Hi Everyone :) I'm new here

hwiley09

My name's Hope and I'm looking to lose about 16 pounds. I'm 161 pounds which is in the normal range for my height 5'9" but I felt much more comfortable with my body and in my clothes at 145. I'm 21 years old and I want to start living a healthier lifestyle now because I know it gets harder to change your habits the older you get. My family has a history of obesity, diabetes, and cancer and I want to prevent those things from happening to me. Being a black woman, I'm at risk for a lot health problems so it's up to me to take a proactive approach to getting and staying healthy before those problems have a chance to develop.

I think the best way to keep yourself at a healthy weight is to keep your clothes the same size. What I mean by that is as soon as you notice your clothes starting to fit a bit snug, you need to take action right then and lose the little bit of weight that made you have to squeeze, rather than slip, into your jeans. Why? Because it's a heck of a lot easier to lose 2 pounds than it is to lose 12. If you keep buying slightly bigger clothes to accommodate a little extra fat, a little extra fat will turn into a lot and before you know it, you're not in the single digits anymore.

I've lost 20 pounds before and I kept it off for a whole 2-3 years but my problem is at some point, I sank into a sedentary lifestyle and just got lazy (and maybe somewhat depressed) and stopped caring about portion control and what I was eating, so naturally, I put on another 16. Well I'm done with that. This time, I'm going to change my habits for good because I can NOT afford to get fat. There are too many things I haven't yet done in this life.

If you would like to be my friend, I'd love for you to add me. If you are here to exchange bad habits for healthy habits and maintain a healthier lifestyle, I think you and I can help motivate each other. I would really like to hear from people around my age, though I'm not limiting it to that group.

Also, I would like to know what kinds of workouts other women are doing. I'm not into anything extreme, I try to do at least 45 minutes a day at least 5x a week. I do Winsor Pilates or Wii Fit Plus or sometimes I'll just use the Wii Balance Board to do freestyle step aerobics (sometimes with weights. I make sure to get my arms and legs moving simultaneously) while I watch Netflix. We also have Zumba dvds which are so much fun. I haven't gotten around to that lately, but I enjoy having variety in my routine so I don't get bored.

I'm sorry if this post is long-winded I'm just so excited about this. I also want to know from anyone else who is on a 1200 calorie diet, what do you typically eat all day? More specifically, how do you divide those calories?

Finally, what super foods do you know of and where can they be purchased? For example, I recently discovered chia seeds and I bought them from amazon.com (Health Warrior brand). They are rich in Omega-3s, protein and antioxidants--which makes them great for weightloss! A bonus is they're also wonderful for keeping your hair healthy Please share any helpful tips you may have.