Hi I'm Lynn Merritt and Welcome To My New Blog

Hello all,

I would like to introduce myself.  I'm Lynn E.Merritt, MSW LCSW.  I hold a Master's degree in Social Work from The University of Connecticut and I'm licensed by the State of Connecticut as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.  Having a career in Psychiatric Social Work, I specialized in the treatment of Major Affective Disorders as well as other emotional issues. 

Ok, the real reason of my blog, Shrink Yourself: Your Emotions and Weight Loss is to have a place where I can discuss  the emotional components of losing weight, dieting and all around well-being of mind, body and spirit.  I thought the title of this blog was a fun way to tie the emotional feelings we have as we also go through the physiological changes of  losing weight while on a diet.

I have been successfully following a diet plan for the past year now. During this past year, I've lost 40 lbs; yet, even more importantly, I have lost many inches, feel fantastic, my clothes fit well and I feel more emotionally balanced than ever.  Medically speaking, I do have some problems but because of my diet and weight loss that is improving. 

My problem:  I have Metabolic Syndrome, also known as Insulin Resistance, Syndrome X etc.  The metabolic issues here are actually a cluster of a number of problems such as being overweight,  insulin resistance, midline fat, elevated cholesterol levels, hypertension, pre-diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, carbohydrate cravings, Poly Cystic Ovaries (PCOS) depression and anxiety to name a few!  I, personally do not have all these medical problems, but do fall in this category of Metabolic Syndrome.

Therefore, my focus of this blog is twofold: it will center around emotions and weight loss with regard to this metabolic conundrum and I will be discussing, in general, emotional issues surrounding weight loss, diet and well-being.  Lynn

*** Just a reminder: This blog is for informational purposes only.  Always seek the advice of a trained medical health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.