Introductions & Starting a Weight Loss Journey

Hi Everyone!

I don't really know where to start with this, so I guess I'll start with the basics. My name is Allison. I'm 23 years old. I'm a part-time student and I live in Alaska. I have a great love for traveling, music, art, the internet, and food.

I have struggled with my weight/size for as long as I can remember and it's definitely been something that has had what I would consider a negative impact on my life. I've been bullied and called names, it's added a great amount of stress in my life, it has taken a major toll on my confidence and body image and self worth, and I think it has been the source of some really emotional and painful times in my life.

I did play sports in high school, including varsity volleyball and basketball. At that point in my life, I was my most fit, by I definitely wasn't healthy (if that makes sense). Basically, I would work really hard at practice, but continue to eat ridiculously unhealthy food. I ended up injuring my knee pretty badly my senior year of high school and I re-injured it later in college and unfortunately, I ended up gaining the freshman 15...and some. Since I graduated high school in 2008, I have gained about 80 lbs.

Ideally, I'd like to lose all of that weight and get back into shape, but I want to do it in a healthy way. I've tried fad diets and crash diets in the past, and most of them have ended in me gaining even more fat than I had lost in the first place. Now, I'm ready to make serious changes in my life. I want to eat healthy, exercise, see progress, ditch my bad habits and build some healthy ones. Most of all, I want to live a long, happy, healthy and fulfilled life.

I know that these habits are going to be hard to break, and there are going to be days when I want to cheat and over indulge in dessert or fast food. I know there are going to be days where I start to make excuses for not working out, like "i'm too tired," or "I'm too busy," but I'm hoping that my fitness pals here will help to support me and motivate me to continue working hard and holding my head up, no matter how discouraged I get. And I want to be here to support all of you, too!