Introductions

We’ve sort of done this but I figured we could make it more formal here.
Hi, I don’t give my name out on the interwebz except by accident, but I’m sure you could find it if you try. Just call me Alla.
My sn means All about Little Man (all abt lm), I’m the mother to a very rambunctious 2 year old and wife to a very supportive man (except when there’s something particularly bothering him, LOL).
I’m at the last part of Stage 1 and super excited to move to Stage 2.
I’m also a full time auditor and part time group fit instructor (bodystep and bodypump), aside from that I just like to stay active.
I like good food, good wine, and the color green ;-)
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Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    I'm Rachel, obviously. :bigsmile:
    I'm 31, married 7 years, have 3 kids, ages 5, 3 and 1.
    I'm a full time grad student.
    I started New Rules Oct 3.
    I love stage 1 and am kind of sticking with it for longer than recommended and the last few times I've added some things to the end because I'm really looking to increase muscle size.
    I'm actively eating at a calorie surplus. My goal is to average about 2500 net. Maintenance is about 2200 net, I think.
    I'm a big believer in the "If it fits in my Macros and Calories, I eat it" diet, so there's probably some junk food and a lot of processed food in my dairy. :drinker:
    I did Turbo Fire over the summer and got pretty good results, but no, I won't try to sell you shakeology. :wink:
    I like smilies. :tongue:
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    hi
    my name is Yanicka (duh)
    I am 37 mother of 2. A 12 years old and a 5 years old. I am also the surrogate mother of a 8yo girl, 7 yo boy, 3 yo girl and a 1 yo girl. I say that because it might explain why I am obsessed with my stomach LOL
    I work in a big telecom company here in montreal. My native language is french so if I do not make sens, it<s not because I am illiterate :)
    I started this program August 28th and I love it.
    I am still eating at a deficit and really getting tired of seeing the same number since april. I pretty much tried everything to get the number to go down.
  • oceanity
    oceanity Posts: 182 Member
    I cut and pasted part of the where are you in the program/what else are you going thread with my first ever post in forums.


    I started my weight loss journey June '10 with a hubby who was not supportive in any way. I had bought a treadmill midwise during my pregnancy with my second son, but it took until 3 months PP with all of the issues to get active with it!!! The running bug bit me square in the behind and I love having the stress relief I get out of a simple 30 min. HITT session or easy steady pace.

    Any strength training concept that I thought would be good has never kept me hooked, until I read this book. You will see me through the 7 stages, I will gain strength/power, this is going to be the key of changing my body composition. My weight range has been as high as 209 lbs/June 2010 and as low as 152 lbs /Aug 2011. My mental battle will be not letting the scale control me during the initial phases of the program, so I am choosing my only tightish pair of pants to be the judge of inches lost/body recomp. Thanks for letting me be a part of this group!!!!!!

    Adding in a few other details now.... My boys (3 and 1) provide me with the drive to finish this journey....I want to be a healthy, fit and hot mommy! My oldest wants to do weights with me...so he takes the "barbie" weights (they are powder blue) and copies what I do!!! I work 3/4 time, just enough to have a paycheck and still see and spend time with my family. I like apple green, hot pink, chocolate brown, iron gray and robin egg blue, just not all together!
  • idauria
    idauria Posts: 1,037 Member
    I am on stage 3 of the program. I am 4'10" and not in need of weight loss per se, just some fat loss and muscle gain. I love this program so far. It's the most challenging thing I've done since ever picking up a dumbbell years ago. I love that everything is laid out for you so you don't have to think about what exercises to do. I am already thinking about what I'm going to do after I complete stage 7. I am watching my calories and trying to stay under maintenance but also eating lower carb/higher protein/moderate fat. My husband says he's noticing my body changing but I wish I could say the same. I guess my perception of myself is distorted(at least that's why he says).

    I hate cardio and love lifting. I can't ever see giving this up!
  • lemonadem
    lemonadem Posts: 398 Member
    Hi :)

    I'm Emily, 24yo and just starting this program (first workout last night!).

    I've lost about 30 pounds incorporating cardio and strength training, and healthier than I've been in forever. Now I am about 5 pounds away from my goal weight and I want to concentrate on getting stronger and more tone.

    I've been combing this group reading all the posts, and I'm definitely looking forward to this program. I appreciate all the posts so far, sounds like there is some real positive feedback.
  • deninevi
    deninevi Posts: 934 Member
    Hi! I'm Denitza. I'm 36, mom to 2 boys-9 and 7, married -9y. now and live in WI. I was born in Bulgaria.. I started NROLFW on 9/19/2011 and right now I'm in the middle of stage 2. I lift M,W,F and try to do something fun on the other days-walks, KBs, cardio machines, boxing on the Wii, or the monkey bars at the park when I take my boys there. :) I started the program because I love lifting heavy things, love to be stronger than I'm now and love to be able to do a pull up. Since I started NROLFW I have been at the same lbs. but my body has changed and I need a smaller belt for my jeans-and smaller jeans :)
  • Hi, I'm Shawna, 34 years old and a mother to 2 beautiful girls 6 and 4yrs old, and wife to a man who tries to be supportive but has a long ways of going to do more for support - like not buying chips (my weakness), or giving me more me time in the evenings to workout.

    I was introduced to NROLFW by oceanity and I just bought the book a couple of days ago. I look forward to reading it and getting started on the program soon!

    Currently I run on the treadmill at home, use the elliptical and/or do the 30DS DVD, I aim for 3 to 4 days a week. I also work full time M-F.

    I love to workout, maybe not at the time of the activity, but I love that feeling when I've finished a good hard/sweaty workout :)

    I also need to work on my diet and finding more high protein foods. I am fairly picky, don't like fish or seafood.

    I look forward to starting this program and posting progress right along with the rest of you!
  • season1980
    season1980 Posts: 129 Member
    Hi Im Shanna, a 31 y/o mother to 2 gorgeous girls 12 and 9. I have been active most of my life. I quit my routine over the summer and gained about 10 pounds that I need to lose. Its not so much about the wt as the size i am not 'comfortable'. I have just started investigating this program as I would love to be more muscular and lean!! I have always thought that was more beautiful than the victoria secret skinny! I am 5' 7" and weigh 150 right now. I would really like to start this program to build muscle but am scared of the current fat I need to lose sticking around if I eat at a surplus!
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
    I'm Susan, 23 years old, and a lover of all things heavy and liftable. I just finished reading NROLFW. I started the meal plan this week (and am loving it!) and I'll start Stage 1 on Monday 11/21. I'm 5'8.5 (the half inch counts) and bouncing between 161-164. I reached my highest recorded weight of 184 my senior year of college (2010) and then lost 20 lbs. in about 3 months doing a lot of cardio, a lot of restrictive eating, and a pretty wimpy strength plan (lots of upper body, very little lower body). I started my own strength program (designed by a very helpful MFP member) about 3 months ago and I've seen the inches shedding. When I heard about NROLFW I knew it was the way to go. I'm super excited to get started! My ultimate goal is to participate in a figure competition sometime in the future. :)
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    I'm kinda hesitant to introduce myself, 'cause I don't feel like I'm REALLY part of this group. I just started. I'm an out-of-shape-wimp. And I'm more a lurker and moocher of advice than anything else. But anyway...

    I'm Rebekah. I'm 34, single, and a full-fledged obnoxious know-it-all science geek >.> I don't actually know it all, of course. And I try hard not to be too obnoxious. I have my PhD in pharmacology, which doesn't mean what you think it means. I don't have a drug catalog in my head and I can't make recommendations based on that drug catalog. But I do know a lot about cell-biology and how general classes of drugs work in the brain. I specialize in neuron cell death in stroke, traumatic brain injury, and now Alzheimer's disease. Ladies get a bum deal on so many diseases! We're probably more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease than men thanks to the precipitous loss of estrogen we experience in menopause. How's that for fair?? :( But the good news is... exercise helps lower your risks even to a disease in the brain! Which I think is awesome.

    I'm Rachel6503's sister, by the way. I'm not sure if she wants me to announce that on the boards :D But she inspires me and is the reason I'm on MFP. She looks fantastic and while I don't think I'll ever look like that, I have found myself in awe of her. Grad-student, mom of three, and she still has time to look that good? I keep asking myself: What's my excuse?

    Anyhow, I've been that obese, awkward kid/young-woman/less-young-woman all my life, and I'd REALLY like to fix it this time. I've making slow progress: 40lbs since March 7th. But I am at least making progress.

    Looking forward to getting to know y'all.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Of course you can announce it Becky! I'm not sure how I feel about being inspirational but thanks I guess.
  • spikesmom
    spikesmom Posts: 441 Member
    Hi, I'm Adele. I bought and read this book several months ago but have not started the plan. I really want to. I'm 47 years old(yikes!) and have lost a lot of weight, but I'm all mushy and want to regain the muscle that I've lost. I had a knee injury and surgery at the beginning of this year, and it's held me back from getting into weightlifting. I hate to lift! So I'm here for support and encouragement and all the advice that you can spare!
  • aregensb
    aregensb Posts: 239 Member
    Hi I'm Amanda. I read this book about a month ago and have been meaning to start since. I started earlier this week. I have already done two workouts and will do my third of the week tomorrow.

    Last I checked (Friday last week I think), I weigh 165. I am 5'9" and my goal weight is a fit ~140. The last time I weighed below 140 was before high school. During high school, I was an athletic 140-145, and then I fluctuated between 140-155 during college. After college, I have gained more weight and topped out at about 175 before I decided I had to do something.

    Since July, I've gotten down to 165 by regularly visiting the gym. I'm just barely in the BMI chart normal weight category, but it worries me that I started to gain so much weight. Before starting NROLFW, I would usually just do cardio exercises and limit my caloric intake. However, I knew as I was doing it that it wasn't something I'd want to stick with. Limiting myself to 1200 or 1300 calories and doing 4 hours of mind-numbing elliptical machine cardio per week just didn't strike me as an efficient way to spend my time.

    I'm loving NROLFW so far. I'm excited for my first official weigh-in next Monday! I just need to get around to getting all my measurements and taking a BEFORE photo so I can compare it with the AFTER! Good luck everyone! :smile:
  • jetscreaminagain
    jetscreaminagain Posts: 1,130 Member
    Finally got the book last night and am starting today! Thanks for the links to the spreadsheets.

    I've done Body for Life and truly love the weights better than the cardio. So I'm thrilled about this

    However, I've recently gotten to like running, and I had been formulating goals to be able to run increasingly long distances at respectable times. Then I tried to fix my own treadmill, didn't readjust the belt to tight and got ejected from it, twisting my ankle and not allowed to run for 6 weeks.

    SOOO glad to have strength workouts to do instead. When my ankle is cleared for duty I may do longer slower runs on my off days from lifting.

    Thanks for starting the group. Looking forward to interacting with other strong women!
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
    Hello there!

    I'm Sally, 43 and single. I've been very active most of my life, but with more of a focus on cardio and endurance sports (marathons, triathlons,etc.) than weight lifting. I've done weight lifting on and off over the years (mostly off due to focus on endurance training.) I enjoy lifting, but without a defined program, I tend to get bored. I did crossfit several times a week for about 8 months a few years back, but without the proper nutrition, I got stronger but didn't see a lot of body changes.

    I gained 40 lbs over the last few years after a running injury (or crossfit injury - never new what caused it) threw me into a sedentary lifestyle and job and life changes were my excuses for stress eating. I've lost all but 15 lbs and my focus now is losing the last bit and lowering body fat % and being in the best shape I can be. Even when I've been thin (size 2/4), I never liked my lack of definition in my legs (runner's legs are a myth!) and my upper body tends to get skrawny looking at my target weight. When I've done strength training in the past, it seems like I can also better even out my classic "pear" shape.

    I've been strength training for about 1.5 yrs with a trainer... the first year was really about correcting strength imbalances and injury recovery to get me back to running (actually first to get me to walk without a limp, then to running - it's been a LONG journey) Now I feel like I'm ready to kick it up a notch and really see what I can do.

    I plan to do NROL4W 2x/week and work with my trainer 1x/week on stuff like plyometrics, endurance or metabolic workouts, using TRX, kettlebells, etc., to keep it interesting.

    I plan to start Phase 1 next week. I will take "before" pictures, for sure!

    I look forward to continuing my health and fitness journey with you all!
  • femmecyclist
    femmecyclist Posts: 27 Member
    My name's Natalie, full time student (studying to become a midwife). I'm 5'4 and 135-138 lbs. I have been on MFP for quite a while but have not lost much weight! I'm within my healthy bmi range so I decided maybe I should focus on strength training and muscle building rather than weight loss - really I don't care what I weigh as long as it's within a healthy range, and when I have dieted down to 128-130lbs in the past I was still really mushy - definitely still had a high body fat percentage!

    In the summertime I love cycling and hiking, and I'm always trying to become a "runner" - right now I'm also training for a 10k race at the end of December. I started NROLFW sometime in October and I'm just over halfway done Stage 1. I'm trying to make it to the gym 3x a week but sometimes life gets in the way and I only make it 2x. I'm having a great time so far, and I can already tell that I'm getting stronger! I can't tell much of a difference visually, but I'm lifting much heavier for sure. It's been really good having a plan - I have been going to the gym regularly for a month now, and I had a lot of trouble with consistency before. I'm worried about what will happen when I'm done all Stages but I have a LONG way to go, so I'll worry about that when I get there. I haven't been very conscientious of my diet so far - mostly making sure I get my protein shakes in so I think now I'm going to try and kick it up a notch and track every day on here.

    So nice to meet all of you ladies - this discussion group is really useful in keeping me motivated. If any of you want to add me as a friend feel free!
  • lilyinlove
    lilyinlove Posts: 441 Member
    I just noticed I hadn't introduced myself. I have been on MFP since last year and it helped me lose weight... Winter rolled along...I got lazy, I became depressed - put on meds- gained it all back an then some. This year around the same time I started last year I decided I was getting too fat. So far I have lost 30lbs and want to chop off another 30.
    I had started the p90x program and got lazy... My husband and I bought some weights and bars along with a bench. He is trying to gain and I am trying to lose.. So we both workout together.
    I have gotten to the midway crisis and am determined not to quit this time. I have 4 kids and they keep me busy all day... So fitting in a workout is like planning a dentists appointment.
    Oh and my name is really Laura- not Lily.
  • camckinney
    camckinney Posts: 61 Member
    Hi my name is Cindy. I just bought the book a week ago and obviously have not finished reading it yet or started the program. I got to the part where he was saying that the 1200-1400 calorie range was starvation, it took me back a bit and I put the book down for awhile. Honestly, it scared me. I've been on MFP since the end of May and have cut my calories down to the 1200-1400 range but I eat my exercise calories back. So when I do exercise, I obviously eat more. I've lost 30 pounds and to reach my goal weight I want to lose another 14. So at this point I'm very confused and scared. The whole point that I started MFP was to lose weight, get healthy and exercise more. All seemed to be successful to me until I started reading this book. So I'm at this standstill, do I do what I know worked while risking that I'm only losing muscle and not being healthy or drastically change to his way of thinking of eating way more calories.

    So....yes, I need to finish the book before making the decision. However, your thoughts would be appreciated. I do, no matter what, realize I have to start building muscle. So either way, I plan to do so.

    In addition, I work in the IT industry, full-time, married for 20 years and have 3 children. I'm so thankful how God has blessed me and my family and look forward to being healthy!
  • aliciakay3086
    aliciakay3086 Posts: 61 Member
    Hi, ladies! I am 42 years old, single (but I have a very nice long-term boyfriend :)) and no kids. I started NROLFW in July after a lifetime of cardio-only exercise - mostly running, some distance. I was thin before I started but very weak.

    I've loved the challenge of getting out of my comfort zone in the weight room, but I struggled with hunger and the need to eat more to support the program. I've gained 7 pounds since July and my pants are getting tight! LOL. But I'm committed to complete the program then re-evaluate before I have a total freakout.

    I'd love feedback on my diet and everything else. This is great support as my boyfriend gets very tired of hearing me talk about it!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Hi my name is Cindy. I just bought the book a week ago and obviously have not finished reading it yet or started the program. I got to the part where he was saying that the 1200-1400 calorie range was starvation, it took me back a bit and I put the book down for awhile. Honestly, it scared me. I've been on MFP since the end of May and have cut my calories down to the 1200-1400 range but I eat my exercise calories back. So when I do exercise, I obviously eat more. I've lost 30 pounds and to reach my goal weight I want to lose another 14. So at this point I'm very confused and scared. The whole point that I started MFP was to lose weight, get healthy and exercise more. All seemed to be successful to me until I started reading this book. So I'm at this standstill, do I do what I know worked while risking that I'm only losing muscle and not being healthy or drastically change to his way of thinking of eating way more calories.

    So....yes, I need to finish the book before making the decision. However, your thoughts would be appreciated. I do, no matter what, realize I have to start building muscle. So either way, I plan to do so.

    In addition, I work in the IT industry, full-time, married for 20 years and have 3 children. I'm so thankful how God has blessed me and my family and look forward to being healthy!

    I'd definitely give the eating more thing a try. Maybe increase your calories by 200 each week until you hit the number the book recommends. Stay there for a good 3-4 weeks and see what happens. Even if you don't continue to lose at the same rate you have been, winter is a great time to focus on muscle building. Put the fat loss on hold until Spring. Then you can cut more fat and reveal the sexy muscles you've been building all summer.