Hi. My name is Melissa. I'm 29 years old and I live in Orlando, FL. I've been on my weigh loss journey for about 2 years now. My starting weight was 309. I've had a few slip up's in those 2 years, but i've managed to lose about 106 pounds so far! For now, my goal is to get down to 160 pounds. I'm single & have no children, but i'm pretty sure i'm the best aunt ever

Hi All! I'm Laura, from Iowa and I'm 43, a married mother of 2. This March we'll celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. Our boys are 19 and 16.

I've always been curvier than most because I'm short. At 5'2 and 130# in high school, I was always told I was too heavy for ____(fill in the blank). So I ate and ate and ate to stave off the rejection I felt. After high school I'd blossomed to 210, but then moved out and lost weight, getting down to 140 in a matter of months. Then I met my husband ...and somehow after the 2 boys were born I'd found my way back up to 220. Then suddenly 280 (where I've been most of my 30s and now early 40s). Last July my son was denied leave (he's in the military and we hadn't seen him in 9 months at that point), and I ate and ate and ended up at 304. Now I'm down to 297 just by cutting down on soda. I'm tired of being fat, my knees are killing me and I'm starting to get scared how I'm going to make it another 20 years.

I have 150% decided to take this seriously. I'm planning to be 20# down by March for my anniversary. My husband is also joining me on this journey, so am glad to have that additional support.

Excited to get started and for all of us to pull one another along! WE CAN - AND WILL - DO THIS!!

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Hello everyone My name is Bridgett, I am from Northern Utah, and I am 29 years old. I started MFP in 2011 I did really well and had lost over 140 lbs then 3 weeks after we moved into our first house my son lit it on fire. I was devistated and spiraled into a very deep depression. I completely shut down. I was later diagnosed with Bi Polar depression and have been struggling over the last 6 monthes to get medications and life stable again. I am finally starting to feel small pieces of the old me emerging from the dark. With all the medication changes and such I gained most of my weight back now when I look in the mirror is sickens me and I want it gone! I am feeling stronger and stronger everyday and am ready to start on this journey yet again. I am currently weighing in at 325.4, I am 5 ft 9 in tall and have a very broad build my mother has always called me her football player because my shoulders are so broad lol. I want to get down to 175 atleast if I can go lower I will I don't want to be a stick just healthy with energy, but I can't remember the last time I saw the scale below 200. I am very much looking forward to that day. I set mini goals along the way so I don't get so overwhelmed by the large number I must lose. my first mini goal is to get below 200. I am a stay at home mother to 2 wonderful little munchkins a 7 year old boy and a 4 year old girl. I also have the wonderful priviledge to be the host mother to an amazing 16 year old Tiawaneese boy. He is a delight to have in our home and fits into our family as if he has lived here his whole life. He loves the USA and does not want to go back home so hopefully we will have the pleasure of having him in our home for years to come. I also have a VERY large dog his name is Hero and he is an Old World German Shepherd also known as giant german shepherds. He has had the inital K-9 training, but then no departments wanted him because of his extremely large size, no throwing him through a window after a perp lol, he is a 167 lbs of sweet furry love. We also have 6 cats, 5 live outside and call the garage their home and 1 is an indoor outdoor cat his name is Mr. Fat Cat and he is very pampered he stays inside when it's snowy and goes outside when he deems the weather acceptable lol. I am married to a very hard working man and have been for 7 years. He works lots of hours so that I can stay home with our children, he is a good man. I am hoping however that by seeing my changes he will want to make changes himself, his health has been declining and I wish he would do more to take care of himself also. Well anyone feel free to add me. I do my best to get on atleast once everyday. and read through posts. We can and will do this!!!!

Oh excuse any grammar, spelling, or puncutation mistakes. I may speak english, but I hate the technical parts of it lol

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Hello ladies. I'm Jan, 58, I'm from San Diego California, but residing in NW Arkansas now. I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in September 2008. I was told to lose weight from the 345 pounds I was before surgery and we tried to hold off on the surgery to that end. A month later the cancer had serious escalated, I had only 30 pounds off and the surgery went ahead. I've been stuck since the surgery and only since hearing about MFP have I managed to get back on the road to better health. It's been difficult. Since 1999 I have been working from home, running dozens of websites. Nearly every week since 1999, until recently, I've worked 16-20 hours days, seven days a weekm to make ends meet. That's a lot of time sitting on my buns. Since 2006, I've been raising my youngest grandson, now 6, after his mother, my youngest daughter was in a car accident and received a severe traumatic brain injury. I fought the father, her husband, for custody in court and won. That tells you all need to know about the father. My grandson is severly autistic and I'm homeschooling him since Jan 31, 2011, after he was neglected and abused in a special needs school. He requires non-stop around the clock one-on-one superivsion to keep him safe. His issues are vast and he is above all adorable, sweet and loving. To say there is a lot on my plate is an understatement. It has left me no time for myself. Seven weeks ago, we moved to a smaller community and as luck would have it, there is a private gym with 24/7 keyed entry, only a few blocks from our new home. I enrolled yesterday and am eager to get rolling on exercising. The draw back is the moving killed my back and knees (huge surprise there, eh?) and I've been pretty much stuck in my recliner until the last few days. Having spent every day, all day at my desk since forever, this is a very depressing situation to be in. Fed up, I decided to take action. Hence the club membership and my presence here. My pain level is my strongest motivator, I HAVE GOT TO GET THIS WEIGHT OFF! I'm a diabetic with high blood pressure so creating these menus, given the counts allowed for me in this program are a huge challenge. But, I am up for it. Game on. Let's do this!

If we are really going to support each other, let's start by everyone enabling their weight loss ticker on their posts. We then can quickly browse all the members of this elite group in this thread to see who is losing, who needs some extra motivation and encouragement. Yes?

Hello Girls!!!

My name is Jamie and I'm 28 years old from Ephrata, PA. I'm the mother to THREE beautiful children - my oldest daughter is almost 9 and my twins Karleigh and Westin are almost ONE! I'm so blessed to have them in my life! However, I have been heavy my entire life, but what I wouldn't give to be the size I was in H.S. I'm weighing in now at 314lbs and my goal weight is 160lbs. I need to do this for me, but I also need to do this for my kids! I'm blessed to also have a supportive boyfriend by my side that is encouraging me in this journey!!! I'm making a lot of changed in my life and my weight is one of them!!!!!

Hey everyone! I'm new to this whole MFP thing, so bear with me! My name is Jamie, I'm 30 and ready to make some changes in my life before it gets any harder! I'm currently weighing in at 259, would love to get to 160-170ish with muscle, but will be happy just to get out of the 200s! My wife and I are doing this together, but I'm looking for some new support and friendly advice on here as well. We all know that spouses say what they have to sometimes ;-) So... feel free to add me as a friend, good luck to everyone on their goals!

Hello, my name is Debbie and I am from Brazoria, Texas. I joined weight watchers online on Jan 1, 2013. Weigh in is tomorrow. I weigh 245 lbs. I am trying MFP. So far love it. Just new and not for sure how to respond and get friends. I am married to the same man for 36 years. Have 5 grandbabies (5-14 ages). I am a Salon Manager. I have been heavy ever since I was 13. Sometimes I just ignore it and pretend it is not effecting me. I did get to 290 lbs a few years ago and I lost to 231 and just got lazy and fell off the wagon (again!!) I am so tired all the time and out of breath. This group sounds perfect for me. Would love to get to know each of you better. Thanks.

Name - KathyJo
Where you live - North Carolina
Age - 39

Starting weight and Goal (or how much you want to lose) - Starting Weight this time was 303 (ARGH!) I've never been over 300 lbs. until now and I'm really feeling the Health effects from the weight! Overall, my goal is to weight at least 175 lbs. Motivation right now ~ My 40th birthday is nearing quickly and after looking at this past Christmas pics, I was disgusted with myself. I don't want my big birthday bash pics to look just as awful. Also, I'm planning a cruise for Feb 2014 and hope to be at least 70 lbs lighter by then. (More would be great!)

Family - Married for almost 12 yrs to a loving, supportive husband. (Jan 20 will be 12 yrs), we have been together for 14.5 yrs and I have 3 children. (21 daughter, 19 stepson, 11 son)

I'm getting myself motivated to get up and move at work and at home!

Hi Ladies,
My Name is Renee. I am 46 years old and weigh 280 lbs. I live near Pittsburgh PA. I work part time at the moment and I also am an Avon Representative, which I love doing. I have been overweight most of my life. There was only one period of time when I was around 16 that I was at my perfect weight. I was a cheerleader which helped me to get there. I have been married 25 years and my husband loves me unconditionally. But I'm sure he would like to see me healthier and I'm sure easier on the eyes. We have a son who now 19 years old. He is our one and only. We wanted to have many children but we were just blessed with him. I was always able to carry my weight well until I hit my 40's that is. There was a lot of stress added to my life at that time as well, which didn't help. I was in a depression for many years. I found it so hard to get out of bed every single day. There were so many changes in my life and they weren't all good and I was not handling it well. Some of the changes had to do with my son. He was a great baby and child always made me smile. As he hit his teen years something happened. It was like an alien took over his body. I felt like I lost my baby. He also started going down a long hard distructive road. As hard as I tried to get him on the straight and narrow the more he fought to stay where he was. He is doing somewhat better but still struggling in certain areas. But I have given him to God. He has a great plan for him and I need to let Him do his work. I am still there for my son and still give my words of adivce and encouragement but I can't force him to live the life I think that he deserves. He has to want that for himself. Leaving him in God's hands has lifted that sadness from me mostly. Most days I'm good. But I need to start focusing on me and getting me healthy and maybe that will be a good example to my son as well. I would like to get down to about 155 if not even lower. I want to be me again. I don't feel like this is me. I can't believe I let myself get this unhealthy. I've never done anything like this before joining this group or logging my thoughts and what I eat. So I am hoping this will be a new a great start for a change in my life.

We have alot in common! Hang in there! Pray daily and Let God Handle The Rest! I have to say this everyday! If you pray why worry.... If you worry why pray? Our son is now 20 and has blessed us with a wonderful, loving Grandson. But our son is still not where he needs to be! But you are right, he has his own journey! God has big plans! I started out at 258 January 16, 2012 and have lost 60 lbs todate. I want to lose 40-50 more this year. I was and am an emotional eater. Sweets were my best friend. I had to take control of myself and focus on my health, not how my son was doing. My husband and I have been married for 23 years on January 20th. He was raised in a christian environment with all the best resources and opportunities. God has a plan.
God Bless!!!

Looks like there are a lot of amazing women with whom we all share similar stories. The instroductions are great to read, but I believe the real motivation and encouragement comes when we take it to the next step. That being adding each other as friends. We are then one step closer to motivation without having to "scroll" down. It is impossible to add everyone as a friend, but I would challenge this great group to select a few "new friends" that you have the most in common with. I posted my introduction around the first of the year and have one new friend as a result. I need to practice what I preach more, but as I said, this is a "challenge." Good look to every woman here and may you all reach your goals.

Hi, my name is Carol Lynne (CL). I am 46 years old and live by myself (ie. I can blame my habits on no one but myself). I live in western MA and weigh 272 pounds. My goal is to lose about a 120 pounds. I have always cooked for myself (rather than eating out) so eating healthy food is not a problem for me-just eating too much. My second problem has always been keeping up with exercise. I'll go gangbusters for 3 -6 months, then fizzle. I liked using exercise dvds in the past, but now live on the second floor of a house with a downstairs neighbor who has the same schedule I do. I also did a lot of walking outside before, but am now in a bad neighborhood for walking. At this point, I am trying to get myself in the habit of going to the gym on a regular basis. I'm hoping that belonging to a group will help keep more more on track and keep me from losing momentum.

Hello All!

My name is Bridget. I live in New York and I am 32. This is my second go at trying to lose 100 lbs. I currently weigh in at 256. It was 4 years ago at this time where I decided I needed to do something different, so I did. I cut out a lot (not all) of the processed foods I and started moving. It took nearly a year and I had lost 80lbs, but I still wanted to reach my goal weight. I lost focus for awhile and when I finally really looked at myself I had gained back the 80lbs plus 2 extra. I am motivated to make a second go of this and sustain my weight loss. I just saw a clip on the Today show about a group who had never met and had encouraged each other to all lose 100lbs. each. I am hoping that this group will help us all do the same. Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you all!