Hi Melanie,
My name is Crystal and I am 28. I am a newlywed and work a daytime desk job in Houston, TX. I recently joined myfitnesspal about 6 weeks ago hoping to loose some extra weight before a wedding I am in and cruise we are going on after. I however, am not making as much progress as I had hoped but I know it takes time and dedication to loose weight. "If it were easy everyone would be skinny" right? Gotta love Jillian.

I have been doing the ripped in 30 for over a month now off and on. I really love it. I get all sweaty and actually feel like I did something afterwards. I would like to finish up week 3 and week 4 and then I will probably do the shred again and I would like to get her 6 week 6 pack DVD.

The convenience of doing these DVD's at home and actually feeling like you accomplished something is awesome and its even better when you can share your success and cheer people on here on MFP.

Best of luck!

Hi Friends!

My name is Laura and I live in Alabama. I gained about 40 pounds after getting married and am now in the process of taking it back off (I've lost 17 so far). Losing weight is hard! I'm thankful for all of the wonderful support I've received through you all on MFP- that helps a lot. I've only done Jillian's 30 Day Shred video which I feel has been a wonderful workout that gives good results.

Best wishes to you all on your journey! Thanks for the support!

God bless,

Laura

Hi, I'm Joleen, 36 yrs old from SE Minnesota. 3 years ago I lost 50 pounds by just diet and exercise. But, slowly I gained back 30 pounds. Not eating right and I cut my exercise down. I stared trying to do this on my own in March (to fit into a bridesmaid dress) I didn't get too far. One of my friends intoducted me to My Fitness Pal at the end of July. I am so thankful for this website. I have lost 32 pounds so far (22 pounds thanks to MFP so far)

I noticed some of my friends on here doing Jillian Michaels. I thought, never....but I has starting to lose some weight and though I would give it a try. So I started the 30 day shred. I am on day 23 now! I can't believe I'm on level 3 now! I started about a month ago. I love how this has changed my body, I like getting the strength training in. I love that I can get this 30 min workout in before I go to work in the mornings. I am trying to do M-F and have the weekends to do the treadmill or walk outside.

I'm not sure what I will do when I complete the 30DS. What would you guys recommend? Nice to meet everyone!

I would def recommend doing the Ripped in 30. I think its a nice jump to another level without being too hard. Just like the 30DS you can work your way up through the weeks building your strength and working up to the harder levels. Best of luck to you!!

Hey ladies!!

My name is Sarah. I'm 29 and I've been happily married for a whole 8 months, lol. I joined MFP about 8 weeks ago. Since I've joined, I've lost 11 pounds. But for some reason my ticker says 10, oh well. I started with just walking and trying to eat better. I'm a BIG foodie, so giving up any of my favs was not going to happen. Instead, I'm taking the very slow approach of working them out of my system. I gave up drinking everything but water and my morning cup of tea. I also no longer eat half a cheesecake right before going to bed.

After walking became a little boring, I decided I wanted to start some strength training. The first time at it, well, we'll just say it was an epic fail. So I found this program online called twohundredsitups.com. It's a 6 week program to build up your endurance. it's not just sit ups, it's also push-ups, squats, dips and pull-ups. (But I don't do the pull-ups, hehe.) I highly recommend to anyone looking to improve their strength who is out of shape to look into this program. After completing just 2 weeks of 3 workouts per week, I saw some changes! Especially in my arms. I can only imagine what 6 weeks of workouts would look like!! Once I felt strong enough to move on, I purchased 30 Day Shred. I only made it to Day 9 of Level 1 before I went in for oral surgery and everything kind of went out the window after that. I REALLY wish I stuck with it because I was seeing great results in my abs/arms after just those 9 days. I have started the twohundredsitups challenge again and have now incorporated JM Yoga Meltdown in with the 30DS. (I have moved onto Level 2 because Level 1 was getting repetitive.) I do my dvds about 2-3 times, the 200hundred program 3 times a week and try for an hour walk 2-3 times a week.

I log everything I eat. Including those late night runs to McDonalds. I like being held accountable for what I put in my body.

My honeymoon is coming up the week of Christmas, so I'm ready to get serious again. I am determined to look presentable in a bikini. Our last cruise I wouldn't even let my husband take any body pictures of me. But not this time!!!!

Feel free to add me for support!! I am a great supporter of people who try hard!!!

Thanks! Sounds like I will like Ripped in 30. I will have to get it.

Sarah - thanks for sharing the twohundredsitups website. I'm going to have to check that out. I've never been able to do a pull up (at least since I was a kid) - so that's kind of like a secret aspiration for me. But I've never been able to do push ups until now either - and here I am 5 weeks after starting 30DS (I'm doing the "extended" version with days off) and I'm able to do the walking push ups and all the plank moves.... so maybe there's hope for me :-)
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No problem!! Good for you for being able to do the walking push-ups! I can do about 2 of them and then I switch to holding the plank position instead of the push-up. I'd rather keep going and not be able to do them instead of giving up all together. (That's big progress for me!!) I really swear by this program. Especially since I can do it in my office or while watching tv.

Hi folks - I was one of the 30DS people in Sept.. A few of us went on to do Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism in Oct.. I was trying to do BFBM and then No More Trouble Zones (each one nearly an hour long) on alternating days.. Yeah, that didn't work out . I managed to do 30DS every single day in Sept without fail and was by far the largest person in our group. When I started 30DS on 1Sept, I was 234.4 lbs, By the end of the month, I was down to 226.6 and had dropped almost 10" total.

My name is Rhonda. I go by Gypsy or even Nareena in real life as well. My old gaming habits bled over into the real world many years ago, lol. I am married almost 16 years now (anniv is in a few weeks) and we have a son, 15.. similar to like Melanie said, my son has ADHD and Bipolar Disorder. The doc says he's likely got OCD as well. Poor kid . Anyway, again like Melanie, I live outside of Atlanta, GA (northwest side). I work full time but am not a "full time" employee thanks to the way of company regulations.. boo!

I don't need someone to push me and tell me I can do better, or to hold my hand and say it will be alright if I mess up my diet or my workouts. I am pretty self sufficient in those regards. It's great to have the accountability though, and see someone poke at me to acknowledge that I *did something* good! Oh yes and I love having people to talk to who "get it" about MFP and weight loss. I hate the idea that I am talking to someone who doesn't understand and they really just don't want to hear another word about how I *finally made it to a size 18 jeans* for the first time in 12-15 years.. lol.

Hi Friends!

My name is Laura and I live in Alabama. I gained about 40 pounds after getting married and am now in the process of taking it back off (I've lost 17 so far). Losing weight is hard! I'm thankful for all of the wonderful support I've received through you all on MFP- that helps a lot. I've only done Jillian's 30 Day Shred video which I feel has been a wonderful workout that gives good results.

Best wishes to you all on your journey! Thanks for the support!

God bless,

Laura

Also losing post wedding weight!
I was also a part of the 30DS group and I'm really excited to be a part of this new support group. I'm a 27 year old high school teacher and like everyone here I have no time for anything. Ever. Haha.
I totally fell off the wagon with 30DS so I'm hoping this group will help me get back on track with it.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you!
Steph

@melinade I didn't caer for the cardio either. I switch it up with other videos I have or go out side for a run. I do like the other DVDs just not the cardio so far. We will see what Cardio 2 has in store for me next month. Good luck to you!

Hello everyone! My name is Stacy, 37 years old, married with 3 kids and I'm from Parkersburg, WV. I enjoy crafting, reading, photography, and right now working out. I also love Vampire Diaries and Duck Dynasty but those really aren't relivant. lol
I started my journey this past June and I've lost 28 lbs. and I'm actually to the size clothes that I would like to stay must I'm having a hard time with the concept of maintaining. I did up my calories so that's a start. I definitely need to strength train but I really love my cardio machines at the gym. {guilty pleasure} I am a 30DS quitter. Sorry guys. I had a hard time liking level 2 and I have to workout at home in my basement with my cats watching and I just wasn't enjoying myself. I found getting out of the house and zoning on a treadmill or ellipitical machine is more my style. I do think I'm going to get JM ab workout because that it where I really need to focus right now and I do actually enjoy ab workouts.
I am very lucky and I have an extremely supportive husband that is thrilled with his sexy wife. I have also been told in the past month that I don't look old enough to have a 16 year old daughter, so that's nice to hear. My other 2 kids are 7 and 4 and they just keep mommy hopping.
Everybody keep up the good work. It does pay off.