New member; need to hear success stories - encouragement nee

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missjeannemarie
missjeannemarie Posts: 18
in Introduce Yourself
Any suggestions for me, trying to lose "divorce" weight gain also drinking too much wine to get over the sad feelings. I exercise daily with a 20-30minute walk, weights and sit ups, trying to keep calories around 1500. Keeping track of calories is huge, helps so much. Eating more healthy foods, fish, vegies, not snacking. Realize that wine is empty calories, am reducing. I think I need encouragement to do better, just wondering if everyone finds it as hard as I do.

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  • lkm111
    lkm111 Posts: 629 Member
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    Please request me as your friend. I'm going through the same thing you are, although there is no divorce in the works yet, I know it is probably coming. Unbelievable treatment from my spouse. I almost think I could write a book about it, if I wasn't so humiliated.

    Hugs to you - glad you are here!
  • TaraArriola
    TaraArriola Posts: 64
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    Trust me, there is no one on this web site that will tell you that this has been easy. If they do, they are lying.

    My best friend told me about this site and she has lost over 40 lbs since she started.

    I got on in July; however, I have not gotten really serious until now.

    Just remember that the best things in life are those that you have had to work for. You will be so proud of yourself.
  • tmcowan
    tmcowan Posts: 322 Member
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    Jeanne- It may take a little time to get in the grove but you'll find what works well for you and realizing calories and portion sizes will make things easier. You're already exercising so you'll be able to add those calories back in. By chance are you from Illinois?
  • vickiele1
    vickiele1 Posts: 394 Member
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    Hi there - I too "LOVE" a glass of wine or two in the evening after a really hard day of work. What I found out through this website is that the wind I LOVE is actually about 580 calories for a 6 oz glass - that means that if I have 2, then I can't really eat anything at all - that was like a true wake up call for me. So, I started to think about why I drink the wine, is it really that important, etc.? What my ultimate decision was - it isn't that important. I started walking with my newly adopted dog, Willow (having Willow helped a lot with the feelings of aloneness that I have been feeling for some time now). I adopted Willow on June 25th and we began walking 4 - 5 miles a day (pretty fast paced - because she absolutely loves to walk). I have now reduced my weight by 21 lbs. I was wearing a size 16 pants, and I am now wearing a size 10 pants; extra large shirts and now down to large and medium shirts. In addition I started tracking my caloric intake and burn on this website 2 weeks ago - I have lost about 4 - 6 pounds in 15 days (I got a new scale that said I was 2 lbs heavier than my old scale - so I had to recoup that weight reduction before moving on). Please add me - I will certainly provide support and encouragement when I can.

    Be blessed

    Vickie
  • vanillasugar
    vanillasugar Posts: 246 Member
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    I joined at the end of Feb and have lost 50 pounds. This is a fantastic site with tons of encouragement and friendly people. Feel free to add me. My mother is is on here and started the same time I did and has lost 68 lbs. You can absolutely do it!
  • SouthernBell86
    SouthernBell86 Posts: 275 Member
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    Well, I am not dealing with a divorce, but I am recovering from a lot of emotionally traumatic events that I held onto for a long time. My success story is this. I've been doing this for a month, I've lost 8 pounds, I feel good about my body and myself everyday, I enjoy what I eat (within my calorie limit!!), I look forward to exercising and can really see improvements in my stamina, my appearance, and my outlook on life.

    You can do this, and it can make you feel better from the beginning! It is a lot of hard work, but the work can feel sweet even while you sweat :wink: You don't have to wait until you have reached your goal or have your new body to feel better about the things you are doing for yourself. Just by putting your own physical and mental health first you can see a lot of improvement in your emotional well being!

    Welcome to MFP!!!!
  • keith0373
    keith0373 Posts: 2,154 Member
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    It is all about the exercise. Between my wife (perkymeli on here) and I, we have lost well over 100 lbs since March 23rd and the biggest change we have made is moving more. We eat and drink what we want, though with less fried stuff, and less bread than before, and work our *kitten* off.
  • weightlessness
    weightlessness Posts: 35
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    My aunt drank a lot of wine a few years back. Not that anything is wrong with that, but she wanted to change. And she did! Now she runs 5Ks, half-marathons, and marathons. She's such an inspiration for me, turning her life around so quickly - no more smoking, barely any drinking (I think she has one glass of red wine every few days, maximum). She's not some super strong willed person, she just set a goal and worked her butt off, so I know you can do it too. Good luck and welcome to MFP. We're all here for ya!

    :flowerforyou:
  • AuntMimi2010
    AuntMimi2010 Posts: 49
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    feel free to add me as a friend. I am only a few weeks in, but I have lost weight! I have bad days too, though. I just don't let it get me down and I make the next day even better. Even on bad days, I'm now more aware and can still make better choices than I used to by limiting the "badness" by portion controls and preparing ahead of time. For example, if I know I am going to eat dinner out, I make sure the rest of the day is good. This site is really wonderful. I have a strong group of supporters. I know that if nobody in my life hears me, or understands, the friends on here do. We all struggle at different points in time but make it a point to encourage everyone during those difficult times. Divorce or other situations, most of us have challenging experiences in our lives that contribute to our unhealthy habits so you are not alone. Don't give up and make this a lifestyle change. Recognize the small changes. Set yourself some short term and realistic goals. And ask questions and vent when you need help. There is so much valuable information on this site. Best wishes to you!
  • tiffanygil
    tiffanygil Posts: 478 Member
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    You can do this. I may not be going through a divorce but I understand the pain that leads you to over eat and the humiliation it causes. Sounds like you have taken the first step...commitment. =) I started here in June of 2009 and lost the first 90lbs in 9 months. The last 10 have been really gradual (they really are the hardest to loose) I credit this site with 95% of my weight loss. The friends Ive made here are awesome and inspiring that we keep holding each other up, bad days and good. :flowerforyou:
  • jackal75
    jackal75 Posts: 95
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    I wouldn't be much help on the divorce side of your situation, but here is my weight loss encouragement for you:

    In March, I joined a gym. I had hit 240 pounds and had way too much gut. Needless to say I'd had enough of that! As a former Army man, I was used to being pretty fit, but it got to the point where I didn't have energy to play with my boys. Despite my busy schedule, I managed to make it to the gym about twice a week. The weight loss was slow but steady for a while. I got down to 225 lbs at a rate of 1 to 1.5 lbs a week. Then my father passed away. I missed quite a few gym visits.

    Once I got back into going to the gym, I seemed to have hit a plateau. I would go down to 223... only to pop back up to 225. This happened over the course of quite a few weeks. I started to get really frustrated. Then, about two weeks ago, I got a new smartphone. While looking for apps, I ran across the app for this site. Desperate, I decided to give it a try.

    Since I started tracking with this site, I have broken my plateau and weighed in at 214.8 this morning (8/28/10). This morning was a drop of 0.2, but each of the four days prior I lost 0.5 pounds PER DAY. Get into your profile and fill out all the goals, the site has a good metric on how many calories you can take in per day. Keep exercising, because it allows you a few more calories that day. Remember that if the site says that you can have 1700 calories a day, you don't have to land exactly on that number. Remember that it is also possible to not eat enough, causing your body to think it is starving and want to store fat. The site tells me that I can have 1820 calories per day, and I try to do 1700-1800 to stay just below that... and it is working! I was actually over by 200 calories one of the days I lost a half pound!

    So if you are diligent in recording everything in this site, you will definitely see the weight come off!
  • missjeannemarie
    missjeannemarie Posts: 18
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    Thanks so much for your encouragement!!! Yes, I am from Illinois.

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