Hi from Mississippi

DietinginGluckstadt

I'm 34 years old and just started a new diet and exercise program last week. I've been battling weight my whole life. I went to college at 5'7", 180 lbs. By my sophomore year, I'd ballooned up to 200+. I decided to get healthy, started lifting, running and eating a touch better. By the time I graduated, I was down to150. I went back to eating whatever I wanted, but kept up a hard exercise regiment and kept the weight off for 3-4 years. Then life--marriage, kids, job-- caught up with me and I stopped exercising. My job had me working extremely long hours behind a desk with incredible levels of stress. I started to reward myself with food. Most of it was unhealthy and I'd eat large quantities. Over the last nine years, I've averaged gains of about ten pounds a year. There have been fluctuations along the way, with many temporarily successful diet and exercise programs, but inevitably, I've petered out and restarted my unhealthy habits. Over the last nine years, I've noticed an increase in snide remarks about my weight and unfriendly glances. I work in a professional world where appearance matters and most of the high performers are quite vain. My confidence has taken a tumble. Even with the weight gain, though, I've always physically been able to perform my job and do pretty much anything else I wanted to do. That is until the last twenty pounds. I'm tired all the time. I don't have the energy to keep up with my kid. I'm starting to experience negative health consequences (chest pains, out of breath). I stepped on the scale last Monday and weighed my heaviest ever: 254.4 pounds. I committed then and there to make whatever life changes I needed to in order to be healthy for myself and my family. I've been on a strict low calorie, low carb diet for a week now and am doing 3 days of lifting and 4 days of cardio a week. I've lost over 10 pounds so far. I know most of that is water weight, but it's a good motivator. So is this site. I've been lurking, reading other people's motivational posts, for the last week. I figured it was time to stop lurking and invest myself in the site. I hope it will continue to provide inspiration and accountability. My immediate goal is to lose 10% of my body weight. My secondary goal is to get down to 190 (what I weighed when my wife and I got married). My third, long-term, goal/dream would be to return to the college weight of 150-160. Looking forward to the journey.

suruda

Welcome! That's exactly how I gain weight too...5-10 lbs a year. My goal is to get to a place where I jump on it when I'm up the first 5-10 not when I've put back on 50 or more!

MFP is a great, supportive and often brutally honest place to come for support and information. I think we need the brutal honesty though as sometimes we don't get that from those we are closest too. Good luck on your journey!

DietinginGluckstadt

Thanks for your reply. I'm very early in, but I find the stories inspirational. It's awesome knowing there are so many people with similar struggles and so many who have overcome to live a healthy life. This last week hasn't been without cravings, but every time I've had one, I've gotten on here and read someone else's success story.

Hello_40

Hey, I'm originally from Mississippi too! I live in Birmingham, AL now. We may not have the exact same weight loss goals, but it sounds like we're both on the journey to be happy and healthy! Feel free to add me as a friend! I wish you the very best on your journey! You can do it!