Hello ,
My names Sara. I'm a 23 year old senior in college with full class load. I've spent nearly all of my life being overweight. I started trying to lose weight and I did pretty good, totaling about 20 lbs until i kinda fell off the wagon. I've pretty much kept off the weight aside from a few pounds because i still tried to work out little bit. But I've decided to hop back on fully this time because I'd like to have lose most of my weight by my graduation mid December(!!!!). I weigh somewhere between 200-205 lbs...and being as I've never been thin or healthy before I'm not sure what my goal weight is for right now. So I'm just setting little goals at a time ( 10-15lbs) until I can better gauge what I think my weight should be.

I'm taking 15 hours of some of the hardest classes I've ever had to take ( all science because I'm an animal science major) so I know its going to take more dedication not to eat out or skip a work out day!

I work out 6 days a week, I have an online personal trainer who is fantastic and inspiring. My hardest part is going to be my eating habits. Too often I find myself in a situation to eat bad or go with the healthier option and I don't always pick the better food.

Hello All

Shooting for 5 pounds

Hello Everyone, I am the old timer i guess. I am 60, married for 41 years, 3 grown children and 6 grankdkids. I joined MFP in Nov 2012 and have lost about 125 pounds. I started at 293 , currently at 171 ish. Still have a little way to go. I started this journey when someone suggested we look at MFP for our weight challenges at work. I have been overweight my whole adult life and I credit MFP for finally helping me figure it out. I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in May of this year, which kind of threw me for a loop. I just completed radiation treatment and started on a breast cancer drug last week that I will take for the next 5 years. I maintained +/- 5 pounds for the last 3 months, so now it is time to focus on losing again. I am not an exercise nut, I usually walk 2.5- 3 miles 5 days a week, along with some strength / resistance exercises thrown in. I need to have both knees replaced, but weight loss and walking has helped so I am postpoining it as long as I can. I want to be at my goal weight before I have the first knee surgery. Let the challenge begin!!

Hello everyone!

I am Tiffany and I am 23 years old. I have been working in the public accounting world for a year and due to that work schedule as well as some family issues, I have put on 20 lbs in a year! My goal when I graduated was to get the weight off and I just seemed to have completely missed the mark. I am mad at myself for letting that happen and I feel so overwhelmed that I now have 40 pounds instead of 20lbs that I need to lose. I am hoping MFP can help me with my nutrition (I have always somewhat enjoyed the working out part).

I removed myself from the toxic family situation and switched job offices so I am hoping the recent changes will aid my weight loss journey. I hope to lose 18 pounds by Halloween. ( I know that seems like alot, but I just recently got off some medication that made me retain a lot of water).

I know with some support and accountability, I can do this!

Hello everyone, my name is Shantel. I am 26 years old. I am married and have three children, 7, 3, and 1. I am a stay at home/work from home mommy. I have been overweight my whole life, and having baby after baby was my excuse to be "heavy". As I am done having children I have decided to get to a me I was happy with that could run around and chase my kids. I started on here in August 2013. I've lost 90 lbs to date, I would like to lose another 20 pounds. 15 to Halloween would be amazing, I know it sounds like alot but I would love to aim high, or low on my scale. I work out an hour a day at the gym, and have my rest day on Mondays. I recently started the 30 day shred. I am on level 1 day 9 today. Nice to meet you guys.

Hi, friends! My name is Sara - without an H like one of our buddies you met earlier in this thread. I am 57 years old, the mother of three grown kids (daughter 32, son 30, and daughter almost 24) and one super adorable granddaughter who is 21 months old. Actually my kids are pretty cute themselves! I taught elementary school for a number of years after being an at home mom for about 10 extra special years. This is my second school year not teaching. This transition from teacher to .... (still trying to figure out what my next gig will be) has been a little tough as I miss having a jumble of fifth graders to hang out with all day and the wonderful colleagues with whom I worked. But, it has also been an enormous relief and blessing to have this time to regroup, regain my sanity and joy, and serve as a nanny to my precious grandchild.

The neighborhood kids called me "string bean" growing up, so it wasn't until the birth of my first child (a traumatic C-section - no time for a bikini cut) that my once flat belly began to bulge. I've always had a big back porch as my mama called it (thanks, mom). Over the years of raising kids, I was that hyperfocused-on-the-kids kind of mom (not so good for my first marriage) and just didn't think much about how I looked. Through a disastrous second marriage I went from 145 to 176 pounds. In the four years since then, I've fluctuated from 142 to 162. I can see these changes correlate to my activity level and calorie deficit. Hmmm, this MFP stuff makes a lot of sense!

Honestly, in recent years, I am trimmer and more fit than in my youth. This is all to say that I haven't terribly far to go in my weight loss journey, but still plenty of work to do on becoming stronger. I am not one for the gym even if I could afford it. Giving up my teacher salary has forced me to live especially frugally, which I actually enjoy quite a lot. It helps too that I have a very sweet and understanding gentleman friend, who shares his home and heart with me. We have a sweet little garden and six hens, plus a pond full of fish, to supplement our diet. This summer we've made fewer trips in to town for groceries.

I am 5'7" and presently weigh about 147 pounds. It's a good weight for me as most of my clothes fit, though I believe 140 would be even better. I am fortunate that through the luck of the draw in the gene pool, my arms and legs tend to stay slender, while the extra weight piles on my tummy and hips. My goals in this challenge are (1) to bring my weight down so that my upper limit is 145 when I have an indulgent episode (major sweet tooth on this old kid); (2) log 1,000 minutes in September working out on either our bike or elliptical machine (will think of an October goal when I get there); and (3) to try some new workouts on youtube (at least one per week).

Sorry to be so chatty!

I am looking forward to seeing us all work towards our goals in this challenge!

Hi there,

My name is Jennifer. I am 42, married, with 3 boys (24, 9, 7). This will be my first challenge. I just started MFP last month at the request of some friends, who have all dropped out! I lost 41 pounds last year, stalled, then gained 15 over the Spring/Summer months. I really need to get these last 25 (or so) pounds off so I can keep up with my boys! Hoping the accountability that comes with this group will keep me on track. I will be so very happy if I am down 10 pounds by Halloween!!

Hi! I'm Karen and I'm a 41 year old Canuck, married to a truck driver and we share a beautiful 4 year old daughter. About 6 months ago I quit my high-stress job to stay home and focus more on family, community, church, and me! A year ago we traded in city life for an 11 acre property in the country complete with 6 chickens, large garden, 2 cats and a new puppy (husky cross).

I'm new to MFP (past week) and stumbled across this challenge tonight and thought I'd join in on the fun. I'd like to lose 12 lbs over the next 8 weeks and am hoping to lose 42 lbs total by the time I reach 42 years in June. Recently I bought Fitbit Flex step counter to integrate to MFP and am having lots of fun challenging myself to reach my daily goals.

I look forward to getting to know people hear and welcome positive friendships!

Hi all,

I'm Adriana, 25 years old in Delaware. I have a one year old furry son with four paws; a yorkipoo named Leo who I love very much! I work in food service at a skilled nursing facility.

I've actually been with MFP for about four years now, but wanted a fresh start, so I deleted my previous account, and recently rejoined. This is actually my first challenge.

I'm setting an aggressive goal of 17 pounds to lose by Halloween. I have a costume party to attend, and would like to feel confident enough to take some pictures. Still stumped on a costume idea.

Good luck to everyone!

Hello All,

I just jumped on board and am scouting around to see how this challenge works. My name is J.J. I am 37 years old (for a few more days) and I am a stay-at-home mother to four children. My eldest is 18 and my youngest is two. We share our home with a Boston Terrier (looking to adopt another) and an elderly kitty. We live just north of Seattle, WA. I adore the Pacific Northwest and the rain. I've been on MFP for about a month and a half. So far I'm enjoying working toward a more active lifestyle. It is challenging for me to be consistent as I lack real-life support for my fitness endeavors. Hoping having a weekly check-in and public goals will help keep me on track.

I'm setting a goal of 12 pounds lost by Halloween. That seems reasonable to me. I don't have any costume ideas in mind but something will come to me.

Hi! My name's Laura. I'm a college student from Wisconsin. I'm a vegan and I like going running with my dog. I'd like to lose at least ten pounds by Halloween. Feel free to add me as a friend

Hey there,

I am Juli, 23 and a student from Germany.
I was always chubby, never "really" overweight (like, no one ever felt the need to say "that child there should keep an eye on what it eats").
When I moved out t study 4 years ago, I realized how bad my eating habits were.
My problem was never the usual meals, my mom used to cook really healthy and low fat, but I was used to have a snack here and there, get a bread roll before sleeping...
I know were my problems are, but yet I fail to get on the "healthy way" and just stop eating all this crap!
For the last 4 years I am always up and down the same 5lbs. Hopefully this challenge will help me

Happy to be in this challenge with you all

Glad to have a challenge to motivate me. I took the last couple months off (ate at maintenance) and was successful in that I'm still at the same weight I was prior. Guess I have learned a thing or two in the past 14 months.

But, now I need to focus on losing again. I still want to lose 25-35 lbs and this challenge will be a good start!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=727430843951651&set=t.100000542251385&type=3&src=https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/977369_727430843951651_305934717_o.jpg&smallsrc=https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1477934_727430843951651_305934717_n.jpg?oh=0c22317c7194dde8e1f15a81840dab3a&oe=5466398C&size=2048,1536

Hello!

I'm a full time student employed full time at a cycling manufacturer and distributor. I've lost 70 lbs so far, mainly by limiting my processed carb intake and eating "cleaner". I'm big into long distancing bike touring and hiking, but I'd like to focus more on running and weight lifting - things I can do without having to take time off work or saving it for the weekend. I'm working towards hitting my healthy BMI of 145 lbs through this challenge, and will celebrate with an awesome Halloween costume. Ideas are welcome!

Good luck everyone!