Who is here for reasons other than “getting skinny”?

Hey everyone.....as you can possibly tell, I have just joined today....and i'll be honest and say the weight loss side of things is important but my health like most here is the most important.....firstly I will say, beware of getting a major chest infection and a major lung infection cause you could accidentally end up in hospital being hardly able to breathe.....and now am the 'proud or not so proud' owner of an enlarged heart and are now termed a severe heart failure patient.....so as most things, all that news took its toll and i'll be honest for a while I kinda went into shock mode and not forgot what was seriously going on, but temporarily tucked it away in my mind as to what was actually going on.....

SO I mastered my first demon and that was smoking and have been smoke free for 2 years now and I have finally have the correct meds that have helped stablise my heart side of things......I guess I should also say that November last year I ended up needing to have a pacemaker put in because one side of my heart decided to beat out of sync with the other so now I its my time to travel a new journey and get better for me and for for the likes of becoming skinny cause sometimes like that just are not true to some people, including me....

And being a newbie to all of this, any friends, help and advice would be most treasured.....and my bad if I rambled a tad too much

While I do want to "get skinny", one of my biggest reasons for losing weight was the fact that at 37 I was starting to feel really old. I wasn't eating very well, was tired all the time and was wondering, "If I feel this way now, how am I going to feel 10 years from now?" I have 2 young children, and it's important for me to live as long as I can and feel as good as I possibly can for as long as I can so that I can enjoy them well into their adult years. I would love to be a healthy grandmother. I don't have a lot of healthy role models in my family and I want to be a healthy role model for my children.

To reduce high blood pressure is my reason for being here. I'm 30 years old and refuse to be medicated unless I absolutely have too. Working out helps relieve my stress and less stress help me control my eating (I'm an emotional eater). Now I work out to alleviate stress and use MFP to make sure I'm eating enough of the necessary stuff to be healthy. Congrats for taking control of your health and good luck on your journey :flowerforyou:

Im here for the pretty girls on my friends list!!



lol, j/k


errrr maybe?

Me! I am here to get healthier, not become "skinny". I equate "skinny" with being unhealthy. I prefer the term "fit", but that doesn't mean you won't lose weight too by dieting and exercising. Skinny isn't the focus, but it can be a side effect of getting fit, depending on your body type and genetics.

I don't have mono or CFS but I do have 4 young children so I am chronically exhausted from ongoing sleep deprivation!! In terms of health, I have impaired insulin & am losing weight (it's happening!!!) in order to reverse this condition. NO way do I want diabetes if I can avoid it! According to my endo' I only have about 3kg to lose before my BGL should begin to normalise - VERY excited about that!!!

Part of the reason I'm here is because I would absolutely love to (and really should) lose some weight.

But the real reason I'm here at this exact point in time is that I just started PA school (PA= physician assistant). It is the most intense, insane, and difficult thing I've ever experienced. I can't even begin to say how overwhelming it's been so far. Since I tend to deal with stress by turning to comfort foods and packing on pounds quickly- typical yo-yo pattern- I'm hoping that having the structure of MFP, will at least keep me from GAINING any weight this year. Plus, if I am losing, even a little, it will give me something non-school-related to celebrate and keep me feeling positive!

I had several reasons to lose weight.

1) To outsmart my genes: My father destroyed his body with Type II Diabetes. By the time he passed away he was on dialysis three days/wk, and was nearly entirely blind. He most likely could have prevented this had he maintained a healthy weight. My mother has had double knee replacement and still has difficulty walking and climbing steps. Her pain may not be entirely eliminated with weight loss, but it would certainly be lessened.

2) I was growing out of my size 16s and refused to be relegated to shopping in the big girls' section. As someone who is 4'11", shopping is difficult enough! And money wise, I couldn't afford the trend of needing new clothes as I got bigger (thankfully, I'm able to get hand-me-downs from friends now that I'm going in the other direction).

3) Chronic depression: I know that exercising and eating right is helpful in getting a handle on this, but in truth I don't notice any stark difference in my mood. I am however, slowly beginning to own this new body I've got, which is having a positive effect on my self-esteem!

I know from past experience that my mood elevates when I eat better/cleaner. That's why I'm back mainly - to return to a good frame of mind. Don't get me wrong - looking better helps too, it's all connected.
Mostly though, as I said, it's to encourage my own mental good health.

I am here to not get skinny. I am already there. I am here to learn to maintain.

It's a very different ballgame.

I never used to log my foods...but doing so I can see patterns. What foods I am more satisfied with,what calorie count I can get to without gaining, and also what cal count causes me to drop since I don't want that either, etc.

Maybe one day I won't have to log..but until then I like seeing the pattern and learning about myself and what I need to do to maintain where I am at.