MFP is exactly what I need

RoyalTenenbaum

My fitness journey began in mid-2009. I was finally over a break-up and took a hard look at what had become of my life. I was 37 years old, 5'7" and 290 pounds. I was miserable.

A friend was getting ready to be deployed to Afghanistan and was looking for other friends to start working out with him before leaving. That's all it took. Nothing too grand.

He introduced me to "The Stairs". These stairs didn't look that ominous. I've seen worse stairs. The stairs from The Exorcist would eat these stairs for lunch. "The Stairs" kicked my *kitten*. I learned to hate "The Stairs". After a while, I grew to respect them. After my friend was already in Afghanistan, I grew to love "The Stairs" and would hate myself when I couldn't run them. After a month of stairs, diet and exercise I had lost 15 pounds. I knew that there was no stopping now. I knew that my goals were attainable.

My routine continued. I made improvements to my diet and exercise routine. Progress slowed, but I never got discouraged. This was going to be the new me. This was me changing my life for the better.

In 2011, I found myself relocated to Austin, Texas. My career had offered my a chance at a change of scene. I was 39, single and changing my life. Why not change where I live. I let the adventure continue. I was far away from "The Stairs". It was time to adapt. Health and fitness were still the most important things in my life. This was also the time that I set some short term goals. Get down to 200 pounds by New Year's Eve. Get down to 180 by my 40th birthday. Train for a 5K. Now things are getting serious.

How did it all play out? I worked with a personal trainer. He taught me the importance of weight training in addition to the cardio that I was regularly doing. I completed my Couch to 5K running program. That was one of the toughest things that I have ever done. I got down to 202 pounds on New Year's Eve. I was so happy that I even got that close. On January 10, 2012 I weighed in at 199 pounds. Ten days late, but worth celebrating anyway.

In March of 2012, I found myself moving back to California. Back to my friends and all of the temptations that come with them. Unfortunately, my will power failed me. That's why I'm here. I'm ready to get back on the fitness train. Ready to take advantage of everything that I have learned in the last three years. So far, I'm really enjoying MFP. It's exactly the kind of service that someone like me needs/wants/loves. I live for data. Anything that helps me track that data if OK in my book.

It's makes me feel good to see that there is an active community here. Some people need a good support system and that can make all the difference in the world.

I couldn't have done it without my Withings Wi-Fi Scale and RunKeeper. I'm glad to see that MFP syncs with my Withings Scale.

Good luck, everyone!

SameMe_JustLess

Good luck!