Hi Ladies,
Thanks so much for the invite to join his group! I'm Carole. I am a 53 yr old married mom of two college students (freshman & senior). I started on MFP in April 2013 at my heaviest: 272. I started tracking my food and walking daily. In less than 5 months I dropped 58 pounds. Then I stagnated for a month - no motivation to walk (and a little depressed) when my daughter returned to school. I was still watching my calories, but not totally focused on weight loss. Then I got sick for a couple of weeks... that was the end of everything I had been doing. I am an emotional eater (and I eat to procrastinate, and at night when bored, etc) and I was so up-set with myself and then depressed that I couldn't pull it together that I spiraled totally out if control. I gained back 50 pounds in about 8 months. I just gave up on myself. I guess I should be glad I didn't gain all of it back.

While I was losing weight my mother-in-law was kind enough to take in all of my pants (thru the waist, hips) so that I didn't need to buy new clothing. I finally got to the point that I could only fit into a couple pairs of pants... Yes, even with a 50 pound gain (way too tight - thought I might bust a few seams). I REFUSE TO BUY NEW CLOTHING AT THIS WEIGHT! Okay, so new year and I am back on MFP and am losing those pounds again. I am just starting to walk again in the evenings with my husband and dog. I bought a GPS/activity tracker yesterday so I can more accurately track my time/distance/calories burned. I know I can do this!

I am looking forward to being a part if this group, and gaining/giving support on this journey. Thanks again for the invitation to get to know you all.

I posted somewhere else in the group message board and then saw this thread and figured I should backtrack and say hi first.

So...hi *waves a little awkwardly*

I've had an account on MFP for at least a couple of years and have toyed around entering a food diary or two now and again, but this is the first time I've used it seriously (I actually gained another 20 pounds in those couple of years). It's also the first time I've added friends or participated in the community here at all. i'm finding that it makes a difference for me, and thanks to socialone74 for the invite to this awesome new group!

A couple of months ago, the doctor's scale said I weighed 297, and the shock of seeing myself 3 lbs from 300 has motivated me to finally do something about it. I cut back on portions and eating out, and when I weighed myself the other day for the first time in two months, saw that I had lost 6 lbs from just those couple of casual changes alone. That motivated me even more, so here I am, joining y'all and logging my food and exercise daily.

I became overweight as a child after my parents divorced and I became a latchkey kid. I remember eating whole boxes of cereal, one bowl after another, when I was alone after school. I thinned out a good bit in junior high and high school but always struggled with chubbiness. After I had my son at 18, I ballooned up into the 200s, but remained in the low 200s until the last 12 years or so when I was in a pretty emotionally chaotic LTR for 11 of those years. Needless to say, I think I might be an emotional eater? Where's my understatement award?

I have some low back pain on occasion and very low activity tolerance (improving already, yay), as well as some other minor medical issues that are caused by or exacerbated by the extra weight. I'm an inactive RN, and diabetes type 2 is something that has always been in the back of my mind. I did not want to wait until I was diagnosed with something like that to do something about my weight and my health, and I have no doubt that diabetes and more are waiting around the corner if I don't do something now. Frankly, I'm lucky I haven't already rounded that particular corner because I put it off plenty long enough despite knowing those risks better than a lot of people who don't work in the medical field do.

My approach right now is simply to stay at or under my MFP calorie goal every day. I've tried very restrictive diets many times and inevitably gave up quickly. Yes, I've seen and know the benefits some of them provide, but they are not doable for me at this time, and they can hardly provide any benefit if I can't stick to them for more than five days. So, I'm still the same largely veggie-hating, southern-comfort-food-cookin', meat-and-potatoes girl and will keep eating what I want for now. The only difference is that now I'm learning balance, thanks to wanting to stay under my calorie limit. e.g. if I want chocolate cake tonight, I might should eat a salad for lunch or do more exercise this afternoon.

I'm forcing myself to stay off the scales except once per week, and my weigh-in day is Saturday for now. I had a 'whoosh' yesterday...most certainly water weight, but I'm still looking forward to seeing what the scales say in two days

Other random tidbits about me: I'm a single mom to a teenaged son who I homeschool. We live in the piedmont of NC. I'm kind of a geek and an introvert. I love reading and writing fiction and... and...

Well, huh. Turns out that a lot of the things I love to do (like hiking) are things I haven't done since I've been this heavy. I think my fat has made me boring. I'm working on it, though.

Thank you for inviting me in this special, very comfortable group! Its nice to be around people who are struggling with the same battles as I. The advice, motivation and encouragement is overwhelming.
I'm 44 live in Portage Lakes Ohio, married with three step daughters and three granddaughters. I married into an instant family. No stretch marks from kids but definitely from being over weight. I've been over weight since a child. My brother and sister toothpicks of course, could eat anything. Bags of doritos pizza etc. I remember when I was in my teens, my brother had me eat everything that he did for two weeks and we exercised. He lost a pound, I gained two! Yep, that's life!
So I dealt with the fact that I'm different! I have tried tons of diets in the past. This ap by far is the best. I had started last Jan. and had hurt my foot and gave up. Gained back the ten pounds I lost. This year I started Jan 6 and that was the start of my new lifestyle. I'm enjoying logging my food and seeing the changes I'm going through. I love the community boards. I was not aware of them before.( not tech saavy)
I did not think I could post as much as I have! A little long winded I am. Sorry, but it feels good to be able to share and not be judged! Thanks again for the support, motivation and kindness everyone has given!!

Hiii friends-- my name is Lia. Wanting to get healthier because it's scary to be sick and wonderful to have confidence with a hott body to back it up (>.0) Been obese most of my adult life, except in college but dieted all the wrong ways. This time I'm ready to do it the right way and hopefully incorporate it enough where it becomes a lifestyle for my fiance and me. Good luck to all of us and I know we will all succeed!!! xoxo

Welcome and thank you for the Intros!! I love the community of support we are building together!

RENAEJAE wrote: »

My name is ReNae and I live in Maine with my sweet hubby and 2 teenage daughters.

So glad to be here. I was previously in a tight MFP group and lost 80lbs. It works!! I could go on about my past, but you all wrote it for me - LOL: Struggled our whole lives, Lost it, Got Sick, Found it, have skinny siblings, emotional eater - YUP . . . that's us! So good to know we're not alone. And most of us are starting out at around the same weight (mid-200's) so we will find lots in common.

I look forward to getting to know each of you. I recently turned a young 50, love to bike, walk, read, cook and stay active with our kids who play several sports. Looking forward to this group of Cheeky Chics getting SKINNY!!

A lady of few words... You summed it/us up very well. Welcome! I love making new friends.