Hi, I'd like to join this group and give myself that extra motivation to stay on track this month. I'm 5'9" and currently 226lbs. I started using MFP at the beginning of the year, and my weight has fluctuated by a few pounds up and down since then. But last week, I started taking it more seriously, tracking everything (even the bad days) and upped the exercise, and I have to say, that week alone I have felt better in myself and with more energy from just eating better and moving more.

My motivation for losing weight has focused more on my health, and whatever other benefits come along are an added bonus, but health and fitness are my main goals.

I think my aim for this month would be to lose 8lbs, and to get into the habit of doing exercise at least 5 times a week, as currently it's between 3-4. I have a total of 66lbs to lose, so taking it in small stages is ideal for me as that number seems way to scary right now.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else is doing and to keep each other motivated.

Hi everyone! I'm Melissa and I am 26 years old and currently weigh 149 lbs. I will be graduating with my Bachelors in Hospitality Management with a minor business in MAY!!!.

I have been on MFP for years! I originally lost almost 30 pounds and hit my goal weight of 125 pounds. I was working out 6 days a week, increased my endurance and was able to run 3 miles and turned vegetarian. I was in the best shape of my life. Then I decided to go back to college and that was the turning point. I gained back all my weight over the last two years because I got lazy, started coming up with excuses, and dealing with stress through drinking.

I recently got married back in May to my high school sweetheart and I would like to have dropped down to 140 threshold by our one year anniversary May 18th.
My goal for the April Challenge however is to lose 6 pounds, bringing me to 143 lbs.

I have currently lost 2.2lbs since I started logging again last week. I have decided to work towards going gluten free (just for personal reasons, not health related) and I have been feeling really really great.

I am excited about this journey we are all on, and I am happy we will have have each other!

♥

Hello! My name is Sam. I am 22 and from Florida. I started using MyFitnessPal early last month and have lost a total of 12 pounds so far, which puts me at 271 pounds. My first big goal is to reach 199 by New Years 2016 which is just under 2 pounds a week. I am taking this one day at a time. I would love to eventually get under 175 pounds, which was my weight when I was 10 years old. I also think that it would be miracle to fit in size 12 jeans, since I have never ever been able to wear under a 14.

I have always been interested in fitness, even though I've never been able to complete a mile run. My interest began with my love of wrestling. I love everything about it. The athleticism, the physical ability, the technical ability, the high-flyers, the theatrics, the entertainment. Everything. In my fifth grade yearbook when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I said "WWF Hardcore Champion." I was inspired by women in the industry. But I knew I couldn't actually do it because I have never in my life been able to do anything athletic.

But now, at age 22, I want it even more. I know that I'll never be a professional wrestler, but that doesn't mean I cannot learn or train. I want to be strong.

My goal for April is to lose 8 pounds. This will bring my total loss to 20 pounds. It will also be what I weighed my freshman year of college.

I'm going for inches instead of pounds. I'm not sure how many is realistic, I just know the number needs to go down.

Hi I'm Heather. I am 33 with two kids and husband, full time job and full time school. I gained a lot of weight when I started birth control before having any kiddos and now it has continued to increase...well until 1 year ago that is. After being up and down for years I lost 31 pounds last year and have kept every pound off, but I still have another 50 or so to go.

I like to do anything with my kids, we play games, dance and goof off together. My April goal is 5 pounds, which is 10 % of what I need to loose. I plan to do this my eating better and moving more!!

Hi, I'm Karen and this is my first day. I've heard of MFP but never gave it much consideration until this morning. I realized that I spend a great deal of my day making excuses and ignoring signs that my weight (237lb on a 5'2" frame) is a problem.

I'm 44, married to a man that still makes my heart flip when I see him (after over 20 years). He's recently decided that he doesn't want to look like his dad and is working out. So he's totally on team "Karen". I have two boys (12 and 20). They want me healthy. One has offered to "train" me (the 12yr old) and the other wants to help me make better meal choices by helping out in the kitchen.

So ... I'm really looking forward to this first challenge. I want to get out of the 230's and into the 220's, that means I'm looking at 8lb loss this month.

Hi, I'm Kathleen. 35 yr old married female with 3 year old. I was on track losing weight a couple years ago before dealing with a series of family losses that rocked me totally off track with weight and other life things. I'm a counselor by profession and definitely learned the hard way that I needed to re-focus on my own wellness and use the tools I work on with others for myself (with the help of seeking grief counseling sessions for myself).

Over the past few months, I've started to evaluate my over all wellness and a major part of that is weight loss. I've been doing well with my food diary over the past couple weeks and have noticed a big change in my mood and physically feeling better.

My challenge for April will be to lose 10 pounds and exercise at least 3 times a week. I'm glad to have found a group for support and positive thoughts as we all work toward our goals!

Hi, I'm Lizzie from the UK. I'm 19 and doing my first year of university. I've been dropping lbs reasonably slowly since December but struggled through March to lose so it's definitely time to make a proper commitment to the lifestyle. I would be very happy with a 5lb weight loss this month, as that would leave me only 5lbs from my goal weight of 126lbs!

It's so great to have the support of everyone here on MFP, I am so inspired by all of your stories.

Yesterday was my bday, so I'm now 36yrs old
5'3"
HW 162
CW 140
Goal 110

Hi, all. I turned 35 in February, and decided that I really needed to get in shape...again. I have 4 boys (16,15,9 &3). I quit smoking in early October, and by January, I could tell that I was breathing a lot better. Right around my my birthday, I decided that I really wanted to look on the outside how I felt on the inside. I can picture myself all nice and toned, wearing some of those size 5's in the tote under my bed.
My 3 year old was a massive surprise! I was 31 when I found out I was gonna have him, 32 when I actually did have him. Yeah, childbirth is definitely for the younger! I thought it was gonna kill me half the time. My back CONSTANTLY hurt. I ended up going from about 140ish to 195. In the 3 years since I had him, I sat at 184.
I got a gym membership a week after my birthday, on February 13, and a little notebook to write down my gym activities, and keep track of my weight in there, too. My first entry in my notebook is Feb 14, 184.3 lbs, 38 minutes of cardio (treadmill and elliptical), and 5 different leg strength exercises. The incline on the treadmill stayed level for the first couple of days, then I managed to get it up to 3. That was a pretty difficult workout! Now, I currently weigh 168 even (as of 30 minutes ago), and my walking speed is 3.5 mph, and I can kick that incline up to 13 for 10 minutes straight! I am now also able to run a little bit. Not a lot, but I can run for a minute straight and only take a one minute walking break before I do it again. I'm insanely proud of the accomplishments I've made in only 6 weeks. My goal for April is to lose an additional 10 lbs and start a C25K program. I would LOVE to just have the ability to run a 5K!
Good luck, everyone! I KNOW we can do this!

My name is Mike. I started MFP (again) on January 4th this year and I was 311 lbs. I have lost 50 lbs so far, which is normal for me. I tend to lose the first 40-50 very easily. I think I've reached my first plateau and have been stuck at 261 for a several days now. The trick is to keep doing what I've been doing and not get discouraged. My goal weight is 200 lbs.

After losing 50 lbs, it's amazing how much I'm NOT craving a lot of things. I'm a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg freak and they're everywhere with Easter only a few days away. I haven't wanted any of it. I live in southeastern Louisiana and it's crawfish season! I survived my first crawfish boil this past Saturday. I ate some crawfish and fixings, but actually listened to my body and stopped when I started feeling full. I was completely satisfied with what I ate and actually did it without drinking a beer. (I still don't know how the heck I ate crawfish without drinking a beer...it's kinda sacrilegious!)

Name: Mike
Age: 40
Height: 6'3"
Starting Weight (4/1): 261
Goal Weight (4/30): Under 250

4/1: 261
4/8:
4/15:
4/22:
4/30:

Loss/gain for the week:
Loss/gain for the month so far:

Struggles or successes of your week: My plan is to keep hitting my calorie goal every day, keep drinking water, and keep exercising at least 4-5 times per week. We always have a crawfish boil Easter Saturday with family and friends. My struggle for the week will be to stay disciplined like I did at my last boil.


Best of luck to everyone!!!

Hi everyone! My names Hollie and I live in South Carolina. I'm 27 years old. I've been on MFP a couple times. A couple years ago when I was deployed I used it with great success. Now here we are 3 years later and I've had a baby and the weight is harder to get off that ever before. Currently I'm training for a full marathon that is in December. I've been doing my best to stick to 1400 calories a day and running 4-5x/week as well as walking my dogs and a home DVD every once in a while. Please don't hesitate to add me!

Name: Hollie
Age: 27
Height: 5'5"
Starting Weight (3/31): 165
Goal Weight (4/30): Under 160

4/1: 165
4/8:
4/15:
4/22:
4/30:

Loss/gain for the week:
Loss/gain for the month so far:

For this coming week I'm going to focus on positive thoughts and reminding myself I can do this because I'm worth it.

Name: Heather
Age: 34
Height: 5'2"
Starting Weight (3/31): 197
Goal Weight (4/30): Under 192

4/1:197
4/8:
4/15:
4/22:
4/30:

My goal for this week is to move more and continue eating as well as I have this week. Easter candy will be a struggle for me as I have a real sweet tooth. Have great week everyone!!!

Hi everyone! I'm Chandal! I'm 25, I live in Michigan and I have a 5 year old daughter as of yesterday! I'm still coming to terms with that fact lol.

I had a MFP account awhile back but I never used it like I should have on a regular basis. I've always been overweight my whole life. When I had graduated high school, I had actually lost around 60 pounds and weighed 180, without much intentional effort. I had just started walking my dog daily and stopped drinking pop. About a year after, my boyfriend and I decided to have our daughter. I had only gained 10 actual pounds through my whole pregnancy, once it was all said and done and I was back to normal. Then I got lazy and ate poorly because I always felt crunched for time and made excuses. I very quickly gained weight until I stepped on the scale one day and saw 250lbs and my daughter was just a year old. I started watching everything I ate, made almost everything at home (even our bread) and started exercising about 5-6 days a week. I got back down to 200lbs in about 6 months! I felt awesome! I kept that weight for about a year and half. During that year and a half, I became a single mother, moved twice and still managed to keep it! About 3 years ago I fell into a depression though, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't get out of it because my surroundings were the cause. I gained 65 pounds and hit my heaviest weight I've ever been. I finally was able to remove myself from the situation though and I've buckled down!

I work at a hotel with a very nice gym. It's not your typical hotel gym with a treadmill and a couple dumbbells. People actually come in off the street and get memberships. And because I work here, I get a free one! So I have NO excuses! I started this new trek back in August of last year. I did really well for a short time and lost about 15 pounds. Then winter hit and I got lazy again. Although I didn't gain, I didn't lose any more either. So in January, I picked myself back up and started working at it more.

My short term goal is 65 pounds. I've currently lost 36 pounds! 40 pounds is my next mini goal and it's SO close! I've started doing cardio about 4 times a week and a combo of cardio and strength training on the in between days. Sundays are for Yoga. I found that I really enjoy running. It clears my mind and in my little world of chaos, it's something I have complete control over. I can turn on my music and the rest of the world is gone for a short while. I've been eating better too. I cook for the family usually and we certainly don't starve. I don't cut out my favorite foods, I just find alternatives and substitutes! My boyfriend is amazing and has been more than supportive through this so far. He tries to come up with new and exciting ideas too and is willing to eat anything I cook, not matter how weird he thinks it might be lol (for example, spaghetti squash mac and cheese!).

Just because we fall down at times, doesn't mean we can't get back up and keep on trucking! I wish you all the best of luck on your new journey!