I'm new here..

Hi everyone!

When I got married almost two years ago now, I was at a wonderfully healthy weight of 135, at 5"7. I am now at the not-so-wonderfully healthy weight of 180. All my life I have never been happy with my weight, but I have never been faced with this daunting task of having to lose 40 pounds.

I tried to start Atkin's several weeks ago but I caved in on day three, because constantly feeling like I got hit by a truck wasn't my idea of feeling healthier.

My husband and I went on an amazing trip to California in December, and I was afraid of getting back on the scale when we returned home, but much to my surprise, I came back about 5 pounds lighter. It turns out that even though we weren't exactly eating "clean" all day while we were there, all of the walking up hills in San Fransisco and trekking along paths in Yosemite (etc etc) made me lose weight.

Besides walking across my urban campus M-TH every week, I don't exercise. I'm looking for more ways to implement exercise into my life in a more "natural way" such as walking to the grocery store whenever I have a few things to pick up, instead of driving.

This is how I plan to lose weight, and by reducing caloric intake. I do eat a lot; A lot of junk, a lot of fast food.

Please friend me if you'd like

Welcome jlakitty! I too have done Atkins before - I lasted 6 months and lost a lot of weight however was unable to maintain it and therefore gained more back.I'm 180, slightly shorter than you (5'6) and am looking to get back down to 140-145. Good luck on your journey

Welcome! You can waste a lot of time on these forums if you're so inclined….

My advice for beginners is to think about "diet" as "lifestyle change," not "short-term restriction that I will abandon once I reach my goal." The latter almost always leads to regaining what you lost, and then some.

Unless you want to eat Atkins-style for the rest of your life, focus on making small changes in what you eat, cutting out anything you think you can life without for the rest of your life, and just eating less.

As for exercise, there are a few wise sayings that go around on these forums: (1) "You can't outrun a bad diet." (2) "You lose weight in the kitchen, but you get fit in the gym." (3) "You diet to look good in clothes, and you exercise to look good naked." You don't need to exercise in order to lose weight, but if you want to have physical endurance and be lean at your goal weight, exercise is very useful.

Walking is great exercise, and you can walk faster to get more of a workout. If you want to work more exercise into your routine, try to find something you like to do. If it's a chore, it's easy to skip. I love bicycling, so that's my main exercise most of the year.

Another thing about exercise, though: some people like it once they start, but dread it beforehand. If you're one of them, then make yourself a deal: you'll start, but you can quit after 5 minutes if you don't like it. Odds are that you'll continue and finish your workout.

Good luck!