I used to have a lovely figure between 15 and 17 years old but at that point I didn't realise how pretty I was and I hated my body, since I turned 18 and left for university, I started putting weight on - fast. I've put on about 3 stone since going to university, and now, at 217lb and 21 years old, I've realised that I should be happy with how I look, and I should be going out with my friends and wearing gorgeous clothes, going on beaches in little bikinis.

So, with graduation approaching and a new job on the horizon, I though enough is enough, so I joined here and set myself a goal of losing 75lbs. I don't really have a date that I'd like to lose it by, but as long as I reach the weight I feel comfortable in, I'll be the happiest person in the world.

I started 3 days ago, and to be completely honest, with moving back in with my boyfriend's parents house, it's been a bit hectic. But I managed to stay under my calorie goal every day, and I've decided that I'm going to warm up my body with gentle exercises and gradually increase difficulty, so that I am not pushing myself too far too fast.

I'm feeling positive. This is it now.

Nerds unite! I'm also a Trekker (TNG & DS9 primarily) and am very involved in fandoms, although I don't cosplay. (Never been one to dress up, even at Halloween.) One of the reasons I need to get this weight off is because I've been going to San Diego Comic Con every year since 2008, and every year I think, "Next time, I'll be at my goal weight", and every year I'm not, and every year I feel like a failure.

Here's my short story: I've struggled with my weight since I was 9 years old. In high school, I got it under control for a couple of years, then the stress of senior year and going to college brought the pounds back and then some. While I was in grad school and working full time, I managed to get it under control again.

Lost 60+ pounds, felt amazing, had tons of energy, ate healthy as a general rule - it was awesome! Kept that up for several years, then stress hit again and I started gaining it back. I switched jobs, 50lbs heavier than I'd been before, and managed to lose about 25lbs without really trying simply because my stress levels dropped immediately. Stress is my nemesis, obviously.

Then a combination of things - minor car wreck, old mattress, trip overseas with long flights, stress of starting another degree - came together and resulted in a sprained neck and two years of recovering from back/neck issues. This meant severely reduced activity levels; I spent weeks in bed, then could only manage a few very short walks during the day. Sought comfort in food. Finally was mostly healed from that and started getting active again.

Fell in love with Zumba, started watching my eating again, and dropped to a size 12. Work started getting stressful again, and I slipped back into non-active/bad eating habits. Got diagnosed with moderate-to-severe depression (surprise!), started therapy and was getting back on track when I got laid off. A few months after that, while moving furniture by myself (stupid), I fell and severely injured the right side of my body. Back in bed for a few weeks followed by seriously limited mobility. That was October 2012, and I still don't have full use of my right arm and have to be careful about over-working my right leg.

I've been a sporadic MFP user for several years, mostly being depressed by what I entered into my food diary, but unable to make long-term change. I'm addicted to fast food. Preparing my own meals is usually the lowest thing on my priority list. I work from home now, and the lack of structure has had an impact on my eating habits. Specifically, without a designated "lunch hour", I tend to keep working on things until I'm so hungry I can't see beyond "ingredients" in the 'fridge to actually make a meal. Even when I have a meal plan posted on the 'fridge, I look at it and think, "But I'm STARVING. I don't want to wait however it long it takes to make that, I need food NOW." Ridiculous because it usually takes at least the same amount of time to leave the house, driving to the burger joint, order the food, and drive home.

I have 12 nieces & nephews who I'm very close to and who look up to me. My eldest nieces (ages 15, 13, & 10 1/2) in particular are paying attention to how I live my life, what my priorities are, etc. I want them to see me being healthy and active, not unfit and sluggish.

I have lost 10lbs (as of today!) since February. I've been making it a priority to log my food & exercise into MFP daily (Saturdays tend to break my streak. Arg!), and I think that's helping even though I haven't made a concerted effort to diet. I know that I need support and accountability to be successful, but I don't have anyone in "real life" who I can count on for that. So glad I found this group!

Here we go!

Tried MFP last year, but fell out of habit. I remember when I was a kid and a healthy weight--never hungry---but grandma would say "you eat like a bird, eat more". Now I know watching people eat stuff she had prepared made her feel appreciated & feel like she was showing her love. (I have done the same thing!)

Moved away from family in my early 20's and got on a very healthy diet to combat a cancer scare....recovered & lost some weight & felt healthy again. Moved close to family again & was told to eat everything in moderation and was again pushed to eat junk food. Tried to counteract that when I had a kid...but again was continually having to justify a healthy (scientifically verified) diet to people who were/are addicted to soda, sugar, Hostess junk, etc. and 4 hours of tv a night.

Now reading the posts of other people here on MFP, I recognize the cycle that I have allowed myself to be forced into. Currently am on Day3 of logging & balancing food/exercise. Doc offered me diet pills but I want to try this a couple weeks first and judge the results based on my clothing rather than a scale. Thank you all for sharing your experience..

Hello ladies,

I really appreciated reading your stories. We have a great journey ahead of us and I am glad to share it with you.

I am 29, currently 215 lbs, and I have been obese my whole life. I started logging on MFP about 3 years ago and I lost 40. I reached my ultimate lowest of 173lbs : for the first time ever in my life, I was not in the obese category ! I learned a lot during this journey. I started running, a did some 5k and 10k, and even worked as a phys ed instructor. I felt so strong and really proud of myself - which is not easy for me. But I knew I hadn't completely dealt with my food addiction problems. Then o course, I had a very hectic summer in 2012, stopped logging and gained 20 pounds. Then a particularly busy school year started and I never gotten back to working out and logging again. Two years later and I gained everything back and more. It was really tough to get to accept that I let all my efforts go, that I have now a hard time running and that I basically ruined all the strengt that I used to have. But I know that my weight problems and my food addiction are the biggest challenges I need to face in my life (for now at least!) and I just need to deal with them, no matter how long it takes.

I am in a good place right now (no major stressors) and I am truly confident that I can design a life for myself where I will not only lose the weight, but be able to keep it off for good. I love food, eating out, cooking and baking, so don't expect a 100% clean diary! I also found that restricting too much what I eat lead to binges and that's just the worst. My ultimate goal is to get out of obesity, be athletic, feel confortable in my skin, healthy, and be able to control my eating by myself. My first weight goal is to get back to 173lbs but I do not want to obsess with a number : I want to keep the big picture of my whole health in mind.

Hi, everyone! I'm Shannon, 32-years-old from upstate New York. I've struggled with my weight since high school and have tried all sorts of crazy diets (once, while I was in the Army, I ate nothing but plain lettuce and a couple small strips of grilled chicken for every meal for a week. I dropped seven pounds, but of course I gained it all back and then some!). The last significant weight loss I had was in 2009, when I went from 212 to 178. That was on Atkin's. Came off the diet, gained it all back with interest.

My friend Saige introduced me to MFP after she successfully used it to lose over fifty pounds. So I started MFP and started to lose weight again. But didn't really commit, cheated a lot, and eventually stopped tracking.

Flash forward to 2013, when I found myself at an all-time high of 236. "Enough!" I told myself. "This is beyond ridiculous." It was affecting every aspect of my life, from work to relationships to, of course, health.

From January 2013 until April 2013 I tracked religiously, and I went from 236 to 210. Then life happened (ended a relationship, lost my uncle, started a new relationship, got demoted at work, moved, got engaged, lost my grandfather, moved again) and I crept back up to 215.

Which brings us to May 2014. I've gone from 215 to my current 198, and I'm not stopping until I get to 145!

Hello all! I am a 21-year-old college student and I live in Northeast Tennessee. I started my journey to lose weight in January of 2013. It was more for my appearance than anything else. When I started I was 206 lb and by June of the same year I had gotten down to 169 lb. I remember saying, "Wow, this is a lot easier than I thought it was." The truth is, I was just going through some easy times. I became too confident and stopped logging my food on this site. Before I knew it I was going through some really stressful times and I stopped caring about what I ate and if I exercised. I gained until I was back at 189 lb. After an on-and-off diet I am at 183.4 lb today. I'm doing this for different reasons today. I want more than to be skinny and wear a certain size of clothing. I want to be able to DO things I never thought possible. I want to hike, run 5Ks, and take aerial silk classes. I really want to be able to keep up with my active boyfriend. At 5'2" I have somewhere between 50 to 60 lb to lose and I'm not going to give up this time.

Hi everyone! My name is Rachel. I've always ate a lot while living a sedentary lifestyle. Binge eating is a regular thing with me, day to day really. I am trying to lose weight. Ive lost 15lbs the first week and a half of my dieting. Not sure if that is too fast or not. I probably have a lot of water weight. When I started dieting i weighed 238 lbs. My goal weight is 130. I am nowhere close. Luckily i did get below the 100lb mark. (how much i need to lose. I need to lose 95 lbs still). It is hard trying not to binge all the time. I haven't been below my calorie limit yet, but im still losing weight. I'm not sure how many calories i actually need. I started out anorexic my first year of high school. I enjoyed the control, but after being forced to eat and seeing the consequences i made a 360 and just binged all the time. Im not sure how the transition happened or how long it took for my perspective to change that much. But the binge eating seems impossible to overcome. I got so bad that i would literally hide somewhere and eat an extra plate after dinner. I would eat out and be hungry again by the time i got home. I gained and gained. Its going to be hard for me to change my lifestyle. The lifestyle I am ashamed of. However, Im going to try to change the way i eat. I am 5' 4" and 225 lbs at this moment. I want to be able to go for long walks; exercise for a normal amount of time; and look at food in a completely different way.

Hey all! Feel free to add me!

On with my story: In 2011, I got married pretty young. My husband left for Basic training and during that summer I was very very active. We then moved to Monterey, CA.

Defense Language Institute? I was there a decade ago--really miss Monterey!