Hi Everyone

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Hello, All :)

I just signed-up, and this seemed like the next logical step to begin... My name is Josh, and I live in Portland, Oregon with my cat Jiminy. I grew up in the Boston area (Cambridge, Somerville, Dorchester, Medford) but moved out here about 3 years ago, when I was 29, to experience a different environment. I've always been a big guy, and for the most part I've been happy with myself - but, over the last few years I've struggled a bit with alcohol-dependence and the depression that comes with it. I'm hoping that by focusing on eating better, I'll not only lose weight and feel better - but I'll be less likely to drink alcohol to the extent I have been.

Some general stuff about me: I enjoy outdoor activities, but I only partake when I have friendly faces around me... So I'll shoot hoops, or go on hikes with friends - but if I'm on my own, I tend to act pretty sloth-like. I love sports, and film/movies. I know a lot about both. The beer-scene in Portland kills me (literally, in a sense, I guess) - it's all so good and tasty, but so unhealthy.

Anyways - I hope everyone is having a solid weekend. It's nice to meet yall.

Josh

Replies

  • cherylatkwechanged
    cherylatkwechanged Posts: 479 Member
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    Welcome aboard
  • scoopsgalore69
    scoopsgalore69 Posts: 10 Member
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    Welcome Josh to MyFitnessPal. You have taken the right step by joining. I'm pretty new here myself. Best of luck to you in your weight loss journey and remember alcohol has a lot of calories.
  • laynunugawa
    laynunugawa Posts: 108 Member
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    Hi, welcome to Mfp. there are some amazing people and a just 1 or 2 dbags lol. You will find some great information and many willing people to help and support your weight loss journey.

    Good luck to you on your journey to be more fit and healthy.
  • AnnieH_4512
    AnnieH_4512 Posts: 1,421 Member
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    Joining mfp is a great start! Today is my first day here, and I love it already. Beer/wine/alcohol can be so hard to reduce (or quit). It's deceiving because you don't realize how many calories are in there! Me, I'm a wine gal, and I'm NOT LIKING having to reduce my intake. One day at a time!
  • tiggerhammon
    tiggerhammon Posts: 2,211 Member
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    I think you are doing the right thing starting out here.
    I drank alcohol like water when I was a teenager. Difference is back then I was really dumb and didn't think anything was wrong with it. It just kinda hit me like a lightbulb turning on one day that I didn't like the way I was living (I drank from age 17 til age 21.) So, I decided I was done right around my 21st birthday. 2 months after my 21st birthday is when I had my last drink. That was almost 5 years ago.
    I have not regretted it one day since!
    Not saying I feel there is something totally wrong with drinking, just drinking too much. For me the answer was in quitting altogether because I knew myself to well, I couldn't just limit it.
    Alcohol is super high in calories so if you try to incorporate it into your calorie limit, you are only going to be able to drink so much.
  • JoshDoe
    JoshDoe Posts: 2 Member
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    Thanks for the warm welcomes!

    It is going to be difficult. The way I'm trying to look at it is that if I can simply cut down my consumption to a level that's, even remotely, close to normal, I'll start seeing results. The biggest change will be that I'll be eating more... I figure there's a minimum of 180-calories per beer (I drank micros/crafts almost exclusively) and I drank a minimum of ~4-8 per day, every day. Going to try to cut down to 2-3 beers, every other day, and switch to a ~100-calorie light beer. Will move in the right direction from there. Just need to find quality foods to replace all those calories... I barely made 1000-calories yesterday (and felt like ****, because of it - in addition to the lack of alcohol).