Welcome and Introduction
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And I forgot to add your accent also made me nostalgic.. yes.. I can hear the English. I have lived in the USA for over 11 years now, my children and grandchildren and the rest of my family live there, I have a 2 year old granddaughter I haven't met yet and my daughter is having another little girl in September. I can't wait until we can afford for me to go over and see them all.0
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Hi I'm josh, I'm 25 years old and I started gaining weight when I was 7 it was because I was put into foster care at a young age and the depressive side got to me. But when i got to around age 17 my whole depression phase ended and i tried losing the weight but its so hard to drop it. I'm currently 378 pounds and I plan on going to get a gym membership on May 5th of 2014.
Hey Josh--I also started at over 400. And ate through a lot of childhood trauma Good to see you here.0 -
Hiii! I'm Lori, I'm about to be 24, I'm 5'10" and I'm about 315 pounds. I've been using Myfitnesspal since basically the beginning of the year, and I'm pretty happy that I've been keeping up with my food, even when I go over. And it's help, because I am about 15lbs down from where I started.
I started gaining weight when I was 9, and it's just been going downhill since then, and so now here I am, about to start my mid20s morbidly obese, which is something I never wanted to do. Hopefully I can solve this problem before my late 20s.
I do this thing called boredom eat. I just eat when I have nothing to do, and I will eat and eat and eat just to pass time. It's a mindless thing, and if I can reach food... I probably do it. However, I have got a loooot better. I track my food, I portion my snack foods, which I discover help.
But anyway, I was invited into this group, and I love it. I mean, it's nice to find other people on here that are not just trying to lose those last couple pounds, or like 10 pounds or something. It's nice to see people working and fighting on the same journey that I am.0 -
Welcome Lori! I invited you. There is no way to promote a group on MFP so I have taken to looking for people I think might benefit from being in this group.
I can boredom eat too. Sometimes I think it is because we don't stop and think.. what else could I do? Sometimes we get stuck in a rut. I hope you get something out of being here, it seems like we have a great bunch of people.0 -
Hi guys! My name is Caitlin and I am currently at 230 pounds, down from 300. (70 down so far!) My goal is the 140-150 range, since this is where I should be for my height at 5'6". I am 25 years old, I have a two year old daughter, and I have been using myfitnesspal for over a year now.
It has not been an easy journey. I work, go to school, and find time with my daughter, so where is the chance to eat healthy? Well, I guess I am lazy and just do the easy food. (Make a huge salad and eat off of it for days along with quick sandwiches and stuff) Soup is my best friend!
Anyway, hello everyone and I look forward to being good friends with you guys! Thanks for the invite, Julie!0 -
Hello! My name in Jeni. I have been off and on MFP for the last few years. But the last few month have really hit me that it is finally time to start making changes and start moving to a new period of my life. I'm excited to be here and on this journey with all of you.0
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Hello Everyone!!
My name is Claudia, I’m 51 Yrs old, divorced and have two adult sons. First, I want to thank Julie for getting this group together. I read about it through another post and thankful to be invited and be a part of this. It’s amazing the people God puts in your life!!! I started MFP in September 2013. My SW was 273 (BMI of 44%) and my GW is 180.
Reading everyone’s stories makes me feel as if I know you all, and how similar our journeys and struggles have been and still are. I’ve been overweight my whole life and have tried almost everything and anything to lose it, only to gain it all back over and over again.
Becoming healthy was not always a priority for me, which can explain (or be an excuse for) why I didn’t take it very seriously when I was younger –even with 2 small children to think of!! I was too busy working and trying to take care of my family – not thinking of myself so much. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. Now, my mother is getting older and suffering from Dementia, still dealing with loss my older brother to heart disease 5 years ago (he was only 48), which my younger brother now has (on top of other health issues), and then my two sisters with their goings-on. So much is going on that I have to stop and take control of myself and that starts with getting my weight under control. My last attempt was 3 years ago on WW where I lost 46 lbs, which I gained back the following year, and so here I am on MFP.
I can be my worst enemy, which is probably why I haven’t seen my goal weight since I was 19! Every year I make the same promises that I know I won’t keep. I tell myself that THIS year will be the year that I stop making excuses, stop giving into cravings, emotional eating, and “start-overs” (I’ve already had too many since January) only to find myself right where I always start – looking in the mirror or lying in bed wondering why I’m still not where I want to be, crying and having a pity party. Now it’s a matter of I HAVE to and it’s turning out to be the HARDEST time off all, suffering from arthritis in my knees and ankles, menopause is kicking me in the butt, and vertigo. My progress has been slow so far, but I am determined to get there and looking forward to getting to know everyone.
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:0 -
Hi, I am Heather. I am 36, 5'9. CW 315, HW 405. GW 160. - And I am the ULTIMATE YO-YO Dieter.
Here is a history of my weight struggles. I copied it from my blog last year so it is kind of long and I will add on to it at the end because OF COURSE I gained weight after I lost weight last year and here I am again. ---
I was a fat kid from about 5 yrs old on. I was thin when I was 4 and beautiful for a 4 year old. I look at my kindergarten picture though and can see I was overweight. It just got worse and worse as I got older. I hated it. I wasn’t THE fattest girl in school so I didn’t get a lot of the teasing but there was nothing worse than how I tormented myself growing up. I was my own worst bully. I would look at my thin, beautiful older sister and how popular she was and just long for what she had. I thought if I could only be skinny, I could have it all.
When I turned 15 my Mom and I joined Jenny Craig. I lost 67lbs in about 4-6 months and I became a swan. Boys were starting to come around and I loved it. I had the attention I was finally looking to get and it felt great. I never got down to my goal weight, EVER, but pretty close. When I was 16-18yrs old, I gained 50 of those pounds back. So, as I was working and in college, I got back on Jenny Craig and lost 60. I kept that off for a year or so and then the weight started creeping back up. Then, my world fell apart my last semester in college. I lost my job, boyfriend, home. Deep, deep depression hit me like a brick. I spent the next 4 years hidden away in my bedroom only getting out of bed to go to work. I would eat and watch tv and sleep and sleep and sleep. I gained at LEAST 170lbs. Yikes. I was damn near suicidal. When I turned 27 I got into some really bad things that, at the time seemed like the only thing to bring me out of my depression. I started taking drugs and before I knew it, I was up and moving around like a mad woman. I rarely ate so, of course the weight started coming off. I spent 3 years spiraling out of control on drugs gaining and losing weight as I would stop and then relapse off the drugs. Altogether, I lost 125lbs over that period.
I was 30 when I went to rehab and boy did that weight come right back on. By the time I was 31, I had gained all the weight back. I gained 127lbs in one year! Boy when I do something, I don’t do it half-assed at all. I don’t just gain a pound or two a here and there, it is gain 15 a month or lose 15 a month. There is no in between.
When I turned 32 I was sinking into that deep deep depression again and at my highest weight ever. I couldn’t even stand long enough to load dishes in the dishwasher without my back feeling like it is going to break from carrying all that weight. Grocery shopping was pure torture. Even with a cart it hurt so bad to walk the isles. By the time I got to the check out, I was almost in tears pleading with the checker to hurry up so I could get out of there and sit down. I refused to get in one of those riding carts. I finally had to do something. In February of 2009, I started my cabbage soup diet. I did that for I think a couple weeks and then switched to healthy eating and tracking my food on myfitnesspal.com. What a great site! I also started exercising. I lost 80lbs in 4 months. I felt great and was determined to keep doing it as I was still 160lbs or so overweight. But, I got a job, I got lazy and just managed to maintain and gain 20 lbs for a year or so doing various diets. Protein shakes, nutrisystem, more cabbage soup. Then in July of 2010 I found out I was pregnant. I had just finished a diet challenge at work the week before and had lost another 40 pounds.
Along came the baby, along came the weight. I went off ALL diets and gave myself a free pass to finally gorge on whatever I liked, whenever I liked. Potatoes were my comfort, especially fried! I gained 100 lbs by the end of the pregnancy. Yikes. I struggled with that for a while and then between August 2011 and August 2012, I had managed to lose 125lbs by doing weight watchers, cabbage soup and juicing. Most of it was from weight watchers.
Then, my husband ended up in the hospital for a week and I just stopped dieting. I kept saying I would get back on soon because I knew I was gaining the weight back. Fast forward to today, some 9 months later and I have gained 61lbs back. Holy ****. I really need to chart this destructive way I have treated my body to summarize this.
Voilà! Here it is. Basically what it comes down to is in the last 20 years, I have gained and lost over 567 of the same pounds! Now, I never weighed that much but you can see the extreme yo-yo'ing has taken a toll. I wonder how many other people out there are like me? Not you gain and lose the same 50 lbs over the years, I am talking massive gains and losses in a short period of time for a very long time. What a miserable life this must have been. Yes, there has been many many struggles. No wonder I had been so depressed. It seems like I am always reaching, giving up, reaching, giving up. And I try so hard and I give up so hard. I really do. Everyone always praises me for the massive amounts of weight I lose, but what does that say about the massive amounts of weight I gain? That I am a big fat failure. I don't think so. I think it just means I am obviously still not doing it right. I am still relatively young, I don't want to go through another 30 years of this dieting hell.
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So, that was written on 4/9/2013 - About a year ago. I think I ended up losing 57lbs after I wrote that, then I gained it all back within 6 months and here I am today. I have lost 21lbs of that gain in 25 days. As I said above, I can't seem to do anything half way. I noticed a pattern this time though. Almost to the DAY I came back here the same EXACT weight as last year having gained the same amount of weight after quitting after the same amount of time. So basically, I go hard for about 4 months out of the year, give up and put it all back on. What the heck? How am I ever to reach goal that way? What I REALLY need is a really good friend who is in this with me. Who will be there with me 3-4 months down the road when I am likely to fall off.
I am now at 635+ lbs lost/gained and I am so over it.
I have read everyone's intros here and they have truly touched me. Thank you so much for creating this group.0 -
Hi Heather.. you have touched me.. you are precisely the kind of person I created this group for and there are a lot of us here! I hope to recruit more.
I can relate, I don't know that I have yo yo'd to the level you have but I am older and it is definitely taking it's toll now. I think one of the most important things I see in your intro is that you need to work on getting off the extremes Merry Go Round and believe me I understand it as do many others here.
That is why the biggest thing I want to do here is remove guilt and the idea of being ON with losing weight or OFF. I want the goal to be healthy eating and exercising and finding passions and goals that replace food as being that important. I am striving for everyone to feel balanced in their approach and that they are NOT helpless but have choices.0 -
Thank you! I straight up have told my doctor, if I am not 100% on a diet, I am gaining. She just looked at me like I am crazy. I hope THIS time I can actually make some long lasting changes rather than go to extremes that don't last no matter how much I want it ALL off like...yesterday.0
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Welcome to the group Heather! I can relate in the yo-yoing to the extreme. I have gained and lost so much weight. The highest I have weighed is 328 so I am still knocking on that door. I lost 80 pounds in about 6 months about 10 years ago, then got remarried, lazy and gained it all back plus more. I have always been overweight though. Right before I met my now husband, I did the same thing, lost about 80 pounds after I divorced ( LOL it always seems so much easier to lose weight after I get divorced
), then gained it all back plus more...I think I gained at least 100 pounds that first year alone after we got married, and have steadily packed more on since then. I will diet and lose, and then just give up and gain it all back and more to go along with it. Know that you aren't alone here and we feel your pain because we are going through it with you. I hope you are able to get some wonderful motivation from these great people on this group. 0 -
Having a hard time trying to figure out how to add friends on here. Can someone help me please? Thanks!0
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Bailey, just click the name of the person you want to add and then it will go to their profile and there should be a link right on there to add them Hopefully this helps! 0
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Hi everyone I am Natasha, just turned 37, married in Canada but from the UK and my current weight is 237 though when I started my current weight loss 'journey' I was at 296. When I realised how close I was to 300 something happened inside. I rejoined WW but money is tight for us so after 3 months came to MFP. Stayed on track for 6 months then lost focus and spent 6 months not being completely honest with myself. Thankfully did not completely give up, put on 10 pounds then slapped myself metaphorically and came back at the end of Jan this year. I am a slow loser which is why I always end up giving up. I have always been fat. I have a 5 year old I want to be able to do more with, I have been put on cholesterol and blood pressure meds and I am pre-diabetic. I need to get control back. But each day is a battle, sometimes each hour. I do not know if it is addiction or emotional or any of that. I just know I love eating, I love the taste of foods, when I am half way through a meal I get a moment of sadness that my food is half gone. Never told anyone that. Sounds silly.
Anyway I have made some permanent changes in how I cook, we eat brown rice, I don't like brown pasta so we eat the smart kind. I eat wholegrain white bread. 1% milk, less cheese. We try to always have fresh fruit and veg in the fridge, I cut down on salt, and if I have a sweet craving I try things like Dark choc, the fibre 1 bars, a couple of big marshmallows, strawberries and light cool whip, 321 cake. I try hard to avoid junk that I love, chips, milk choc, take out, cake. I use MFP not to track food I have eaten, but to plan the food I am going to eat. Then at the end of the day I adjust if I made changes. I wanted to get to 200 by the end of this year, but at the rate I have been going it is not likely. It just gets so exhausting, doesn't it? The constant thinking about how you look, trying to get in exercise, planning, tracking, trying to keep yourself motivated and positive, over such a long time frame. Losing the kind of weight we have does not happen in a few months, not for most of us. And then even if I manage to reach a weight I can live with I will probably have skin I cannot afford to do anything about, not even cheaply to Thailand, and I will always have to watch what I eat as it would be easy to relax and put it back on. The thought that I will be part of that high percentage of people who not only put it back on but more on top sometimes gets me pretty low.
Sorry got a little negative there! But then I look at my son and I remember why I am doing it. I want to do more with him, and he deserves to have a mum he can play with. I need to be a role model for him on how to balance treats with good food. He is average sized for his age, and I want him to stay healthy, not slip into my old bad habits and have to deal with the hurts I have over the years.
So that's me lol 0 -
Welcome Natasha! Please spend some time looking around here and reading, I hope you will find inspiration and support here that will take you all the way to goal. Great to have you here!0
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Thank you for adding me to the group! A little about me....
My name is Nicole, I'm 31. I have been overweight my whole life. Growing up my mom prepared food that was cheap and easy (therefore not the healthiest) So now, here I am as an adult trying to undo a lifetime of bad eating habits. It hasn't been easy, but I must say that seeing results makes me want to keep going. I look forward to getting to know all of you and offering support!!0 -
Welcome Natasha and Nicole! This is an awesome group of people, and a wonderful place to work on some of the issues that have held us back from lasting, healthy, weight loss.
I don't think any of what you say or think about food issues (like feeling sad that half your plate is empty) is foolish or unimportant. I think these types of thoughts and emotions are pretty common among all of us, that we all have dysfunctional relationships with food or we wouldn't be morbidly obese! I'd like a seat at your table, and I'll weep when we run out of biscuits, LOL!!!
Karen0 -
Hello all,
I just turned 35. I started out at 291, my goal weight is 123. for a total of 168pounds to lose. I am currently at 245. I look forward to reaching our goals together.0 -
Hey there Pirate Chick.. welcome aboard! Please take a look around, read and jump in!0
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Hi everyone. I am Michelle. I am have a BMI of 49. I started at 336.8 and I am at 328.4 today. I have been working to change my eating habits and lifestyle. I have lost a few pounds but over all I am still in the morbid range. I recently moved cross country from Georgia to North Dakota. I hope to meet other like minded individuals and lose some pounds so that I can feel good about me, I am still aiming to get to the place where you love the skin that your in.0
