:happy: Hi everyone,

This group sounds like the perfect group for me. My name is Stephanie and I am happily married (no kiddos as of yet) with four legged babies (we love our critters). I live in Georgia and have pretty much lived most of my life here. I have lost 60 lbs so far and still have another 60 to go. I'm looking forward to January's weigh in and looking forward to this challenge.

Hi everyone

Looking forward to starting the New Year...... I would like to get back onto the weight loss train and regain my motivation for exercise and dieting, have had a few health niggles over the last couple of months that have interfered with my goals but fingers crossed im back in control! im working full time but up for battling the winter weather and get out there again!!

I am 40 years old and have 2 boys 9 and 10. I was 260 lbs at my highest(yikes) and am now 160 lbs. I have been stuck at my current weight for a long time and would like to jumpstart my weight loss again. I would like to lose 30 more lbs. The challenge seems completely awesome. So here I go to lose 30 lbs in 2014.

Hello everyone

My name is Stephanie. I'm 39, happily married with 2 boys (17 and 13). I'm a nurse, but I work at a desk all day, and I work from home, so I have access to food all day and I'm sedentary and def need to change my ways. I've yo-yo'd for so long. Ready to get these pounds off once and for all! This group sounds just like what I need (doing it by myself sure isn't working) I'm hoping that joining a group and having a support system will be just what I need! I have the know....I just need to keep the want. I want to be thin, but I don't always want to put in the effort. I have roughly 50 lbs to lose. I look forward to interacting with you guys to keep me going strong! Nice to meet everyone!

I'm a divorced (happily for 13 years, married for 21 before the divorce) 52 (about to be 53 in Feb) year old mother of 3 teenagers - Duncan 18.5, Parker 16.5, and Terra 13. With every kid I gained more weight and since I was breastfeeding them I couldn't start any real weight loss programs without jeopardizing my milk supply or the quality of it. Since I've been raising the kids alone since they were an infant, 4, & 6 years old, my world has been all about them - no time for me; and when I had to go back to work when my daughter was 5, it became all about them and work. I was never good at balancing time for me with anything.

Now that they can mostly care for themselves and drive themselves and each other around, my life is starting to become my own again for the first time in 19 years. I'd like to eventually find a partner ("husband" not so sure about, LOL) to share fun times with during the rest of my life and I don't feel at all good about embarking on that in the shape I'm in. I also recently started working from home so my already sedentary life became even more sedentary and the weight has started creeping on slowly. When I was 50 I bought myself a brand new hip ON Valentine's Day, 5 days before my 50th Birthday! I started to get in good shape after that with all the PT and then I continued it with a personal trainer for a few months - then life got busy and I let it all slide. Now I'm back to not wanting to move - it's just soooo much effort.

The universe is kicking me in the *kitten* at every turn telling me it's time to take care of myself and I feel like an immature rebellious teenager stomping my feet saying 'I don't want to'. So I am embarking on this journey knowing it has to happen and not at all wanting to be on it. But sometimes that is what life is about - just having to do something you don't want to. So my mission is to find ways to make this as painless as possible, and hopefully even fun so I don't mind keeping it up. I'm also going to try to be kinder and gentler to myself on this journey than I have been in the past; and I'm not going to beat myself up over a 'lapse' and give up like I've done before. I'm going to accept that I will have good days/weeks and bad ones - and it's all okay.

My sister who loves me gave me a Fitbit Flex for Christmas! I have had it up and running all of 20 hours and it has brought me to tears - of relief and hope. For the first time in my entire life I feel in control of my body. I can see that right now I have 'lost' .3 lb. That means if I do nothing (don't eat or be active) OR balance my eating/activity for the remainder of the day - I will realize that loss. That is POWERFUL! For the first time writing down what I eat gives me valuable information, exercising gives me valuable information, even sleeping gives me valuable information. I can see exactly what the impact is - and make an informed decision on what to do next. That doesn't mean I'll always make good ones, LOL. But it means they'll be informed. Before I'd track calories - so what I was always under and kept getting the lovely MFP message "if you continue this you'll gain weight'. Well that wasn't helpful. And I'd put in exercise, but that 'did not compute' with me - so it was offset by calories - didn't tell me what that meant in weight loss. So I never really knew what the impact was, never realized any weight loss out of all the tracking, never knew what would help me lose for sure - felt it was all a waste of time so why bother. I felt hopeless. Now I don't feel helpless anymore and I'm ready to start making permanent long term changes in my life to lose 80 pounds and get healthy. I was recently diagnosed with Skin Lupus, which is an autoimmune disease. The doctor told me there was nothing I could do except take a pill 2x a day for the rest of my life. WRONG. We all know a healthy body impacts your immune and autoimmune systems. I may never get rid of SL since it's not something you can 'cure', but if I get healthy enough I may not have to take drugs all the time to control it.

I just want to feel healthy, sexy, and lively again so I feel comfortable in my own skin to go out and be around adults (now that I have time again) without feeling self conscious (and hopefully avoid getting my other hip replaced, LOL). So I'm hopeful that this group will be another tool to help me stay focused this year. Wishing everyone a year of many successes!

Hello, ladies!
My name is Katie, I'm 30 years old, one daughter who is almost 3, and a fiance who I will be married to in April 2014. It's taken me two and a half years but I have finally lost all the weight I put on while I was pregnant. However, I'm back to where I was before pregnancy, trying to lose an additional 15lbs to get me to my goal of 150lbs. It feels good to have accomplished one goal, and now I'm ready to power through to my final goal. Of course, having a wedding on the horizon helps, too!

I'm 5'9'' so I'm technically within the BMI range for my height, but I'm at the high end of the range, and I'd like to slim down and tone up so I can really feel confident again. I go in waves of motivation, especially when it comes to eating right. I work at a desk full time, and while I mostly hit the gym on my lunch break, there are definitely days when stress and exhaustion win out and I skip it.

So I really want to focus on getting fit in 2014, not just skinny. I want to tone up and increase my running mileage, and just all around live a healthier lifestyle, and finally finally finally see that glorious 150 on the scale!!

Hi everyone! I'm Sophie, I'm 24, single and a medical student. I'm excellent at losing weight once I start, but my problem is actually kick starting the healthy eating and then keeping the weight off. This time last year I was 150lbs and now I'm 232lbs!

I want to get back to a healthy weight so I can be more comfortable in myself and be an example to my future patients. 2014 is the year I lose weight and keep the weight off.

Nice to meet you all!

My name is Brooke. (Feel Free to Add me as a Friend)

I'm 28 years old. I work as a Secretary to an Chief Administrative Law Judge. I've been together with Jacob for almost 7 years. We purchased a home together on April 1, 2013. We got married on November 12, 2013 (Yep, I'm one of those couples that got married on 11.12.13 haha). We don't have children yet, but we do have two fur (cat) babies. I've already lost about 30 pounds so far and I hope to lose an additional 50 pounds by the end of 2014. (:

My name's Cat and I've been getting serious about logging/regular exercise about a month ago, having gained 2 stone within a 6 month period! I'm 20 years old and a student in Brighton which is great, although my parents have just moved to Dorset to a tiny village with around 125 inhabitants which makes me trepidant to visit - though I guess it's a great excuse to start doing long country walks!

I'm at 164 pounds at the moment, down from 176 - hoping to get down to 135-140 by summer 2013 and actually be able to show a little skin without worrying what people might think of me

I think this is a great group and very in keeping with the ethos of MFP - losing weight is so much easier when you have people to encourage and support you on your journey.

Feel free to add me as a friend

I can't wait to start! I have struggled with weight since my college days. I am a proud West Virginian GOOOOOO EEEERRRRSSS! My name is Emmie and I am a mother of a 6 year old little girl. I was a dancer, cheerleader, gymnast, and continued my passions as a coach and fitness instructor until I graduated college as a teacher. I've been teaching 4 th grade inclusion (special needs up to enrichment leveled) children for 8 years now. I am always on the go but, my weight still is a struggle to maintain because of that. I've been married for 8 years to a wonderful man who is a police officer and is in the military so our lives and time are always valuable together.
My hope for this group is motivation and any tips or challenges to keep me going. I started my interest in running last year and I try as many local 5k runs as possible. The Dirty Girl Mud Run has been my favorite by far. Greetings to you all!

My name is Heather and I am 34 years old. Ever since I've turned 30 and lost my mom, I have been battling food as a source of comfort. I keep losing and gaining the same five pounds, and I have 25 to lose! I have a husband who is going along this weight loss journey with me and three kiddos ages 8, 6, and 3. I work as a technology coach for a school district.

Over the past year I have been able to consistently exercise but not consistently change my eating habits. As Dayna said, I know what to do but knowing and doing are two separate things. I look forward to being a part of this group and losing weight together!

Hi, my nickname is queene ('cause my 28 still thinks she's a princess!). I was trying to maintain a 23 pound loss since June of this year- I was taking a little break to learn to maintain that loss before I tackled the next 20 pounds- but over the holidays I lost all of my "smugness" when I gained back about 8 pounds. I guess I'm happy I only gained 8 lbs not the entire 23, but now I am determined to get back on track in the new year! Glad to be here!

Hello. I am Kim and am 49 and live in rural Oklahoma. My goal for 2014 is to be at my ultimate goal weight of 150 by my 50th birthday in October. I am down so far from my highest weight by nearly 87 pounds and have another 69 lbs to go. I feel for the first time in my life that I can do this. I am a divorced mother of 2 wonderful college kids who are my whole life. Would one day love to meet a GOOD man to share my life again. I am caring for my father who has Alzheimer's and work full-time at a desk job. I love MFP as logging for me is the ultimate accountability tool and works so well for my mindset. I have always been overweight but was so active through high school that it wasn't a serious issue. Once college and work set in, then I was doomed. I am doing this for my long-term health and to be the example for my kids that I should have been since they were born.