Why are you/we here?

Machka9
Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Why did you join MFP? What are your goals? :)


~~~~~~~~~~~

I used to be really active (ultra-distance cyclist) and could eat whatever I wanted. I struggled to keep weight on and was often in the underweight BMI category. Then my activity level dropped to about 2/3 of what it was because of a change in my life situation, I adjusted what I ate, but not quite enough and put some weight on. There was a bit of up and down there, trying to get it right (I used several other tracking programs in that process). Then my activity level dropped to about 1/3 of what it was because of life and health issues. Again, I adjusted what I ate, but not quite enough ... and I slowly and gradually put on 15 kg over the past 4 years.

What I'm doing now is a 2 part goal... basically getting back into my previous (usual) lifestyle.

1) I need to lose the 15 kg so that I can be more active. Trying to haul an extra 15 kg up hills and over long distances at a reasonable speed is difficult. So I'm here to adjust my intake and refresh my memory on calories and portions.

2) I need to become more active, build up those cycling distances, taking on more challenging hikes, etc. ... getting back into what I love doing.


I've been here 40 days now, and have lost 6.5 kg ... so far, so good. :) I've also had the best month of cycling distance since last March. :) Here's hoping April will be even better.

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Replies

  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
    I joined because I got fat, and I want to unfat myself.
  • LBuehrle8
    LBuehrle8 Posts: 4,044 Member
    I'm not what people would call fat but I don't like the way I look or feel. I'm 5'2, 28 (29 in a week) and my current weight is 139. My goal is to get down to about 120 and be able to maintain.
  • Ellasdream
    Ellasdream Posts: 27 Member
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    I joined because I got fat, and I want to unfat myself.

    Love it!

    I'm here because I had had enough of not feeling comfortable in my own skin. I'm a singer and perform on stage a lot and just wanna feel sexy up there ;-)
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    I joined because I had too many chins and belly rolls. Now I have less.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    aimeerace wrote: »
    I joined because I had too many chins and belly rolls. Now I have less.

    Yeah ... somehow I managed to gain an extra chin or two. I started noticing it in photos. My hubby says that I've lost at least one of them, but I don't see the difference yet.

  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    The food database kept coming up in nutrition searches and the only way to see the info was to sign up. I stayed because MFP let me track sodium.
  • moose_mama
    moose_mama Posts: 32 Member
    Both my parents had heart attacks. My Mom's was just a few months ago and it was enough to make me get more serious about my health.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I've been big all my life. At 32, though, it hit me that I was only ten years younger than my dad was when he was diagnosed with diabetes. I decided then and there that I didn't want to turn out like him.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I'm here because a cycling jersey doesn't look good stretched over rolls of fat. That and because my blood pressure was creeping up.
  • LovingLife_Erin
    LovingLife_Erin Posts: 328 Member
    I've always been overweight, but also really active so I stayed overweight and not obese. Then I had a bad neck injury and I was pretty much unable to do much of anything for years. Between that, and bad eating habits, I gained a lot of weight. I got married last year, and we started talking about starting a family next year. I realised that I didn't want to be severely obese for pregnancy as the risks are higher, and I knew I'd just get even bigger. I've also seen people in my family have bad hearts, and diabetes, so I wanted to cut my risk for those things.

    At the end of the day, I want to be healthy, and live a healthy life so that my future child/children are well, and do the same.
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    I joined because I got fat, and I want to unfat myself.[/quote

    Also I want to learn about macros and retaining muscle and reducing by boy fat percentages. I left the typo in because it amuses me :)
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    moose_mama wrote: »
    Both my parents had heart attacks. My Mom's was just a few months ago and it was enough to make me get more serious about my health.

    Both my parents had heart attacks as well. My mom was 64. My dad was 44.

    Neither was overweight, but why stack the deck against myself?

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I'm here because a cycling jersey doesn't look good stretched over rolls of fat. That and because my blood pressure was creeping up.

    My husband and I bought good quality, and fairly expensive rain jackets for cycling.

    When we bought them about 4 years ago, mine was just a bit snug but still wearable. In the months before I started here, the only way I could wear it was if I did not zip it up ... kind of pointless to leave a rain jacket unzipped!

    I've been thinking about buying a new cycling rain jacket ... but my money sense tells me that my current one is still perfectly good, and I haven't worn it much so it looks almost new, and if I just lost a bit of weight, I could wear it again!!!

  • Essenaich
    Essenaich Posts: 10
    A life change. < Not much more I can say then that. Changing things up so I can enjoy my future and have a future after 19 years.
  • lovematthewchristopher
    lovematthewchristopher Posts: 147 Member
    Over time, you think,"I want to lose weight!", but for whatever reason, you just dont do anything about it. You know its not going to go away by itself, yet every time you look in the mirror, you seem to say it again, and again. It took many years to put the weight on,and you know it may take that long to take it off, but you dont seem to have the gumption to want to do anything about it.......until one morning you wake up, and presto!!!! You have had enough, all of a sudden you are ready to do something about it, almost like it was an overnight decision. I am now ready!!! Don't know why today is any different than yesterday, but for some reason it is.I want to be healthy, i want to have energy, i want to enjoy life. You just wake up saying," today is going to be the start of my new life!!!"
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I joined because I had 2 kids and paleo diet started to make me gain weight (I didn't understand the concept of CICO and was probably eating 3000 calories a day on paleo)

    I've lost 3 pounds in 35 days here! I'm in no hurry to loose weight so I might as well loose weight and have fun eating!!
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    I joined because this site has the tools I need to help me get the body I want.
  • mrihel6615
    mrihel6615 Posts: 37 Member
    edited March 2015
    I'm here for a ton of reasons.
    I am short, 4'10 and was always very thin growing up.
    In ninth grade I was 92 pounds and fresh out of 6 years in gymnastics.
    My weight slowly crept up and never seemed a problem.
    By graduation I was 112 pounds.
    Once in college and living on my own, it crept up to 142 pounds (nearing obese for my height)
    I'm now down just over 20 pounds with 10 more to go.
    And only about 2 pounds to go until I'm in a healthy weight range!
    My main reasons are to be healthy again, and to look good for my wedding in 6 months!
    My family has a history of diabetes, heart problems, etc... And I'm determined to keep myself healthy to avoid all the problems that I can.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I started using MFP to lose the last bit of baby weight, then I used it to gain weight, now maintaining. It's definitely been quite the adventure
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    I joined because I got fat, and I want to unfat myself.
    This.

    Also if I can look something like this within the next few years, I'll take my work here as a success

    septembertiljanuary.jpg

  • marynanowak
    marynanowak Posts: 1
    Struggling to lose 25 pounds.. I'm an emotional eater and I just can't seem to get it under control..
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I joined many years ago to support my girlfriend at the time in her weight loss efforts. I was squishy myself and had 15 or so pounds to lose, she ended up losing about

    I've long ago reached my goals, stopped tracking and now just rot my brain in these forums, and occasionally stumble upon some relevant information.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    My goal is to lose 30-40 pounds and get to a healthier BMI.
    My goal is to lose weight eating real food and exercising moderately.
    I wasn't very confident that MFP would help as I have been trying to lose weight for 15 years. I did lose some but always regained and my weight crept up until I was finally obese. I was tired of being out of breath or being left behind when walking with my family or trying to put on clothes and finding they were too tight. I don't want a future where I am stuck in a chair or a bed because it is too hard to move. I don't want to be unhealthy.
    After 5 1/2 months using MFP, I weigh less than I have for at least 5 years. It has been pretty easy to just log what I eat, stick close to my calorie limit and exercise about 30 minutes a day.
  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    I gained weight after college and with both my pregnancies. I wasn't really fat, just overweight. I was getting to a point that I was not longer happy with how I looked. I'm in grad school right now and I want to take advantage of my time flexibility to get in the best shape I can.
  • mocadet95
    mocadet95 Posts: 75 Member
    edited March 2015
    To regain my confidence and happiness after a rough couple of years. And to finally get to wear what I want!
  • hdonaldsonm
    hdonaldsonm Posts: 22 Member
    I was doing well my last year of university, exercise classes 5x a week, eating well maintaining a good weight and felt great about myself. I moved across the country after graduation and shortly after got injured in the job. I want to get back to how I was about a year ago and no longer let my injury define me.

    Don't have a lot of friends in my new town so support from others on here is helpful.
  • Jgasmic
    Jgasmic Posts: 219 Member
    I signed up a few years when I found myself freaking out about being single, almost 30 and the heaviest I had ever been (155 pounds at 5'3") I stopped logging but eventually lost all of the weight after becoming a lot more active. I was training for a marathon this past summer and enjoying eating ALL OF THE FOOD and then I hurt my leg. I wasn't able to run or even walk around town the way I used to, but I continued to eat as if I was. I put on 15-20 pounds over the last six months and now I'm trying to get back down to my pre-injury weight before I have surgery to fix my hip.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    edited March 2015
    I quit smoking 11 years ago and the pounds piled on. I lost and gained many times, but never made it back to my original weight, and ended up nearly 20 pounds over my previous high weight when I was nine months pregnant over 30 years ago. That's when I put on the screech. I found out about MFP from a personal trainer at the Y, and it's kept me in check ever since. I'm not losing as quickly as I would like, but at least I'm losing!
  • wick3tgirl
    wick3tgirl Posts: 47 Member
    I feel like I was on/off dieting for years on end with the weight creeping on more & more. I was aware of cico, but didn't use/haven't discovered MFP until fairly recently. and realizing this would be so simple. being obsessed with my phone helps the situation :p the community aspect is nice but I am mostly a lurker :blush:
    I am finally doing this for almost 3 months, by doing this, I mean getting fit, healthy and hot for the summer months and more importantly for life! B)
  • krissyreminisce
    krissyreminisce Posts: 284 Member
    I joined at the advice of a friend and because my own weight loss efforts were beginning to fail and I hit about a 10 month fitness rut and plateau which had me starting to gain. I dropped 20lbs since November and hit my goal. :D And, when I finally started venturing onto these boards, I've started learning more and more and getting a handle on my health. :D
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