Hi everybody! I figured I would start a thread for introductions to get us started.

I'm Catherine (Cathy) - I'm a 42 yo mother of 4 (ages 6, 4, 2, and 7 months). I've been married to my husband for 13 and half years. We live in Kitty Hawk and own a business that we operate together. I grew up nearby in Va and used to visit the Outer Banks as much as possible- then when I was 28 I moved to Illinois with my husband and lived there for 10 years. We had a dream of moving out here to the Outer Banks and finally made that a reality in 2011.

As far as why I'm here on MFP- it has been a while since I've been at a weight I could feel good about. I have been up and down for the past 8 years as I've been pregnant and having babies one after the other. After each I've managed to get off the pregnancy weight, but then that still leaves the extra 20 or so I was carrying to begin with. After having my 4th ( and last) baby 7 months ago I did fairly good with my food intake and lost about 15 pounds but then around October I just started slipping and before you know it I had gained all 15 back. So now I would like to lose about 40- 50 pounds and hope I can do it by the end of the year.

I had my cholesterol and blood pressure checked for insurance purposes last year and both are not as good as they should be, so in addition to trying to eat to lose weight, I also want to try to improve those things as well. I've never really had to think about those things before so this will be new territory for me- other than cutting back salt and losing weight in general I'm not sure of how to improve those things so I'll be learning about that as I try to be healthier person.

My plan is to cut back on calories - probably to around 1500 a day for now. I'm breastfeeding so I can't be much more strict than that. I will allow myself 1 free meal a week- where I can basically have anything I'd like but just that one meal. I have found in the past that in doing that I can stay on track better as I direct all my misery at what I'm missing out on into planning what I will have on that one meal each week. Walking is my exercise of choice but it is a real challenge trying to find time to do it between my children and my job- so I can't commit to a regular program there yet but hope I can in the future.

So I started this group because I thought it would be fun to talk to people who love the Outer Banks- whether you live here or just visit or just want to visit- and then also support each in other nutrition/ exercise goals as well. So I hope you will say hello and introduce yourself and that we can all get to know each other better.