A long-time lurker saying hello + looking for friends!

Hi everyone!

I have had a MFP account for a while now, but I've always just quietly "lurked" on the boards to read.

For a long time, I was never too worried about my weight. At some point about 4 years ago, I mysteriously dropped about 15 pounds (well, it was a mystery at the time...in retrospect, I can see that I was getting thin due to a tremendous amount of stress). I loved my "new" weight and wanted to keep it there, so I started counting calories. I was a REALLY good calorie counter for a long time and could basically "count" myself to whatever weight I wanted. At that time, I never was interested in exercise so I spent a good while being "skinny fat."

Then, about 2 years ago, I started taking a martial arts class out of pure curiosity. I was HOOKED. That's when the fitness habit started for me. I would get so grumpy when I had to miss class due to a scheduling conflict or travel and missed training. Eventually, the scheduling conflicts mounted, the membership fees became unaffordable and I had to stop...

...but after about 2 weeks of not training, I couldn't stand it anymore so I called up a nearby gym, got myself a membership, met a trainer who showed me the ropes of lifting and now I'm hooked on that! My motivation is higher than ever.

I really wish MFP had a "body fat percentage" goal rather than a pound goal! I have no desire to "lose weight" as in "lose pounds" but I am working very hard to achieve a lean and toned physique. I have had to do a major overhaul in my eating habits and such to work towards my goal. I always ate "healthy" foods I suppose but I had never payed any attention to macronutrients or its effects on body composition and performance...way back in the day, I always thought a "calorie was a calorie" and it more or less worked when I just wanted to see certain numbers on the scale.

I would *love* to have some friends on here (and especially some fellow female-bodied folk) because I'm really the only one in my immediate social circle who is remotely interested in fitness, healthy food, or who would be interested in striking up a conversation about macronutrients or would understand why missing a workout is a real bummer!

Thank you so much for reading and have an awesome day!