I've been here for 30 days and haven't introduced myself yet

ferdinandcc

I've gotten great value from this site, and from reading forum posts here, but I never took the time to introduce myself. I'm Lester, I'm Alaskan, and when I started on this site I weighed 215 lbs. Today, I weigh 198. My goal is to get down to 175.

I'm working to start a design school in the Philippines for kids who can't afford college (if you're at all interested in us, our url is http://ferdinandcc.org/ ) and an educational outreach program for street kids. Being surrounded by people who are TOO skinny and malnourished sometimes really shined a light on my own weight problem.

I quit smoking 58 days ago, and quickly gained 20 lbs before joining this site. One day, on a whim, I counted the calories of everything I had eaten that day. I didn't feel like I had eaten that much, but I had almost 4,000 calories! I've finally decided to take my health seriously, count my calories, and exercise every day. I really hadn't exercised much since high school, 9 years ago.

I'm currently working on the 100 Pushups program (http://hundredpushups.com/ ) and the 200 Sit-ups program (http://www.twohundredsitups.com/ ) to try and flatten my stomach a little bit and build up my spaghetti arms. I'm only 3 weeks into the programs, but I'm feeling a big difference already. I also love bicycling, which has really helped me to lose some of my weight.

Now I'm down to the weight level that's always been the hardest for me to push beyond. Counting my calories and exercising everyday will help me to finally get past it though. I'm excited.

Sebastiansmommy

Hello, keep up the good work:bigsmile:

jmarie9

yay ! quitting smoking is such an amazing feat in itself , i know how hard it can be! and everything else you have/are accomplishing is very inspiring! :drinker:

TOYGRRRL

Woo Hoo! You've accomplished so much! This is such an incredible service. Keep up the great work. My oldest daughter quit smoking and then slipped back into the habit after not smoking for 8 months due to stress at school and work. She is working on quitting once again. I wish you great strength to stick to your programs. You can do it with all the positive support here on MFP.

barbarella

Good job on everything! WOW! :drinker: :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

Losing weight, quitting smoking & helping others! YOU ROCK!!! :flowerforyou:

KeriD

FANTASTIC........so proud of you for quitting the smoking!!!! and again proud of you for joining. Sounds like you have a very bright future ahead of you!!! Wishing you all the best!!!!! Oh and I really like the photo of you and the lamb!!!! If you need any extra support feel free to add me as a friend

enromero

Great job!! Keep up the good work :-)

Erin

mrswilson2009

Hello, I just signed up today. Keep up all your good hard work!

ferdinandcc

Thanks everyone! You guys are so full of encouragement... Everyone who's trying to lose weight should join this site, seriously. I can't imagine doing any of this without MFP...