I don't know how to write these things without sounding like a total *kitten* but I'll give it a go...

I'm Samantha, 21, Manchester/Oxford base. Currently about 157lbs and 5ft 7 - would be happy around 146 and ecstatic with 140. would like stomach and thighs to crawl down a hole and die.

Was diagnosed with lupus in January and combination of sitting finals/revolting steroids + amitriptyline causing **** metabolism = not enjoying the summer heat one bit. I used to show jump competitively when I was young/thin and would like to get back into it when I start my Masters. So not looking rank in skin tight clothing would be a winner.

Would like to blame 'Boy' who finds girls who eat sexy, and comfortably consumes 5 peoples worth of Chinese whilst staying ripped. But that would not be taking responsibility, which I am doing RIGHT NOW.

Also looking for low impact exercises that burn more than 250 kcal/hr. (Pilates: what a joke!)

S xx

Hi, I'm Leo.

Dad of one, desk jockey, & high mileage commuter. Want to get back to running and lose some 15 kgs. - (85kgs. down to 70 kgs.) the weight I was when I left the Navy in 2003.

Inspired by injured Marine Mark Ormrod ( a triple amputee who trekked across America) I'm going to attempt my first Marathon next year.

Long term I want to have more energy to run, bike and sail with my son.

Here we go....

Hey!

I'm Adonia - 27 and working in London.
My diet/gym madness about 10 weeks ago once I reached the depths of despair with my reflection...the weight had been creeping slowly on for 3/4 years (university, drinking, travelling and then an office job....recipe for disaster) and it was time to start realising I couldn't eat cake, sit still all day and be size 10. Boo.

It's been going pretty well I think! Started at 10st 10lb (150lbs...HATED it) and I'm now 9st 13lb (139lb) .... *very* proud but I'm going to need a HELL OF A LOT of motivation the next few weeks through Reading Festival, holibobs to Barcelona and numerous birthdays if I want to keep this up and get to my goal weight of under 9.5stone...so please help

Agree with Poppy that Fitness First are BRILLIANT - I go to the one on Tottenham Court Road and would highly recommend it if you're in the area and looking somewhere to join. Everyone is friendly, the classes are fun (Spin classes on a Thursday with Kris have been known to involve 45 mins of nothing but Whitney Housten dance megamixes...amazing!) it's clean and modern and, yes, there are numerous hotties!

Good luck everyone, looking forward to the group getting into full swing!

Adonia x

Hi

I'm Sarah, 23, 178 pounds, 5 foot 7. A combination of moving to London, writing a food blog, and being madly in love with a boy means I have rapidly gained loads of weight. Now I want it off. I am planning on working out 5 times a week, a mix of spin, dance and boxing, and also trying to work out how to make delicious but healthy food...

I'd just like to feel better about myself and look better in the clothes I have in my wardrobe. Not to much to ask, right?!

Let's do this!

X

Hiya,

I'm Sophie, from Surrey. 5'5 and *about* 10stone 5lbs (haven't weighed myself since Thurs AM). At the beginning of the year I was 12stone, I dieted down to 9stone 12 but have fallen off the wagon.

Ideally I would like to weigh 9stone 7lbs so I have a stone to lose (roughly). Can you all please kick my bum if I don't lose 1lbs or so a week? I sometimes need the tough love approach.

Sophie x

'Kay, here goes. I'm Jennifer, 34, in western Newfoundland. And yes, that makes me Canadian. I'm currently about 231 pounds, 5'10", and have lost a total of 16.2 pounds here on this site since April this year, grand total of 56.2 pounds altogether since September 2010. Losing weight is not easy for me as I have epilepsy, so getting outside to do it is, well, out of the question. I can never do it alone because my seizure pattern is totally AWOL so someone always has to watch me. But I have gotten myself down to a size XL in clothes, which I couldn't be happier in right now. If I exercise at night, I never eat afterwards, just drink, so I don't have to worry about the extra calories. I do everything I can to get exercise in each day, even if it's only 5 - 10 minutes of calisthenics to burn off a few extra from something I ate during the day. And it's working!!! My first goal weight is 200 pounds, but to get lower would be great. I just want to see what I'll look like at this weight since it's been so long since I've been that weight. I've never been thin as an adult and I would like to be that way, but I'll have to go at 25 pound increments where I don't remember what I looked like at such and such a weight. Who knows? At 175 I might look great!!! :bigsmile: Of course, I might have to wait till 150 to find that out too. LOL :laugh: Any case, wish me luck, and sorry if I babbled too much!!! :blushing:

Hi all!

My name's Laura and I live in Leeds. I'm about 5'10" and approx 203lbs. When I last went to the doctor about the pill, she said if I put on much more weight it won't be safe for me to be on it! That really hit home, and I'm trying to lead a healthier lifestyle and not just count calories to lose weight and inches. I've lost weight before but was really unhappy just counting calories all the time. Now I've started C25K and I'm hoping to start horse riding again. I'm determined to lose weight without making myself unhappy.

I need to exercise more, eat smaller portions and eat less processed food.

I don't use my fitness pal that much, but love reading the forums for advice, so looking forward to being part of this group!

Hi all

My name is Clare, I'm *cough* 38 and mum of 2. I weigh 11st and at 5'8" isn't too bad, but last year I lost almost 3 st with slimming world and 7lb has gone back on.

This group came just at the right time and I've targeted myself to lose 14 lbs in 9 weeks.

In reality I need to get off my *kitten* into gear as losing weight no longer means looking better (saggy mummy tummy anyone??)

I work full time in Manchester, and live near Warrington, so don't have loads of time but do own a bike, and hopefully going to start using it soon!!

Good luck x

Done!! Might motivate me to make healthy and not just low cal choices...maybe...!! x

Hi,

I'm Marina, Oxford based and just turned 28 (boooo!) I weigh 150 pounds and would like to get back to my ideal 126 pounds. I say back to as I managed to get from 156 pounds down to 126 about 2 years ago and have slowly piled it back on, but i'm getting married next year so I have new motivation.

I am a WIWT lurker but never posted and I'm also hoping that losing the excess poundage will mean I'll be able to post without feeling self conscious.

Feel free to add me as a friend so that we can motivate each other xx

Thanks

You've got a great reason to lose the weight, wanna look great in that dress, right?

Mine started differently for me. My reason started in a doctor's office while waiting for an appointment to start. The secretary came in with the scales - digital - and I got the fright of my life. I came in at a shocking 287 pounds. Got a digital scales of my own and went up a pound first. After 40 pounds, I joined here. Oh, the reason for the doctor's appointment? The results to my cholestrol test were back and they were up. Still working on that too, but hopefully I won't be on something like Lipitor like my Dad. He's on that because of a heart attack he had in 1995. High cholestrol runs in the family on his side, and I don't want to inherit that. And I'm gonna make sure I don't, no matter what I have to do to stop it.

Hey littlebigvoice

I think we're cut from the same cloth. I'm 5'3 and carry most of my extra weight on my hips bum and thighs - I actually quite like my waist and like you get the comments about how i can't weigh what i say i do!

Well i definately do - but hopefully we can do something about that!

My thighs and legs are my biggest bugbear. Although I've got pretty lardy, it's safe to say that I don't carry it too badly - my waist is still visible. This makes people go 'but you can't have put on a stone and a half since your wedding...'

Hellooo...

I'm Molly. I'm 24 years old and I live in London. I'm 5'1.5" and currently I think weigh about 11stone (just got back from holiday - too nervous to get on the scales this morning!). I was down to about 9st 7 last year through a combination of Dukan and being really regimented about exercise, but since then it's just crept back up. Motivation is what I find really tricky - like a lot of the stuff Poppy covered in her original blog, I still look ok in most of my clothes, I have a lovely boyfriend (whom I live with, and who has the metabolism of an antelope - also an issue when it comes to food choices!), I do bits of exercise now and then and think that that's enough. But it isn't really, and holiday snaps and dresses getting tighter and tighter just underline that. I'm really overweight for my height, and disappointed by not being able to keep the weight off from my last effort, so that's my first aim - to get back to where I was last year in a more sustainable way. And from there, who knows!