Celebrate our Successes and Relate to the Set Backs!

TynaBaby17

I am 23 years young, from sunny New Mexico. I've never been super happy with my body image or weight, and about two months ago I went to Target and tried on some swimsuits and just was completely unhappy with how I looked. I recently got married and we live on strict budget as we're both in school still, and this lead to eating cheap fatty carb filled foods, and I gained 15 pounds and weighed the most I had weighed my whole life.

I'm on my first fitness journey now, going on about a month and a half! i'm down about 5 pounds with a total goal of 20-25, and feeling pretty confident in my journey so far, but it's been up and down. I do great during the week usually, but on weekends I totally fall out of wack and have troubles getting back on track with calorie counting and meal prep!

I'm looking for friends to talk with, relate too, and share tips, recipes, struggles and successes with!

I'm a pretty up beat and positive person, I'd love to help encourage others and keep us going to our goals!

Feel free to add me!

amgreenwell

Hi. I'm 41 but have about the same amount of weight to lose after two kids in two years. Add me if you'd like. I log daily and exercise too

KipDrordy

This is my second go-around with MFP. I can tell you unequivocally that it does work. It isn’t rocket science. Eating less causes us to lose weight. When I first started in 2013, I dropped from 222 to 185. I was really motivated as 222 was a good 17 lbs over my normal, but still too heavy weight.

I came to the realization that I’m pretty helpless without tracking my intake. So how did I end up at 214 this time? I stopped tracking. I slowly climbed back up to that 205 number, but I gained rather quickly since last summer with some poor eating habits. I decided a slightly different approach this time. Rather than being all-in all the time and making drastic changes, I’ve been less strict about my calorie goal. I didn’t raise it, as I want that to remain my goal, but I don’t fret if I’m over a few days a week. My loss has been decidedly slower than last time, but for me this feels like something I can stick with. Deprivation dieting isn’t a solution for me.

I’ve seen others have great success in making permanent, drastic changes to their diet and exercise routines. I’m not strong enough willed for that. Accepting that, I think I’ve found what I can live with. By the end of March, I will be below 200. I’m going to continue at this slower pace until I stop losing weight and whatever that number ends up being will be my new normal. I’m thinking it might be around 190, which at 50 years old and lazy won’t be a bad number for me.

My unprofessional advice to anyone is to not set standards by which you cannot live. If you’re starving yourself and just eying a scale number to reach with some thought in the back of your mind that will be the finish line, you’re setting yourself up to rebound. I did just that. I hit my goal and quickly felt like I was finished with this project. My new goal is a goal with no finish line. It resets every day. That goal is my calorie intake. The scale takes care of itself.