Introduction and History

Hello!

I'm more of a lurker around the forums but thought I'd finally formally introduce myself.

A little intro: I'm 29, engaged to be married this November, I currently weigh 293 at 5'9" tall. My ultimate goal is to weigh between 180-190. Actually, if I get below 200 pounds, I'll be happy and probably maintain. lol

Some history:

I've been big for as long as I can remember.

In 2008, I started my weight loss journey at 280 pounds and was able to get down to 237 (I specifically remember seeing that number on the scale) with the help of Weight Watchers, Sparkpeople, and Couch 2 5K primarily.

In 2009, I started a relationship with my current fiance (we've been friends for 11 years now, but the timing was finally right for both of us in Oct 2009) and of course, gained all the weight back that I'd lost.... and then some. Some being 30 extra pounds. Yeah.

The most I have ever weighed was 310 pounds last December. 2010 Heartbreaking. I never EVER thought I would weigh over 300 pounds. But my fiance and I loved going out to dinner, picking up a tub of ice cream, and coming home to eat it. Nearly every single night. We also drank a TON of soda. So starting December 10th, we quit drinking soda and eating ice cream cold turkey. It was TOUGH. Almost 4 months later, I don't miss soda at all, but I still crave ice cream frequently. I just love it. But it is one of the leading causes that got me where I am to begin with. Luckily, my fiance is strong and strict and knows how to say no, and I'd feel too guilty to eat any behind his back, so I know I'm not gonna cave. But I do miss ice cream. Maybe one day we will be reunited.

Anyway, in mid-January, we joined a gym that is less than 5 minutes walking away from our apartment complex. SUPER close, we had NO excuse. We both had a free consultation with a personal trainer who showed us how to properly use the machines and tips on how to lose weight. My trainer asked my goals and I told her I want to lose at least 60 pounds by the time of my wedding in November, and be lower than 250 pounds. She told me that is a hefty goal and not very reasonable, and basically implied she didn't think I could do it. So now my goal is simply to prove her wrong!

We've been going to the gym every weekday morning before work doing 30-45 minutes of cardio, combined with going 3x a week a night to focus on weights/strength training. Then on weekends where we are home (we go out of town a lot), we will spend an hour or 2 at the gym on either Saturday or Sunday.

Along with cutting out going out to eat so much, we've both had success so far. He's gone from 287 to 262 and I've gone from 310 to 293. So I'm at 17 pounds total lost, it's coming off slowly but surely. Only 43 more to go to prove that trainer wrong! I seem to have developed a heel spur over the past several months (going to podiatrist next week) and I am REALLY hoping that doesn't hinder my progress, but we'll see how it goes.

So yeah, I do like to ramble and I sure did enough of that here. lol

Thanks for reading, if you did, and I look forward to getting to know some more people, giving and receiving support on this journey.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like!