guy, I got little odd jobs here and there and we lived in our van. we soon graduated up to a travel trailer. I found a temp job at Blue Shield of Ca and we soon graduated up to an apartment. I loved working for Blue Shield and was soon hired on as a full time employee. I was good at what I did but soon meth crept back into my life when my boyfriend started doing it again. I was high most of the day and night. I didn't sleep, eat, pretty much nothing except go to work and get high. Soon I was demoted at work but I loved the job I was doing now and am so appreciative of the managers and supervisors I had that didn't fire me and helped me through this time. In October of 2005, my boyfriend cheated on me and left me for his other girlfriend (the best thing that ever happened). At the time I was devastated and stayed high for about 5 months. In January of 2006 I welcomed a roomate into my apartment. Her name is Jessica and she had a 2 year old son Jaydon. She was so shy but lots of fun. We soon became fast friends and still are to this day. I was still getting high every chance I could and thought I was just fine. Some days I would look in the mirror and wonder who was staring back at me so I would do another line and forget about all my troubles. One day in March of 2006 I had been up for 2 weeks straight, no sleep and very little to eat weighing in at 130 lbs and very sunken in, bones poking out everywhere. I thought I looked good. Jessica walked into the apartment to find me on the couch struggling to breathe. Her and her boyfriend at the time tried to talk me into going to the hospital but I didn't want to get into trouble so they nursed me back to breathing that night. Jessica looked at me there and then and said "this has got to stop! you are out of control! if you don't stop Jaydon and I are out of here!" I realized then I needed to stop and was about to loose my best friend. I gave up meth that day and I have never looked back. Yes I still crave but I keep my eye on the ball and know that is no way to live. A few weeks after being clean I started dating a wonderful man that showed me how a girl should be treated and that I could trust again. In about a month of being clean I gained 40 lbs but I didn't care because I was healthly once again. The next year I had a great time traveling and playing with my boyfriend, his kids and his family. They all treated me so good and I knew I was truly loved. Then in september of 2006 I was arrested for something that had happend back in 2003 when I was high with my ex. I was sentenced to 90 days work release. I was mortified! But my boyfriend, his family and my family stuck by me, knowing I was not the same person. I had to do my work release every weekend for 7 months. During this time I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. In March of 2007 my boyfriend and I broke up. I was single yet again but on track. Had a great job, awesome friends, who could ask for more. While I was at work release I met a man named, Robert "Red" Thomas. We started dating on March 17th, St. Patricks day when I went and hunted him down in a local bar and told him he was mine. In about a month I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. June 1, 2007 Red and I got married in the Redding downtown mall. I was 173 lbs. Through my pregancy I thought Im eating for two I can eat all I want. By the time I gave birth on January 2, 2008 I weighed 253 lbs. Yes that is right I gained 80 lbs. After Kearsley was born I lost 20 lbs and sat there for a long time. March of 2008 Red was arrested for his 4th DUI and was sentenced to 2 years in state prision (he would only do a year). I moved back to Ut to live with my mom and dad. I started working for them in July 2008 taking care of my baby brother who has Cerebal Palsy and being a stay at home mom. In October of 2008 I decided to join weight watchers to loose my weight before Red got out. I was going to look good for him. I ended up getting down to 180 lbs. In april 2008 Red paroled out to Utah and we were enjoying being a family again. I got lax in my weight loss and gained about 20-25 lbs. Then in December of 2009 we found out we were going to have another baby. At this time I finally quit smoking and I have now been cigarette free since then. In August 3, 2010 we welcomed our son, Joshua into our family and I was sitting at 250l lbs yet again. I have struggled to loose the weight and keeping motivated. Until March of 2011 a dear friend, Sara, bugged me to try products from Liv International. I was relucant that these products would work. But I started using them and they seemed to help my fibromayalgia pain. I still wasn't doing all of it until June 2011!