New members - tell us about yourself
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Welcome Elizabeth, Wendy and Caroline! We are a friendly and very supportive group. Use it to your advantage and pick their brains! Lol0
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Welcome, welcome. This is a pretty great group with people at all points on the journey so you will always find someone who understands you.0
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Hello! My name is Teresa and I'm 49 1/2 ish. I hope that is close enough to 50 that I can join this group. I have a 72 year old husband so maybe that can count too!
I've been a member of MFP for awhile and have lost a little and gained a little, and so on and so on! I'm totally in a new head space and more determined than ever to get this weight off once and for all. I have about 75 lbs to lose.
I hope to make friends, learn, be inspired and supported. I promise to do the same. I've learned that being an island isn't the way to do this weight-loss journey.0 -
You are right. I found contact with people with similar problems a great help. Welcome aboard.0
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Hi, I'm Ann, age 59.
I've been overweight most of my life, but in April 2015 some kind of switch flipped in my head, and I decided (committed) that it was time to lose weight. Reasons? I just got *fed* *up* (so to speak - heh) with annoying health problems that would've been less likely to happen if I were at a healthy weight. Let's see: Bad knees (torn meniscus in one), high cholesterol/triglycerides (though I was getting that somewhat under control without weight loss, via dietary changes), borderline blood pressure (ditto), breast cancer, sleep apnea, lots more, and finally acid reflux/heartburn that led to a diagnosis of adenomyomatosis of the gall bladder (not stones/sludge, but a cholesterol/inflammation-related thing).
From April to July, I lost around 28 pounds at about 2 lbs/week by estimating my TDEE, and estimating calories, but then plateaued. That's when I joined MFP and started logging. Have lost another 7 since then. I'm now working at holding my loss to about a pound a week, since goal is getting closer. (5'5", SW 183, CW 148.5, GW 130-ish). (By the way, I am hypothyroid, too.)
I'm a 15-year survivor of stage III breast cancer; retired (decided to retire ASAP after the cancer diagnosis because I realized I'd be peeved if I got metastatic breast cancer and never got a chance to retire); a widow (since I was 43); vegetarian since 1974; childless and an only child, both parents deceased, so I have no familial responsibilities to speak of.
For fun, I row (12 years now, water in season, machine off season), make jewelry, bike a bit, am teaching myself to play bluegrass banjo, and enjoy mixed-media visual journaling. For exercise, I take spin classes, do a bit of yoga, and am again lifting a bit.
That's enough! TL;DR!
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Welcome Ann! Nice to meet you. This is a great group. Many here have obstacles like you, thyroid, heart disease, blood pressure, menopause, cancer, arthritis, bad knees and many more. Kudos to your survival and attitude! What I like about the group is that they don't let age or ailments stop them, slow them a bit, but not stop them. However, it is nice to be in a group that understands that we can't just suck it up like when we were twenty, lol.0
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Hi! My name is Lynnette. I'm 52. Santa Barbara CA native who lives in the beautiful Sonoma County wine country of Northern California. Married 26 years, but as of now my husband is on a work detail in Washington DC for at least 4 months, maybe even longer! I'm a sub in our local school district. Two daughters: 19 year old sophomore @ UC Berkeley and 12 year old 8th grader in public school. I feel like I've wrassled with the same 30-50 pounds since about 40. I was effortlessly lean & active up through my 30's so I never really learned to eat & drink like a lady... I could always keep up with the boys! I've taken pounds off & put them back on several times thru various efforts like Spark People, paleo etc but ever since menopause I can see a one way trajectory toward becoming a morbidly obese senior citizen. And I don't want that! So this seems good. It is certainly handy. The technology of the tracking seems easy. Love seeing my steps each day! I'm starting slow. My goal is to lose 50-60 lbs and I don't care how long it takes! Looking forward to sharing encouragement with the good folks in this group. xo0
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Welcome, Lynette! I hope you will find the support and encouragement you need here.0
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Thanks!0
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Welcome Lynette ! You can do this. I lost 80+ pounds slowly and have kept it off 3 years. Great group of supportive people here.0
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That's great!0
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Welcome to our group. we look forward to supporting you & getting to know you all
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I have been a member of this group for a month or so; figured it was time to add something to this thread. Warning: this will be long! lol!
I am in my mid-50's and go by my childhood nickname of "JB". I was a normal weight kid and I might have gained 10 pounds during my tour of college (undergrad and grad). It wasn't until I got into my 30's that I started gaining 10 pounds a year until I reached a high of 250 pounds at a height of 5'11".
It's funny that it was not the weight that bothered me (somehow, in my mind, I didn't think I was that fat), but when I could not fit into my size 36" pants that I had been wearing for many years and was forced to buy a few pairs of size 38" pants was the catalyst for me to take my health into my own hands.
I proceeded to drop 55 pounds (going from 250 to 195), but I was doing it all wrong. I was not accurately weighing or logging food. Instead, I basically was on a starvation diet somedays probably eating only 1000 calories. Then some change in work dynamics caused me to regain some of the weight (to about 220).
Then I discovered MFP. I probably lurked for 6 months before signing up and purchasing a digital food scale (the food scale in addition with a scale you use to measure your weight were the two most important tools in my arsenal), I steadily dropped from 220 to a low of 183 (but been maintaining in the upper 180's for a year now) and now easily fit into size 34" pants. I had asked my doctor if I should try to get to 175 (which was my original goal weight) and he said that the weight I am now is good enough (mind you, my doctor _hounded me_ for years to lose weight, so when he said I looked great, this is good enough for me), I am currently trying to recomp by body. I have always enjoyed lifting weights and my next year goal is to pack on some muscle that I most definitely lost from the last two diet attempts.
I have been at this 185-190 range for over a year and I just joined the national weight control registry (got their packet this week) and I just have to be mindful on what I eat and to monitor my weight fluctuation via daily weightings. I really never want to get back to over 200 pounds again as long as I live.
Best of luck to all in this group in their weight loss and maintenance journeys! If I can do this, really anyone else can do this too...
JB0 -
Nice to meet you JB. Thanks for sharing!0
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Welcome JB. If you're interested in power lifting I'd recommend www.startingstrength.com. Great group, a lot of older lifters, some in their 70's there. The books available are 'the bible' for lifting for all ages and levels of experience.0
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Welcome, JB. Seems like you are doing really well.0
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Welcome JB! Looks like you have got a handle on this. Well done!0
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Welcome all! This is a great group, as others have told you. We are a safe place to go...no harsh judgments, no nastiness. Lots of caring and helpful people.0
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Thank you mk2loser, marekdds, nikkib0103, Farback and BRaye325 for the kind words.
I pretty much done most of this on my own. I know what I needed to do and using MFP helped put my plan in action. I just hope that I can maintain the weigh (plus/minus 5 pounds) for years to come.
The best of luck to everyone in this group!!
JB0 -
Nice to have you in the group JB0
