Hello. I'm Laurie and I just joined MFP today. Thought I'd join a short-term challenge online to help keep me accountable.

A few stats: 5'3" and 160.6 pounds. Goal by St. Paddy's: lost 10 pounds. Plan: walk for 1 hour daily every morning with neighbour, attend fitness classes (mixed weights/cardio/stretch) 3/weekly minimum, eat breakfast and lunch, stay hydrated and sleep 8 hours per night.

I am a teacher, a Canadian, a mom and wife and a vegetarian.

Better get to bed so I can get up early for that walk tomorrow!

I look forward to getting to know the members of this group. Laurie

Hi everyone...Doug from Mississippi...Been back from Afghanistan a few months, but have gained most of the weight I lost...Was on track while I was away, but now I'm Disgusted with myself.... Stress eating, bad choices and no exercise. Ready to do the deal and make the commitment...

Hi- I live in MD, stress eat and lose my momentum easily due to work pressure. I am ready to focus on me this year!
Feel free to add me and good luck everyone with their St. Patrick's Day goals!

Hi everyone, my name is Kristin. I have been using this app for a while on and off, I'm hoping this time it sticks! I 24 and will be married to my high school sweetheart a year in March! I am definitely a stress eater, a perfect example is my wedding. I weighed more on the day of my wedding than I have ever weighed, but thankfully when I gain weight I gain all over so it's not as noticeable. Since then I have lost a little over 20 pounds, and I am hoping to lose more. My motivation is that we are discussing having a baby, and I want to be in The best shape possible so that I can go into my pregnancy healthy. This is my first group with this app and I am looking forward to being motivated by others and their stories. I am also involved in 2 diet bets so I am using money as motivation! I can't wait to see the results at the end if this for myself and everyone involved! Feel free to add me.

Hi everyone! I'm Cara. I live in Texas and am an engineer for an oil service company. I've been bigger my whole life but I"m built like my father (I blame him!) plus I'm tall. My mom put me on my first diet when I was in 4th grade and I've been up and down ever since. Probably about 4 years ago I lost about 60 lbs and then I got really sick and have gained it all back. I"m working with a doctor now to lose weight and try to fix some of the problems! I'm at one of my heaviest weights I've ever been right now. With my doctors help I"m cutting out meat and dairy for a while.

I joined this group because I think a short term goal will be really good for me. I tend to over think long term goals and I need to focus on the short term a lot more!

Hi all, I work in a law office and sit almost all day, every day. I've been heavy since I was around 15 or so. I have older brothers and grew up eating what they ate and it really caught up with me when I was in college. At 22, I'm guessing I weighed somewhere around 275. On my own I quit all fast food and soda and took up walking as exercise. I lost about 100 pounds--and kept most of it off for about 5 years. But after getting married and working a sedentary job that takes up most of my time, I slipped back into old habits and let the weight creep back up. At one point, I was back up between 250 and 260--at 5'9", and wearing a size 20-22.

In January 2012, I made a decision to start exercising. That was my only goal. I wanted to choose and stick with an exercise program. For two years, I have consistently worked out 3-4 days per week and usually more. Slowly, I made changes to my diet--cutting out the things that helped me lose the first time: fast food, snack food, sweets and calorie laden drinks. I've lost over 40 pounds and am down to a size 14-16. But like Mahea, I no longer feel that sense of accomplishment. I feel like being around 200 is my new "fat" weight and I'm not content to hover at that mark anymore.

My goals are to tighten up my diet--I really did let loose over the holidays. And to up the intensity of my workouts. I'm married, have two dogs, no kids of my own, but my 18 y/o niece is currently living with us along with my mother-in-law.

I am Kim and live in rural Oklahoma, work a desk job, have 2 kids in college, and this year I turn 50 in October and plan to be at my ideal weight for my birthday. I lost a lot of weight in 2013 and still have a bit more to go, but I am serious about this and don't see anything stopping me. I have the food portion in good order and doing better on the exercise, but need to ramp it up still. I think for me the logging on MFP is all critical. It makes you think about what you are eating, it educates you on calories and nutrition, and it holds you accountable. I weigh and measure all food whenever possible so that I learn portion sizes and don't live in a world of food fantasy. Started off in a size 26 and now wearing a size 14 and boy does it feel good to make this progress. But size 14 is nowhere near where I want to be, so I continue on with my lifestyle changes. Good luck to all!

HI! I've lost 60 lbs before using MFP, then got pregnant (which was a surprise to everyone because my other son is 14 years old and the doctor had told us we have 0.4% chance of ever having children!) After having the baby, I've regained a lot of the weight back, now I'm here to re-lose the weight and more. I want to get healthy so I can keep up with my family, they love downhill skiing, swimming, travelling. hiking... and I just can't keep up right now, I'm always tired. So feel free to add me as a friend, I'm looking forward to losing this weight!