Pulled this from my blog

A little background
I have five children the oldest son is 30 and the youngest girl is 6. I have the oldest and youngest grandchildren of my parents. As an older parent being around and being active with my youngest has made me look at my food choices again.
I have been fighting my weight battle 40 years and while I know a lot of the right answers I have surrendered in the past. I have lost 100 lbs twice and become pregnant and gained the weight back both times. I have tried many times to gain a handle on this battle but often caved in to the sabotage of my ex-husband.
It has been with the love and support of my current husband that I have come to realize that I can win this battle and had the courage to begin this journey.

Emotional Eatting Background
I grew up in a family where gathering centered around the enjoyment and sonsumption of food. During my childhod I learned that food can be a reward, a treat, a means to celebrate, pass time, or something to cheer yourself up. By the time I was in my teens it was the comfortor I turned to that did not abuse, hurt, or belittle me.
It was the one thing in my life that I thought I controled. It has only been in recent years that I have come to understand that many times my eating is in response to my emotions rather than my bodies physical hunger. When I am feeling lonely, unhappy, sad, insecure, or even happy, I find consoation in food. I would much rather eat something rather than talk about my feelings. After years of going through life believing I was in control I realized that the exact opposite was the truth. In fact, the food has control over me.
During this last year while teaching I slow without trying for the first time ever began to lose weight. Now that the summer has began, I have decided why not try and work with that and continue. Breaking free of the control of food and being an emotional eater is something I am striving to overcome.

A little more background
My life its either black or white no gray area for me is how I have always put it. When I am good I am 100 % good and when I am bad it shows on my body. I have battled my weight more or less for 40 years. I want go into details but I had a very abusive childhood both physically and mentally during a time when there wasn't the resources there are today to deal with such.

Food was a source of comfort it didn't hit me, it didn't put me down, it didn't make me feel useless or like dying. It was the one thing I could control. It was not until decades later and many overweight pounds that I realized the food was controlling me rather than me controlling it.

The first success I had with losing weight was when I was pregnant. Unlike most people that gain weight when pregnant I lost weight during my terms b/c it was during this time I actually listened to my doctor and went by his advice concerning my diet. Once I delivered I continued losing by watching my diet and working out. Everything went well until I stopped going to work out at the gym then slowly but surely I begin to regain the weight.

I am not sure how many time I dieted and regained btw that pregnancy and the next one but I usually tried about once every year to year and half. I lost close to 75 pounds but my husband kept telling me my stomach was getting bigger. I know it will sound crazy but that was when I realized I was again pregnant. I again lost weight while pregnant and by the time I delivered I was down close to 100 pounds. This time around though I didn't lost much more after I delivered and I wasn't into working out at this time so it wasn't long before the weight began to creep back up.

After I am not sure how many years went by as I continued to yo-yo repeatedly as each result left me weighing more and more. Each time I would decide to do something about my weight my ex-husband would find ways to get me to cave in and give up. Don't get me wrong I know it was me but having support as we all know by now is a very very important part of success and that was something I never had at any time.

About 10 years ago I began another stage of the battle when my first marriage came to an end. While I didn't continue to lose weight I did maintain the lose for several years before it began to return after moving 2600 miles and remarrying. In 2006 while in the middle earning my BA I was most blessed to learn I was again expecting. I once again lost weight but not nearly as much as with the first two pregnancies. As I concentrated on finishing school the bottom fell out of teaching in WA and I found while I had accomplished my dream I could not find a teaching position and my weight crept up once again.

In 2010 we lost my father in law and decided it would be best for our youngest child and our finances to move back to my home roots. Upon returning home and finding a teaching position my weight began to go down. It has been two years and while it has not been a lot I have continued to drop a little here and there.

As a 51 year old mother of a 6 year old this continued losing without trying has given me the motivation to try and do more healthy eating and working out. I am not looking for a miracle. I realize this has been 40 + years adding this weight and it will be I figure a couple of years making it to my goal, but this time I do believe I can do it with the support of my family which is something I have never had in the past.

Hello, my name is Katie, 49yrs old, and I live in the UK. I joined MFP in September, and its one of the best things I've ever done! I have lost 40Ibs altogether since July/August this year, and feel great. My overall goal is to loose 84Ibs; so almost half way. However, I set myself 28Ib mini goals.....so with this in mind, I've got 16Ib to go until I reach my second mini goal. I joined a gym last week, so now getting into this along with swimming....and I am really enjoying it, as well as seeing how my confidence is starting to grow.

I love walking my dogs, although today it looks like it is going to be a very wet walk and filthy dogs, as it is pouring with rain....but never mind! I love to lunch...and the wine, so I am very pleased to be part of this group.

Have a great day everyone
Katie

Hi I'm Sonya (Florida)
I'm 40... for a few more weeks!
I have 3 children 23, 21, 14
I am a graphic designer.
I recently hurt my back and started to realize I needed to do something about it.
I started weight loss solutions in September and Im down 20 pounds (it may be 26) But im not trusting the scales till i weigh in on the 19th at the doc's office.
I have a mini goal to be under 200 pounds by Christmas and i think I can make that
The BMI thing says i should be between 125-140 for my height.
I was aiming for 170 first then I'll go from there.

The loss of the 20 pounds has helped my back and my attitude. People at work are complementing me on how chipper i have been.
It really feels good.

I have changed how i eat completely.
Right now i am high protein and no white foods (Pasta, rice, bread, potatoes)
So meat and veggies and fruit ... and occasional whey protein shakes on my way to work.

I was at a plateau last week stuck at 20 pounds lost... then i weighed in yesterday... 4 different scales while i was shopping... and i seem to have lost 5 pounds since Wednesday. Since i can't quite believe it I'm not sure if its right...


Have been on mfp for about 6 weeks and love the tracking. Just realized this weekend I may need a friend or two to keep me motivated

Hi, my name is Denise. I am 53 years old. I live in Pinellas Park Florida. A year and half ago I quit smoking and took up running. I am still smoke free and still running. I have completed 2 half marathons, doing my 3rd in a couple of weeks in Miami. Even with all the running I do for training I am still gaining weight. I believe mostly due to not smoking. I have gained 21 pounds since I quit. I am married to an awesome guy who supports me with everything, even all my crazy ideas of trying to lose weight. LOL I have a 15 year old stepson who now lives with us and can be sometimes a challenge for me, but I love having him with us.

Hello everyone..... nice to be here! I am 42 (43 on Nov 11) live in San Clemente California and have 3 beautiful children 20, 18, and 10! I did not struggle with my weight until I had children and found it really hard to lose it after each child the worst being after my third...... and instead of losing I was gaining!!!!! I have been on MFP for about 45 days and have lost 7.2 pounds. I started to "diet" last april by going to Weight Watchers but found it hard to pay for my weigh in's so I began to do it on my own. I began running and watching what I ate. I have lost a total of 35 pounds since then but found myself maintaing so I knew I needed to do something different. So glad that I found MVP it has help me a lot.
Today I still enjoy running and i'm running 7 miles 3 days a week and have recently got into kick boxing..... its hard but I love it. For me its not about dieting but about a change in life style. i still love to eat (and drink wine) and have learned that everything in moderation works well for me........ its when I deprive myself that I fail.

Hi I am Joy and new to this group. I am 41 married with 3 children Marcus is 16 and the twins piers and Lydia are 8. Marcus and piers both have autism and piers also has ADHD I am extremely proud of both of them Marcus did well in his GCSEs and is currently studying A level ICT and interactive media. Piers is learning to play guitar and Lydia is the dancer in the family. I am a keen runner who has recently got into lifting weights. I tend to be obsessive in my interests learning everything I can about them. I love to cook and work as a midwife currently working on delivery suite. My husband also lifts weights. We have very busy lives but I love my life and wouldn't change it for the world. I live in Doncaster south Yorkshire in the UK.

Hi My name is Melissa. I live in Connecticut, 49 years old and going thru perimenopause. I am a lifetime WW member for the past 3.5 yrs and have lost over 80 lbs thru the years with them. Having issues with my weight going up and not sure if it is due to the newest program (dont count fruit or winter squash) or the perimenopAuse or both so my doctor suggested I start using MFP to see if we can find out where the issue is. This past week we had a hurricane and were without power. I continued with my workouts but ate less and sleep more b/c what else is there to do when u go 6 days without electricity? So my weight went down 3,8 lbs. i think WW pts are too much for me so we are going to monitor.
Look forward to chatting.

Hello Everyone,

Just want to stop by and say Hello, today has been a really full day as was this weekend. I went on Friday to a workshop and just got home a little while ago. So totally exhuasted and bit shut down for the workshop was good but also a bit emotional so I am what I am at this moment. I will later in the week go over my notes reflect on what I learn and what will be the next steps.

So looking forward to see what the next part of this group will be. At this moment I will be on my way to bed. Wishing everyone a good night!

Liz

Hi everyone. I am Gail, 52 from near Coventry in the UK.

I have been using MFP since August 2011 and have lost 39.5lbs......OK so it's a couple less than that as I was away last week and put two back on.....I never log the gains!

Ideally I would like to get to my goal of 10st 7 (147lbs for those across the pond!) by the end of the year but it won't bother me if I don't as I feel good and can fit into almost all of my UK size 12 clothes.

Hi, I'm Sheila. I'm 51 and working to get back down to a healthy weight. I work full-time, and in my off time enjoy my time with my husband, my dog and playing around in my veggie garden. I've recently learned how to can foods and love the idea of being able to have home grown veggies year round.

Hi , My name is Dianne. I am 70 years young and i live in Australia. I have 4 children, 14 grandchildren and 6 great grand children.
I am an Elder in our church. I sing, played guitar until I sold it and tinker with the keyboard. I have also written gospel songs, made 2 c.ds. which I did mainly for my kids but surprise, surprise i actually sold some, which was a bonus.

Hi Ladies. Alice, Thanks for inviting me to the group. I'm looking forward to being apart of the "sisterhood. "

Hi Ladies

Looking forward to being in this group. I am 57 and live in Scotland I am a retired nurse and mum of 1 grandmother of 2 lovely boys with another grandchild on the way. I have lost 18 lbs since joining and am now using weights to tone up. Have been really encouraged by my wonderful supportive friends on here and looking forward to making new friends. I enjoy long walks with my border collie who never refuses to go out! I also enjoy using weights ( makes me laugh seeing that in print ) as they are strengthening my body and creating muscles I never knew I would get at my age. Looking forward to getting new recipes and tips from you all.

Take care and good luck

Debra Message me if you like as far as the exercise. I also have never been one to exercise, but since August I have been doing Zumba and am absolutely hooked, doing 45-60 mins 4-5 times a week, at home!!! So come on and join the Zumba party!!

Hello all! I'm new here (at least this group) and have been on MFP for a few months now. I left WW since it was getting rather spendy and much prefer this free site...besides the people are pretty friendly in the groups! I lost about 20 lbs on WW and have about 7 more. Since I'm 47 I do have some dreaded tummy fat that I'm trying to get rid of! I want to hit my middle ages (50+) as a very healthy person and avoid health care issues as I age. Both my parents did not look after themselves well (1970's was when our food started becoming artificial) and both died far too young. Although I miss them tremendously I'm not in a hurry to be reunited :happy:

I do have a few goals I want to achieve...lose those last 7 - 10 lbs and run a 10K. Not much and I think achievable I do believe!