Although I originally thought of this idea to help my friends & i stay on track, I am so excited that other people on mfp have decided to join. Most of us will struggle with our weight our entire lives & need the support of our friends & family to stay on course. That is the reason this is not a contest to lose the most weight but to make a lifestyle change that we can all stick with. Tomorrow when I get back to work I will post the original email I sent about starting this group. So I hope everyone introduces themselves to the group. The more friends we have that understand how hard it is to lose weight & keep it off the easier this will be.

Here is the original email I sent regarding starting this group:

Hi Everyone!

I found out yesterday that one of my former coworkers needs a transplant for cancer and a former employee has breast cancer. I also received bad news about my back recently. This getting old thing sucks.

I know all of us have been complaining about needing to lose weight. And although losing weight wont stop us from getting cancer or fix my back it certainly should help us if we are in better health. I lost a lot of weight last year but I fell off the wagon and my weight has creeped back up a bit. One of the reasons I lost weight is because I joined a weight loss challenge at the hospital and I didn't want to embarrass myself each week during weigh ins. The hospital weight loss challenge starts again in August. But, I figured since most of us are on MFP maybe we should have our own challenge. I looked on MFP and we could start a group or just friend everyone and write in the comments section. I do not have a way to look at group info on the phone app, I would have to log in thru the Internet to see group activity. But, I am open to both ways. So here is my idea for the challenge:

Initial weigh in: June 24th
First week weigh in: July 1st
Final weigh in: December 30th

This is a weekly weigh in challenge - not a total weight loss challenge. Choose a weekly weigh in amount of .5 pounds to 2 pounds a week. But, you need to try to make that goal every week.

We could also make a section for exercise goals if anybody needs that. You will need to weigh in every Monday and you could then state if you made your exercise goal for last week also.

And we all need to choose a reward at the end if you make 75% of your weekly goals - so you can miss your target 7 weeks.

I totally needed something to get me motivated. I should have already lost the 18 pounds I gained over the winter, but I have not. I was sluggish in getting back on track and my ultimate goal is to stop this gain/lose thing that I seem to do. I got down to my smallest adult weight last summer and promptly put it all back on in 4 months over winter so here I go......again. I don't know why I just quit, but it seems like I am either "on" or I am "off". Please help me stay on track, and a few of you have my email so if you don't see me on here in a few days (with the exception of when I go on the float trip and have no access to internet/computer) please feel free to harass me via email or text.

Weight goal: 15 pounds by end of the year (.5 per week)
Exercise goal: 4 days a week 60 mins each day
Other: NO MORE SWEET TEA!!!!

Thanks everyone!!