Hi There, Fellow Travelers!

MaureenRefior

Hi everybody. My name is Maureen (call me Mo) and I've decided to get rid of all my other apps and sites and stick with My Fitness Pal, since it's the most comprehensive. I dropped my phone in a bucket of water so I can't really use Google Fit and all that until I get a new one, and I found myself spending nearly an hour logging all of my exercise and calories on the four different sites I was previously using.

Anyway, a little about me. I'm 5'4", just turned 53 on June 18, and I was up to 194 lbs. after a year of sitting on my behind doing nothing and also because of one of the medications I was taking (Remeron) for sleep - it didn't work, and if you don't go directly to bed after you take it, you wind up eating a whole box of Cocoa Puffs at 2 in the morning. No good. I decided to start doing something about it on June 1, so I joined Planet Fitness and started doing cardio every day. I gradually increased my cardio to at least 60 minutes a day (I'm currently splitting that between 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes on the treadmill at 3.7 mph at a 2% incline). I've also added the weight training machines (I would be doing free weights but I'm clueless about them and I don't want to hurt myself - I already tore my left pectoral muscle from adding too much weight to one of the machines, lol). I was doing well, and dropped to 186 lbs. However, the last two weeks have been nightmarish on a personal level, and I wound up slowing down my workouts and eating poorly. As a result, I gained back 2 lbs.

I'm determined to get down to at least 130 lbs. by Valentine's Day, which is a 58 lb. loss. I figure if I can get rid of 2 lbs. per week, I can do that. I'm 53, but I'm not dead yet, and I want to be fit and healthy. My ultimate goal weight is 120, but that's down the road.

I have a history of anorexia and bulimia, so I need to be very careful not to become obsessed with eating and exercise. I weigh myself once a week, and I try not to worry about every single thing I put in my mouth. I've eliminated all of the unhealthy food from my personal food storage (I live in a community residence at the moment, with 9 other people, so there's junk food everywhere, but it's not mine so I don't eat it - and the house food is off limits to me in my head), so if I snack, it's on fruit or a Fiber One bar or something. I did really well yesterday, and I hope to keep the momentum.

It's nice to be here, and I look forward to meeting you all in the forums.

Gentle Breezes,
Mo