No fear of commitment here! Will lose 125+ lbs to live life more fully at 40!

eml298

Hi all! I've been on MFP on and off for a few years now. In the past five years, I've completed an internship, defended my dissertation, completed a fellowship, lost two very, very close loved ones, moved across the country four times, and now I'm here! I'm not opposed to sharing more detail, but I don't want to scare people off with a novel.

Here's what I know:
*If I don't lose weight, I will not live as long as I want to live, and I will definitely not live as fully.
*I feel like a hypocrite guiding patients to change their lives when I'm not changing mine consistent with my values.
*I have no more excuses.

and most importantly:
*I *NEED* daily support.

During grad school, I had a thread on the (then Beachbody) Power90 forum. I promised to post daily progress, successes, missed opportunities (AKA failures), and personally respond to each person who posted on my thread. That was a serious commitment, but it WORKED! A group of us were very successful with our goals.

Since then, I mostly lurk in a lot of threads, sometimes feeling as though my posts are invisible when no one responds to the few I make. I thought I'd take a leap and start my own here. There are others in similar situations (and to whom I will respond), but many have a medical condition or injury or other limiting factor. I don't (old ankle sprain withstanding, I guess...though it's been years).

I have a long way to go, but I'll take it one step at a time. I have 125 lbs to lose. (My original goal was 160, but it felt so incredibly far that I wanted a slightly more attainable one.) When I lost weight in grad school, I got to 202 TWICE, and could not (well, let's be honest - DID not) make it under that. So, my goal this time (to start) is 199. I will be 40 on 7/30/2015. I know I will not weigh 199 then (as I'm 314.3 as of two days ago), but I hope to be well on my way!

In the past few days, I've begun keeping a food diary again. In the next few days, I'll reintroduce working out. As I am able, I hope to increase the frequency. (Back in the day of my last thread, Power90 was six days/week.)

THIS WAS FROM MY OLD BB THREAD, and seems to have spoken to people:
I have looked around the boards and have seen many encouraging threads, but it seems that sometimes several days pass without a posting. I know that I need daily encouragement, and so I will check the boards every day and we can cheer each other on!!! I am GOING to get under 200. What about you?

I am trained to help people, but I need to help myself! I will also pledge to help you..if you will help me stay motivated, too!!

Ideally, a few folks will join in for daily check-ins and the other relevant info mentioned above. For me, life is relationship-based (including one's relationship with one's self), and I need to improve mine. We all have our stories of loss, struggle, trauma, disappoint, but let's move through them instead of being buried by them. Anyone care to join?

lizzmiller8

Go girl! We have very similar goals! My goal is also 199. We can do it!

txcraftr

I had175 to lose when I started. I weighed 325. I am down to 229. Have 79 pounds to go but would be happy with 50. 199 has seemed like forever away but I will help you to help myself.

Nikeolie

We can do this! I started at 349... down to 331. My first goal is to get below 300... than take it 50 pounds at a time. I really want to be under 200, but I would be ecstatic being 225 again! I remember thinking I was so fat at 170 at age 17. Man, I really wish I was that weight again, but I will get there (hopefully) you're welcome to add me.

eml298

@lizzmiller8‌ - Nice to "meet" someone not only with similar goals, but who is willing to share them with others! Hope you'll stick around the thread!

@txcraftr‌ - I love your avatar! The colors are awesome, but I guess I always love a good castle! I look forward to moving forward together!

@Nikeolie - Yes, we CAN do this!! Congratulations on your hard work so far!! It's amazing that you've already lost 18 lbs! Woot! Any tips you have to share are welcome!

We got an ice storm here in Asheville that basically shut down the city yesterday. Theoretically, it's better today, though I'm always scared about driving (or riding) in these conditions. Hopefully all is well and I'm here at the end of the day to check in! Happy Wednesday, all!

Strongandscrappy

I am almost at my goal but I love community and I still will need support when at maintenance. I still have 10 lbs to lose and I do p90x2 right now. I love Tony Horton! Even though he's cheesy he motivates me. OP congratulations on all your accomplishments! This weight loss will be the icing on the cake!

Bexyf

I have around 70lbs to lose but need people to "nag" me every day. Sent req but feel free to add me

jck511

Hello! I just recently came back and found your thread! I'm not tech savvy but I'm trying and I have to lose the same if not more. And I need support as well. My DH is not helping so I'm on my own! My first goal is to actually completely fill out food for the day. I always forget at night! Looking forward to learning from everyone!

JIMTOLKEN553

Greetings everyone, add me as a friend for extra motivation!

JIMTOLKEN553

eml298 wrote: »

We got an ice storm here in Asheville that basically shut down the city yesterday. Theoretically, it's better today, though I'm always scared about driving (or riding) in these conditions. Hopefully all is well and I'm here at the end of the day to check in! Happy Wednesday, all!

I live in Spartanburg, small world!

IslandSneezerooo

Thanks for your reply on my thread yesterday... I'm happy to support you as well!

As you know I have 125 lbs I want to lose too, well, technically not as much anymore as I'm down 7 so far! Sounds like we both have a lot of the same goals. I'm aiming for being at goal by my 40th bday too in May 2016. Let's do this!!

christy834

I just read your post and thought "oh please be my friend" I need support and motivation help too. I want to lose 100lbs and maintain it. I will be 45 this summer and want my 45th year to be "my year"!

ShellyPro

I started at 341 in June of last year, I stalled for a little while but I'm down to 274 this morning. You can do this. Support and cheerleaders are so important and so are those goals. I set up mini goals each month that would get me to 199 by the end of the year. I put it on my fridge to remind myself that I have this big goal and every time I open that fridge it better be to get me to my goal! You can do this - that number seems so big but when you break it down into mini goals it becomes so much easier... 2 lbs a week // 8lbs a month // 96lbs a year!!

priyaFitnessFreak

I have lost 20 and have 30 more to lose to get down to 150. My height is 5 ft 5 ". This is my 2nd time on mfp. First time around, I was really good with exercise but not at all with clean eating. I let health take a backseat while work, family, friends always got the priority. This time, I'm very focused. 8 yrs of bad eating habits got me here. It's going to take time but I owe it to myself to invest the time and effort necessary to fix this. Looking forward to sharing my journey with you guys!

eml298

@mrscapri - Wowza! You're an inspiration! Good job and thanks so much for popping in! Having some folks at different stages of their journey around is such a resource! And, Tony is a ham! He always cracked me up, even though I was watching the same handful of videos over and over again! Great work-out, eh?

@Bexyf - One of my favorite things is a good reframe. That's where you take a statement that appears to have a negative bias/judgment, and restate it positively. For instance, "nagging" might actually be my providing you with positive reinforcement, encouragement, and most importantly, accountability - because that's exactly what I'm looking for! And, I'm so glad you came into the thread!! Welcome!

@jck511 - Welcome! So glad to have you! You're not alone anymore! If you have any tech questions, fire away! I can try to help, or encourage my husband (web developer) to hop on in! Also, we've gotta work on that husband of yours! It's hard to live with someone who's not collaborating in such a big life change. We can - no, will - do it!

@JIMTOLKEN553 - Welcome! And thanks for dropping in! I grew up in Greenville (well, really Greer), so I know Spartanburg mildly. Mostly, I drove through there between Greenville and Charlotte! So glad to have another voice of encouragement and motivation!

@RillaVanilla - Way to go with 7 down already! We're well on our ways! Here we go with birthday-oriented goals - and our are so close! Thanks so much for stopping over. Maybe we can have cross-thread discussions!

@christy834 - Another birthday-oriented goal! We're on a roll! So glad to have you here! It's nice to know there are several of us starting this long but sure-to-be-rewarding journey together! You're heard here in this thread, and I look forward to our supporting each other!

@ShellyPro - Woo-hoo!! You're making great progress - another inspiration! Thanks so much for joining the thread! I love your reminder about mini goals - not only making them, but DISPLAYING them in prominent/relevant locations! I need to implement this! Perhaps one goal I'll make is to make some mini goals this weekend! Thanks and welcome! I look forward to our journey!

@priyaFitnessFreak‌ - Way to go with 20 down already! Another inspiration - you guys are everywhere! I think many of us here (definitely myself!) can relate to prioritizing everyone else over ourselves. That seems to be a common shared characteristic among people in these shoes. That's okay - now we can focus on ourselves and each other. A little secret? I was having trouble getting myself fully motivated, but I knew if I had accountability here with actual people, I'd show up. Here I am! I hope this thread can provide support for you for the rest of your journey and beyond!

To all - I know I said it above, but thank you for being here, and welcome! I'm so gracious that you all joined the thread. It's very, very appreciated.

Here's a tidbit from today: I am picky about desserts. I learned a while back (during my last round of P90), that desserts had to be "worth it" to satiate me. For instance, multiple cookies from a WalMart bakery are not personally satisfying to me (I know others may feel differently!). However, one piece of Godiva chocolate for 100 calories or less was! So, I allowed myself to VALUE myself enough to splurge (financially) instead of "splurging on cheaper but less personally satisfying desserts. And, I learned that I do better when I accept that I need a dessert each day. So, account for it, have a reasonable portion, and it works (for me)!

Anyway, today in my team staffing, someone brought a customized, high-end bakery, flakey, king cake for Mardi Gras. It smelled SO good, and cinnamon roll-type stuff is a fave of mine. I declined! I was so proud! It wasn't even that big of a deal. Know how I did it? Told myself two things - 1) I don't know how to log this, and 2) I can tell my thread! Voila! This thread worked for me already!

Hope everyone's having a great day! I just moved and started this job last week, so I have free time at work which will probably never happen again after a couple weeks!

We are doing this - together!

lgb1

SO PROUD of you for starting this journey!! After all I've seen you get through in the last five years, I'm constantly inspired by your strength. To not only bravely face a series of huge life challenges, but come out the other side helping people in dire need to feel better every day, and doing it with endless positivity -- you are a truly amazing woman, and I love you so much. You WILL live better, because you truly want it. You've made great strides here with MFP friends before, and I see a lot of great folks here who are also motivated to make really meaningful life changes. Lotsa great chatter here -- I did particularly like the tip from @ShellyPro about looking at it as a string of very small achievable goals. (And LOLed @mrscapri77 re: Tony Horton, he has been iconic for us in this process for sure!) Equally important but less measurable, though, are the changes in your body's strength and metabolism. But it is exactly when the changes become more subtle and imperceptible that we need additional motivation and reinforcement from our friends and family to continue at 110%. I am always honored to support you, but I'm glad that you have an amazing community of friends shaping up here to add their voices of support as well. Now let's rock this mutha!!! dh.

jrline

Good Luck on your Journey. I'm in better shape at 41 than I was as 21.

lgb1

Amen @jrline. Not too far from our neck of the woods I see! And fantastic job losing almost 100 pounds!! I know exactly what you mean, the 21 year old "me" was a sloppy mess compared to me now at 37. Even though I'm still no athlete, every ounce of strength counts. We should all remind ourselves of this every day. Keep rockin'!!

sharonandwyatt

I have the same goals...I want to lose 100 plus pounds so I can go into my 50's healthy

jennk5309

I will be 40 in June. It took me 6 years to lose 100 pounds (yes, YEARS- I mostly did it with exercise and wasn't too careful about eating) and needed to lose 15 more to get to goal. I then got pregnant last year and gained almost 70 back! I want to get to my goal this year because I want to be able to keep up with my daughter as she grows and not be mistaken for her grandmother instead of her mother. I find I do better on Weight Watchers than MFp because of the weekly weigh-ins/accountability.

eml298

@jrline‌ - Thanks for dropping in! I hope to be able to say the same - that I am in better shape @ 41 than I was at 21! Excellent inspiration!

@lgb1‌ - Thank you for your enduring support. As with most things, I couldn't do it without you. We will both be the better for it! And, you've been through your own share of things, and are still ticking - the praise is bidirectional! We just have to decrease the focus on (crappy) food and increase the focus on MOVING our bodies!

@sharonandwyatt‌ - So glad to have you here! I think we're well on our way just being here - taking ownership of the situation and implementing plans for change. I'd love to take the journey with you!

@jennk5309‌ - You've done this thing before, so you know it can be done! Instead of focusing on how infuriating it is (to me) to know I got over this hurdle before and let myself drift back (and MUCH further), I'm choosing to feel empowered by knowing this is not a mystery. It's math and effort to change habits. Also, something you said really struck me. You said WW has worked better for you in the past - BECAUSE OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY. (I'm sorry for internet screaming, but this is SO true!)

--> Moving out of response to one person because I think this speaks not only to @jennk5309, but to several of you - especially those of whom have written comments via PM about feeling alone and isolated in this journey.

The time I was most successful was when I put myself out there (in that thread back in 2004). There were so many days when I DID NOT want to "push play" (P90 speak for doing the workout), but I did so because I knew the handful of folks who stuck with me in posting daily were depending on me and were HOLDING ME ACCOUNTABLE, as I was them. Whether or not it "should" be the case, I am largely driven by knowing someone somewhere gives a flying "F" about what I'm doing, or....about me. This was my primary reason for starting this thread. I was so scared no one would reply, and I'm SO happy you all did!! I want us to have each other to mentally push us into pushing play, challenging our fears (like risking feeling rejected if no one had responded to my thread) or saying no to king cake, or whatever YOUR personal triggers are. For some reason, I don't want to let YOU down, and that helps me not to let myself down.

Thank you all so incredibly much for joining the thread! Let's stick with it!