Great idea Donna!

My name is Ali. I am 42, married, with 3 wonderful kids (girl 13, boy 11, girl 7). I am from the UK but have been living here in Mali, West Africa for the past 17 years. There was a time when I would always have to explain where Mali is, but unfortunately our country has been on the news far too much recently :-( All is quiet in the area in which we live, but we did have to evacuate out for two months last year, and nearly had to do so again about a month ago. Planning on staying put if we can though! My husband is Malian, so evacuations are always our last resort, even when other expats decide to go.

I have been on MFP for about a year and a half. Lost 26 lbs, put 2 of them back on. I have been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds for the past 8 months. Blaming stress of life here for that, but really I just need to knuckle down and get serious. March 1st saw (another!) new start for me, so I am hoping this time to get those last 25 lbs off that NEED to go!

Looking forward to hearing more about the rest of you!

Hello! I'll go next. my name is Kim, i'm 30 years old and I live in Princeton, Illinois. I'm a single mom with a 4 year old daughter. I've lived in Texas my whole life, but I moved up here a year ago after I separated from my husband so that I could be closer to family. I've always been overweight, and I hit my highest weight right after my daughter was born, when I weighed a whopping 265 lbs. at 5'4", I was rolly-Polly and miserable. I vowed to change to set a good example for my daughter. I started studying nutrition and my husband and I got into weightlifting and general fitness. I joined a couple weight loss challenges and eventually dropped down to 183, the lowest weight I can ever remember being (I hit 200 in high school). With the separation and the move, over the last year, I started to put the weight back on. I crept back up to 205, so at New Years I decided to lose the remaining weight once and for all. I joined MFP, got active on Fitocracy again and even signed up to do something that I have wanted to do for two years, I'm doing the AVON Walk this summer. Unfortunately, there aren't too many health and fitness fans up here, so I'm relying on my online communities to keep me motivated, but I'm doing it. Since deciding to really get things together, my diet has been cleaned up and I'm back down to 188. I'm also going back to work for the first time since my daughter was born, with a part-time job at Walmart (it's a small town, so of course I got the typical small-town life job ). Nothing glamorous, but I'm looking forward to getting away from "mom-mode" for a couple hours a day.

I am Sheila. Live in Stevensville, Maryland. Also known as Kent Island. It is a tiny island between Annapolis and the Maryland Eastern Shore connected by bridges. Married for almost 12 years to my best friend. I am 54. Have a 32 year old son who is a fantastic kid. (will always be my kid). Work for an IT company as their Services Coordinator, - Mom - Nanny - Babysitter for Engineers, staff and clients. My commute is an hour but I get to carpool with my husband who works 15 min away. Since I was 30 I have had issues with weight. Stress from marriage going down hill - don't know...then in mid 40s having full hysterectomy (sp) Definitely an emotional eater. Am much more active the last three years. Have a great gym - caters to people like me....age and size and everyone else. Need the accountability of weighing in. Once I stop looking at the scale, I will gain it all back. Glad to have this forum and support. Please let me know if I can be of help to any of you.

Hi All! I'm Ashley. I'm 29 and live in Orange County, CA though I grew up in the Bay Area (about 45 mins south of San Francisco). I live with my fiance, who I have been with for just over 7 years, and our cat and two dogs. I work a desk job managing online advertising accounts for a local search company, though I have a degree in Psychology and I might pursue a masters in a few years.

Growing up, I was never overweight. I was one of those high schoolers convinced I was a cow even though I was a healthy weight, and fit. Then I went to college and started gaining thanks to alcohol and dorm food. I yo-yo dieted for years. Then I went through some personal troubles and gained more. Eventually I moved in with my boyfriend (now fiance) and gained even more, until I realized- holy crap- I gained 70 lbs after high school!

I've been on MFP for over a year- losing, and then falling off the wagon and gaining, then getting back on and losing...I've been on consistently for about a year. I still have too many "bad days" but it's getting better and now that my wedding date and venue are booked, I'm more determined than ever to lose weight and get healthy! I want to lose 70 overall and am about 13 down right now.

Hi everyone, my name is Evelyn!

I am a 21 year old student, in my third and final year at University in London, studying English Language & Linguistics.

On the 4 days that I am not in uni, I am a teaching assistant in a special needs schools, so this keeps me up and about a lot of the time!

I am currently only 5lb away from my goal, and have been there before but gained some of it back. I am hoping to get to goal within the next 2 months and then have another crack at maintenance (I really struggled last time).

Please feel free to add me as a friend and we can chat more intimately

:flowerforyou:

My name is Traci. I am 34 and live in Mid- Missouri. I have 2 kids, a 6 year old daughter and almost 3 year old son. I have been on this site for 2 years and have had little success mostly because I tend to sabotage myself. I am working really hard not to do this again. So far since Feb 1 I have lost about 4 pounds and managed not to gain them back. Wish me luck.

Hi Donna and everyone else: My name is June and I live in North Central Missouri in a small town called Princeton It is about 13 miles from the Iowa line. I married 6 years ago and gained 3 wonderful step-daughters and have 8 delightful grandchildren. I am a retired school teacher and still sub a lot in my old school system. I have been heavy all of my life (since puberty) and now that I am pushing 60 years old, I must change that. I officially started my life style change on June 1, 2012 at 303 lbs and have lost 90 lbs as of yesterday. I joined MFP on Aug. 12, 2012 and have been hooked every since. I log daily, drink 64 oz. of water daily, eat clean (salads, vegetables, fruits, lean meats) and avoid breads, refined sugar, enriched flour, processed foods, canola oil and margarine, starchy foods like white potatoes, corn and peas, etc .I exercise at least an hour a day (primarily walking). I still want to get off 70+ lbs and be down to 140 lbs or somewhere in that vicinity. If I feel good at 150, I may stop there. I WILL get out of Obese and Overweight categories and that means I must be below 155 lbs. This is my life style change and I will never go back to my old ways of eating whatever is in front of me with no exercise to compensate. Good luck to everyone on there weight loss journey.