Hi! I've lost over 100 pounds, but still need to lose about 25 more to be considered "healthy". These last pounds have by far been the hardest to lose, but I'm determined to stick with it no matter how slow.

I just rejoined MFP after a long absence wanting to start fresh this year with a new digital diary, but I've been a member off and on for years. I'm so used to writing it all down that I find myself losing focus on the digital part. Kind of ironic since I spent most of my life on my phone it seems... old habits, I guess.

Hello Super Team!! I started my weight loss journey a few years ago. Lost 50lbs, then became pregnant with my son and gained it back. I had been yo-yoing lose 10-15 then gain it back, lose 5 then gain it back.

I realized I need to change my methods and habits as things are not as easy as they were before a new addition to the family. So far I have lost 12 lbs since Dec 1. I have 38 more lbs lose. With a goal of 10lbs loss every 4-5 weeks.

Hi ladies!
I'm 41, mum of 2 (9 & 12) from Auckland, NZ.

I've just re-started my journey, again. I had a laparascopic hysterectomy 6 months ago and have been struggling more with the mental health issues that have followed the surgery than the physical. I used the surgery as an excuse to not exercise... At all!
I'm at my highest ever weight, 83.1kg, I'm 5'4" and have been in denial that I've been eating my feelings because my clothes still fit, only just!!
My "why" is to be more healthy and feel better in myself. For my children, for my partner and for me. I know from previous experience that eating better and regular exercise makes me feel so much better. I just need someone to keep me at it so I don't quit on myself.

Hope that's not too much info too soon?

I'm tracking my food here, doing very low carb as its worked for me in the past (weight loss and general wellness) and also the Nike fitness app for workouts.

Nice to "meet" you all and hope we can all be there for each other xx

Hi all

I’ve spent the last 18 months losing the weight I gained during treatment for an illness and while recovering from surgery in 2016-17. With the help of this group a nice round 2 stone (28lbs) has melted off (the treatment weight plus a bit extra), and just before Christmas I just hit my lightest ever adult weight again (130lb). It’s taken a long time because it’s been a bumpy road mostly because I refuse to hold back on holiday (vacation) when there is excellent food to be eaten!

I’m back again with two main goals: to lose the Christmas podge, and to work on my fitness. By the end of this session I want to be back at 130 and able to ‘happily’ run 5k without a walk break (I managed 4.5k once in December).

I am in the UK, 42, with one small person (10). I will officially weigh in on Monday for my start weight!

Hello, I'm almost 59, living in Arizona where it's relatively cold right now. I've been struggling with the 20 lbs I put on after total hip replacement surgery and start/stress of grad school 3.5 years ago. I had lost 40 lbs from 260 and would still like to get to 150. I am a lover of dance, Zumba, ballet - unfortunately, hip surgeon said no jumping, that has stunted my exercise fervor quite a bit. I'd like to lose holiday pounds before going back for my last semester in February.

Hey ladies! I’m 31. I lost about 40 lbs a couple of years ago. I’m a grad student, finishing up my dissertation... which has caused me to be a bit more sedentary than I’d like recently. While I’ve maintained most of the basic habits I developed I’ve gained back 15 lbs that I’d like to get rid of this year. Last time, I had more to lose, but this time, I’m hoping to lose about a pound a week bc I want to set manageable goals.

To all of you – Welcome!
We are really a great group with a lot to share with one another. Many of us are on the same path – tried to lose many times, feeling tired and frustrated. No need for that here! We are all on a journey. So if you struggle or if you have a good week, bring it here to share.

About me – I’m Carol, almost 59, the grandma of 4 and I currently live in Iowa. I've been a leader of this group (facilitator really) since last summer. I spent my 20’s struggling to lose weight but gave up and gradually, the scale went up. I’ve tried Nutrisystem in my thirties (successful but not financially sustainable), Weight Watchers in my forties (not sure why it didn’t work) and a variety of other things. This past year, as a participant in this group, I went down 16 and then back up 8, entirely through my own failure to keep committed to my plan. I have discovered what works for me - planning my meals in advance, daily logging and low carb. I get into trouble when I stop paying attention to what I’m stuffing into my mouth.

Some minor thoughts – we are here to support each other to lose some weight and achieve better health. Any conversations with those regards are welcome and Jessica and I encourage you to make friends with the members of this group! Share successes and struggles, recipes, books, articles and websites that you think would be of interest to the group. If it inspired you, it will probably inspire the rest of us.

That said, I discourage you from engaging in discussions of unrelated subjects of a controversial nature such as politics. There are other forums for that.


@StayStrong19MFP – Congrats on all your hard work. You are doing great! Such success and devotion to your health can only be an inspiration to us all!

@reader1995 - I feel for your struggle with regaining. I had a similar situation this year! My husband is also trying to lose weight. I’m sure I will be jealous, because his always seems to come off faster than mine!

@ZLGreenwood - Wow! Weight loss in December! Great job! Thanks for joining the group!

@betting8037 – Glad you are with us. We are a great group and we’ll keep with you through those last pesky pound!

@ToniPressman - Thanks for joining us from New Zealand! Hope all is well after your surgery. Personally, I have always struggled with exercise, so surgery would be a good enough excuse for me! You’ll find that many of us struggle with it as well (except SmithsonianEmpress – who is just our rockstar of exercise). Don’t worry about providing too much info – we sometimes get pretty deep into personal health issues.

@lwh99 – Don’t worry, we have other grandmas here, myself included. It really is the best! When setting your goals, just make them reasonable so that you don’t become discouraged!

@poeciliareticulata – Thanks for sticking with us! I have a feeling this is your big breakout challenge session!

@LZMiner – Dry January is totally worth it! It does a great job of helping you cut down on sugar consumption too! Welcome to the group!

@gesundundmunter – Wecome back! What’s cold in Arizona? Here in Iowa, our weather has been doing strange temperature jumps from day to day. Yesterday it was a high of 32, today is supposed to be 55 but by Monday we are heading back to the 20’s. So glad you are still in the group with us!

@1stplace4health – Glad you are joining us! This is your year! Just do your weigh-in each week and share your progress, it will motivate you to keep going. We are here for you!

@Avetotustuus – I’m an accountant, so I understand the whole sedentary thing. Don’t worry, the group will help keep you motivated to get up and move! Focusing so hard on something like your dissertation really pushes other things off to the sidelines sometimes. Setting reasonable, attainable goals is important for keeping your motivation up!

SmithsonianEmpress wrote: »

Good evening ladies! My name is Jessica. I have been a part of this group for almost (March) two years. I am 36yo, 5’5” and am 135-140ish lbs. I am married and have 3 children—a 5yo son and twin daughters who are 2 1/2yo. Currently I teach in higher education.

I enjoy anything and everything that involves fitness. I started lifting in July/August of last year and I’ve been running probably for 2-3 years now. I did my first 5k last summer which was awesome. In the past I have completed T25, various Jillian Michaels programs as well as Fitness Blender workouts and Taebo with Billy Blanks.

On Monday I plan to start my 3 day lifting split program (PHUL). Since it’s cold outside my cardio plans include spin class, indoor swimming, rowing, stairmaster, treadmill or indoor cycling....maybe even yoga for days I may need it. I’m definitely leaving my options open for any type of physical activity. Here is my plan below:

M - Lift
T - Cardio
W - Lift
R - Cardio
F - Lift
S - Cardio
S -Rest

As far as nutrition, I started back logging this past Monday. So far so good. (I stopped logging last January so it’s literally been a year). My goal is to lose 10ish lbs, MFP has me set at 1600ish calories a day and my plan is to do high carb on lifting days and low carb on cardio/non lifting days. If this becomes too hectic I will just eat sensibly within my calorie frame.

The most important thing here...my overall goal...is to NOT. GAIN. WEIGHT.

I am so glad to be here AND see new members.

Welcome to the group! Let’s enjoy each other’s company and collectively learn from our mistakes.

Cheers!

-Jessica

I love seeing other people who love to workout!! I seriously enjoy and thrive with fitness but then kinda struggle with the food part - partially because I've got young kiddos too! It's hard to not just mindlessly snack when you're feeding them sometimes. Mfp has definitely increased my mindfulness with that lol. I'm trying to lose 10ishlb too 😊

bettina8037 wrote: »

sasaimi wrote: »

Good evening!

My name is Patty. I have just joined this group. I am 34 years old and I'm a 155 - 160ish lbs. I am Married and unable to have children due to PCOS. I'm currently living in Texas. I work full-time testing software applications & a part-time college student. I use to have a fitbit but my work no longer allow any bluetooth devices. Oh well

I actually enjoy working-out, but my work & school schedule made me feel too tired to squeeze a workout routine which took a heavy toll on my physical & mental health. I wish to be more disciplined and take care of myself so I can have the endurance for this heavy schedule. I hate going to school. It really is a sacrifice to me. I felt it stole my time away from my husband and family members including my alone recharge time. But I have to continue going to school to get my BS degree. Hence why I think I stopped working-out. The reason why I enjoyed working-out is because it helped me vent out my frustrations and relax my mind. Plus working-out leads to healthy body and increase self-confidence! This past year for not having a routine, cause me to be stuck in a endless cycle of depress by how much weight I have gained which lead to feeling too tired/non-motivated to eating ice cream cause I'm depressed then back to depressed how much weight I have gain. *sigh*

I'm still going to school, but I have to workout to stay healthy. I have learned for my body that I lose weight but maintain muscle mass by only doing about 30 minutes of cardio and every otherday add 15 minutes a weight lifting training with two day's rest. In my early silly 20's, I used to do about 2 hours each day of cardio workout except on Sundays and starve myself. Totally abusing my body and drove myself and others insane. Lol cranky..very cranky.

My plan is:
On Mondays, do only stretching/yoga for about 30 minutes.
On Tuesday, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weights lifting.
On Wednesdays, do cardio for 30 minutes.
On Thursdays, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weights lifting.
On Fridays, do cardio for 30 minutes
On Saturdays, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weight lifting.
On Sundays, rest day.

I have been following this fitness guru for years on his website "AWorkoutRoutine". His help is free, informative, and no-nonsense articles are Super refreshing to me.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in this group and meet everyone. Wish me luck in this new chapter.

Goodness you sound busy! When are you going to fit the workouts in? I do early mornings but I've previously done lunch breaks or evenings (that was hard for me because I had no energy by then). I hope you find your sweet spot with scheduling to be your healthiest self!

I am hoping the morning timeslot will work out. ^.^

lwh99 wrote: »

@ sasaimi - aka Patty. Keep up the school! Even though it is hard it will likely open more doors when you get through and the sense of accomplishment will be well worth it. Part time is how I did it. I went back when my kids were 5,7, and 9 to get my MS. Took me a few years but landed me a great job that I've had for 15+ years. And its in a medical software company! Upside is that they haven't banded bluetooth devices. I would certainly miss mine.

Looking forward to you and the others know how the fitness side of things go. I have gotten into reformer Pilates in the past 6 months and try to walk. 10k steps is my goal but hard to do during the work week unless I hop on the treadmill. I also was going to yoga regularly but somehow I stopped doing that. It would be great to work it make into my routine.

Btw - forgot to mention in my original post, my name is Lynn

Wow Lynn thank you for your encouragement!

sasaimi wrote: »

Good evening!

My name is Patty. I have just joined this group. I am 34 years old and I'm a 155 - 160ish lbs. I am Married and unable to have children due to PCOS. I'm currently living in Texas. I work full-time testing software applications & a part-time college student. I use to have a fitbit but my work no longer allow any bluetooth devices. Oh well

I actually enjoy working-out, but my work & school schedule made me feel too tired to squeeze a workout routine which took a heavy toll on my physical & mental health. I wish to be more disciplined and take care of myself so I can have the endurance for this heavy schedule. I hate going to school. It really is a sacrifice to me. I felt it stole my time away from my husband and family members including my alone recharge time. But I have to continue going to school to get my BS degree. Hence why I think I stopped working-out. The reason why I enjoyed working-out is because it helped me vent out my frustrations and relax my mind. Plus working-out leads to healthy body and increase self-confidence! This past year for not having a routine, cause me to be stuck in a endless cycle of depress by how much weight I have gained which lead to feeling too tired/non-motivated to eating ice cream cause I'm depressed then back to depressed how much weight I have gain. *sigh*

I'm still going to school, but I have to workout to stay healthy. I have learned for my body that I lose weight but maintain muscle mass by only doing about 30 minutes of cardio and every otherday add 15 minutes a weight lifting training with two day's rest. In my early silly 20's, I used to do about 2 hours each day of cardio workout except on Sundays and starve myself. Totally abusing my body and drove myself and others insane. Lol cranky..very cranky.

My plan is:
On Mondays, do only stretching/yoga for about 30 minutes.
On Tuesday, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weights lifting.
On Wednesdays, do cardio for 30 minutes.
On Thursdays, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weights lifting.
On Fridays, do cardio for 30 minutes
On Saturdays, do cardio for 30 minutes & add 15 minutes of weight lifting.
On Sundays, rest day.

I have been following this fitness guru for years on his website "AWorkoutRoutine". His help is free, informative, and no-nonsense articles are Super refreshing to me.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in this group and meet everyone. Wish me luck in this new chapter.

Welcome Patty, so glad you are here! Glad you are fitting some self-care into your busy schedule!

Hi all! I joined the group a couple of days ago and then couldn’t figure out how to find it again on the ap But I’m back in time to say hi! Yay!

So I’m 41 with a 7 yo little guy. I’m 5’9” and weighed in at 230” to start. That’s about where I’ve been hovering the last few years and it’s about 10lbs shy of my heaviest adult weight. I had some great success on MFP a few years ago. Was on track with a great group and had gotten down to about 206 when I found out I was pregnant. So I drifted away from MFP but was still trying to stay healthy and just keep weight gain minimum. A month later I lost the pregnancy and pretty much just ate myself back to where I am now. Now that my husband and I have made the permanent decision to not have anymore children I’m ready to get back on the wagon!

Like most of us, I’ve done the yo yo thing. My typical MO is to set up a crazy workout routine and stick with it well for 3-4 weeks when I get sick (probably from lack of sleep) and then fall off the wagon and the plan.

This time around I am trying to go in with a totally different mindset. My motivations are different. At this point in my life, in addition to losing weight to feel better about myself I want to make sure that I’m healthy for as long as I can be healthy for my son’s sake and so that I can set a good example for him. There are several other reasons I feel good about it this time. The first is that my husband is in this with me. For the first time I can ever remember he is actively trying to lose weight as well and therefore isn’t doing crazy things like eating pizza and drinking beer in front of me. I can already tell it’s gonna be a huge help! Also? I’ve decided to keep it simple this time around. I’m counting calories but not getting too crazy about what I’m eating when and workout wise so I’m focusing on increasing my step count versus devising some complicated plan that I won’t be able to realistically stick with. I work with the elderly for a living so I know that adults who walk at least 20 minutes a day have a statistically significant decrease in risk for development of dementia as well as a variety of other nasty things!

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough and I’m happy to be here! I won’t weighing in on mondays however. Because I am anal I started on 1/1 so I’ll be weighing in on Tuesday’s.

kjbrack6 wrote: »

Hello! I’m relatively new to MFP, but have been counting calories consistently since 2012. I was a member of the site calorie count. At my heaviest I was 181 pounds. Currently I weigh 155. (I’m 5’4”) btw. I’m happy with my current weight but would love to lose an additional 10 pounds. Im always looking for fun ways to keep myself motivated so thanks for including me in the group.

Welcome to the group. We are all very supportive. Some of us have large amounts that we would like to lose and some are almost to maintenance but we are all on a journey and we are glad that you are here to share yours!

During this quiet Sunday morning, I was online and found this "7 Tips for Mastering the Mental Side of Getting Fit" article. It is just the thing that I need to start this fitness/weight loss program. I wanted to share in it case some of you may have not come across it.