Hi there. I'm Marcie and I just turned 50 years old in March (turning 40 was tough for me, but 50 was a breeze). My only kids are of the furry variety (a 13 year old cat and a 3 year old dog). I've struggled with my weight my whole life. My highest known weight was 350 pounds when I was 47 years old, but I suspect I came close to 400 at one time. A couple years ago my Dad was ordered by his cardiologist to lose 40 pounds. We had just lost my mom to cancer and he had let himself go while we were caring for her. He started logging his food and exercise on a weight management website (not MFP), and then very subtlety suggested I may want to do the same. I learned so much over there, and the pounds started coming off. That site recently shut down, but I already had a MFP membership, so me and a bunch of other members from that site just transitioned over here (I set up a group for them so we'd all have a meeting place here). My goal is not to lose a ton of weight quickly. I'm just steadily chipping away at it and learning as I go. One-derland is in my sights now, and I look forward to making it my new home!

I sure hope this is an active group! Most of the groups I've checked out seem to have lots of members, but very little movement.

Welcome Marcie! You have made fabulous progress in a smart way. This group is like any other. Some very active, some a little and some not so much. We are trying to keep it active and keep people involved.

Great to have Marcie on our group, I can see we can learn so much from your weight loss experience. Feel free to start a discussion anytime

Hi Janet! Welcome to the group. I am 63 and started over 200 lb. Congrats on your loss so far. Don't hold hard and fast to 1200 if you get hungry. You lose slower the closer you get to goal, so no point in starving.

lguenter wrote: »

Hi. I'm Lori and I'm 52 years old. I joined MFP a long time ago but never got really serious until April of this year. So far, after 58 days, I've lost 12 pounds. I'm still learning how this works for me. This is my first post on the forums. I've read many other threads and learned a lot from my reading. I hope to continue learning as I figure out what works for me. Just lately, the last couple weeks, I've found myself feeling hungrier than usual. Not sure why as I've tried to maintain a simple eating plan and I don't think I've been very far under my goal very many times.

Great weight loss Lori!

It is so great to see our group growing by leaps and bounds. It's also helpful and motivating to have people at all points in the journey with so many different experiences. I think we all really benefit from each other.

mommasrecipes wrote: »

Hi, I'm Pam, 57 years old, one grown daughter and four grandchildren. I work full time, and ,yeah, I'm a stress eater. I have had trouble with this all my life, but currently it's the worst it's ever been. Well, I'm back on MFP and hoping this time I'll keep it off for good. Glad you all are here. Thanks!

I often wish that on our food diaries there was a space to write why we were eating, hungry, bored, etc. When I did Jenny Craig some years back they asked you to write your mood/reason for eating. It was a real eye opener and would rally make you think. But I suppose you could try to track your mood separately. It might help. Anyway, Pam, welcome.

downongreenacres wrote: »

nikkib0103 wrote: »

mommasrecipes wrote: »

Hi, I'm Pam, 57 years old, one grown daughter and four grandchildren. I work full time, and ,yeah, I'm a stress eater. I have had trouble with this all my life, but currently it's the worst it's ever been. Well, I'm back on MFP and hoping this time I'll keep it off for good. Glad you all are here. Thanks!

I often wish that on our food diaries there was a space to write why we were eating, hungry, bored, etc. When I did Jenny Craig some years back they asked you to write your mood/reason for eating. It was a real eye opener and would rally make you think. But I suppose you could try to track your mood separately. It might help. Anyway, Pam, welcome.

There is a small space for notes on the bottom of each day's diary. I usually list whether I have remembered my vitamins, but a person could make a short note of what was going on in their life that day. I think that would be a real eye opener.

That is a good idea. I never thought of using that note box. See, I hear a good idea every day around here.

nikkib0103 wrote: »

mommasrecipes wrote: »

Hi, I'm Pam, 57 years old, one grown daughter and four grandchildren. I work full time, and ,yeah, I'm a stress eater. I have had trouble with this all my life, but currently it's the worst it's ever been. Well, I'm back on MFP and hoping this time I'll keep it off for good. Glad you all are here. Thanks!

I often wish that on our food diaries there was a space to write why we were eating, hungry, bored, etc. When I did Jenny Craig some years back they asked you to write your mood/reason for eating. It was a real eye opener and would rally make you think. But I suppose you could try to track your mood separately. It might help. Anyway, Pam, welcome.

Thanks, Nikki. That's a great idea. I started a journal. I think I could go "old school" and put a small pad of paper in my purse to jot things down.

Hi, This is my first week with my fitness pal. My heavens all these diets and gimmicks later and it just may that good old counting calories and logging foods is what works. And suddenly I am not spending scads of money for the privilege of trying to eat healthy. Anyway, I am 69 years old, with 1 dog and 1 daughter, and 3 great stepchildren and their 11 children. Right now I have a posterior tibial tendonitis along with many other reasons that tendon can use a less weight on it. I plainly have to lose and keep it off. here is one big difference - I am willing to settle on 1 pound a week loss so that I do not feel like I am starving and then overeat! I need to upload a picture as soon as I can find something I can stand that is more or less current.