I'm Linda, 50 and live in Michigan. I don't have kids but have 3 grown nephews who are married.

I've been on this team since October 2019. Thank you to all who have encouraged me! It has been helpful.

I have two great nieces, one who will be 1 next week and one who is almost 3 months old.

I have had a weight issue most of my life and have lost and gained many pounds over the years. I have lost about 46 pounds since January of 2018 and probably have around 50 or so more to lose. I work with a trainer at my gym three times a week, he works me really hard, which is what I want. I'm much stronger now than when I started. He has given me workouts to do on my own when I'm not working with him. I usually give myself one rest day per week and weekends usually do some low intensity exercise at home.

I have support and accountability from my trainer and other people in my life but can always use more.

My goals for are basically continuing from October.
Get in fruits and veggies and water. Would like to do the following everyday but know that's not realistic so I'm going for 4 days per week.
Fruit goal: 4
Veggie goals: 4
Water: 64 oz

@rundgrenrocks - I love your fitness goals. So specific and seem doable. Keep us posted. I would love updates. I need to try to find some time to think of similar clear and specific and obtainable fitness goals. My strengths are in eating plan. I am much less focused on or comfortable with the fitness/ exercise aspects of health. Thanks for your inspiration today. That is why I love this group.

@tryingagain5 - Your consistent posts and daily updates are great fun to read. Thanks for the time you take nearly each day to post. I, for one, appreciate you taking the time to share the details of your journey with this team. It helps us all.

@nstephenson01 - You will "right your ship" and February will be your month. I have also noted the last few months how fat I seem to be able to gain if I have every a few days of not eating well. I think this is just part of being closer to goal/ less weight to lose. The margins really seem so little. I am reminded of my nearly nightly popcorn eating from several months back that stopped my weight loss for several weeks. All because I thought I was eating 100 calories and it was closer to 400 cals per bag. Sigh. This is a path for life and mostly that is good, but some days it just seems better to eat.

@phoebe112476
Thanks for the kind words. I had been thinking about taking a break from posting because of the time commitment and I've been working a lot of OT lately so it's been harder to be consistent but having you say it helps makes me think I should continue to do so. I know reading about everyone else's journey has also been helpful to me.

I love all the food pics. Did you roast the broccoli? If so, how long and what temp and how much olive oil?

@Mrsbell8well
Thank you. Glad you are feeling better. Sounds like you're going to have a fun night. Enjoy your dinner.

@phoebe112476
Thanks. That sounds good. I"ll have to try that sometime. I don't have sesame oil but do have olive oil. I have broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and potatoes at home right now. Maybe I"ll just roast all of it.

Hi Everyone! I'm Crystal

This is my first group or team challenge, so bear with me as I get the hang of how the forums and posting work. MFP has helped me lose 30+ pounds on two separate occasions, several years apart. Whenever I don't track my food, the pounds slowly creep back, so I try not to stray too far from MFP. Currently, I have about 15 pounds to lose.

I'm ready to get back to daily posting and a tune-up on my portion control. My goals in February are to increase my H20, maintain a consistent exercise schedule (running 2-3 times per week and Yoga every weekend). I love how good I feel, the energy I have and just the simple ability to breathe better when I'm staying active. I'm aiming for my first 5k in April.

Looking forward to connecting with this group to keep each other motivated!

Saturday 2/1 check in
Food: tracked but over
Water: 64 oz
Exercise: 20 minutes low intensity at home

I've been over on food but started tracking again so that's good.

I got a massage today, which was really nice. I try to go every few months. If I could I'd go every day but can't afford to do that.

My sister's birthday is next week but we celebrated tonight. There were only 5 of us but my sister made enough for more than that. She's a great cook. I ate too much at her house and I was hungry all day so I've pretty much been eating all day. A lot of it was healthy items but still too much food. Something I still need to work on.

Other than the massage and dinner at my sister's I didn't do much with my day.

@tryingagain5 sounds like a lovely day. I love massages as well, but only seem to get one about once a year, though I may try to change that!

@Mrsbell8well That Sundae looks AMAZING!

@ljdanny hope your granddaughter is feeling better soon. Always such a worry when they are so young. xx

Saturday 2/1 check in
Food: tracked and on target
Water: at least 64 oz
Exercise: at least 30 min walking, PT, Stretching and Strength

Did not make the best choices at lunch as we shared snacks but I did just eat till I was satisfied. I did end up having 2 drinks that I wasn't planning to. Still overall a good day. It is also 10:40 pm and I haven't eaten since 4:15. I wanted to see how I would do. I really am not as hungry as I always think I will be. I wanted to have some cereal at about 8 because I didn't want to be starving later. I resisted the urge and am still not hungry. Don't get me wrong, I do want to eat Lol! But it isn't because I am hungry. It is partly because I am afraid I will be hungry later, partly because I am not really doing anything and partly out of habit. I am actually tired and am going to bed once I post this. I am happy I decided to hold out. I will be much happier in the morning.


I really look forward to reading these introductions each month! I always learn something new! Thanks for jumping right in and starting introductions! Keep them coming!


@Mrsbell8well You are an inspiration! You have come so far and you are constantly reading up and learning new healthy ways of eating. Hannah's dinner looks so yummy, especially dessert! You always have such delicious and healthy meals. I love the pic of Lula Mae and Hannah's dad. I like how she has her little paw on his leg! Lol!
@pacsnc6 You have been such a supportive member of our team. I am so happy that you are with us.
@tryingagain5 I am glad that you are here. You have given so much support and I have learned a lot from you. It seems like you have been here longer than Oct. I am not doing well with the fruit or veggies either. I will have a salad at a meal and think I am good. I need to make a plan to fit them in. I may have to set the bar lower and start at 4 total or 2 fruit and 2 veggies until I make that a routine...I am glad that you do post every day but I don't want it to become stressful for you. You do have a busy schedule. I find posting daily helps keep me focused. Do what works best for you. I don't want you to get stressed and then not be in the group. We love having you here Sounds like a nice birthday for your sister. Sometimes it is hard to not over eat at celebrations. I am working on that as well. I really think if we just eat when we are truly hungry and stop when satisfied, we would lose. We have been over eating for a long time so it is going to take time for us to make this new habit. We just have to keep working on it. I hope you enjoyed your massage and otherwise quiet day. You are usually so busy that it probably was a nice treat.
@nstephenson01 45 Acres?!! I knew you had a lot of property but Wow! I am curious, did you hike like you do now at your heaviest? You really have made many life style changes and even though January wasn't the best (for either of us Lol!) I know you will get back into your routine and get the scale moving in the right direction. I also don't know how much you drink but try substituting herbal tea. Especially this time of year. When you really want wine, it may not help but when you want to relax and treat yourself a little, for some reason it helps me.
@rundgrenrocks I can't even tell you how happy I am that you are here. I have learned so much from you. First of all that blog, I wish you would write more but I understand how time consuming that is and also putting it all out there. I also sang that onderland parady each time I got back into onderland Lol! I think it was at least 2 since you posted that. Then connecting with our kids, the ice coffee, and I discovered I always loved Tod Rundgren but didn't know it Lol! I think of you whenever a song of his comes on! I also like the way you described your exercise goals. I am doing sorta the same thing, forced by my PT. It is funny how I will actually do squats now because I need to build strength. It sounds like you joined here at the perfect time. Sometimes we need to do something a little different to get our heads back in the game. It is amazing how much we learn from each other. I really think you are going to like it here.
@phoebe112476 I am really embarrassed to admit it but for shrimp tacos, you just cook the shrimp, put it on there like that and add the toppings? Why do I make these things harder than they have to be Lol! All your meals look delicious! I know that you are probably very in tune to your hunger with following phit and phat. Maybe you are really hungry and need to eat a little more. I was eating less at the shore, interestingly when I was gaining weight this summer, especially my wrap at lunch. I was down to 1/2 wrap, 1/2 baked lays and a yogurt. Then this fall, I realized I was hungry and I have been eating all of it. I still stop to be sure (most days ) . I also have been losing since then. (Except January...) . I know it all comes down to more than one meal but just consider maybe you need to eat. Are you doing anything else that would make you need more fuel? Maybe the additional yoga? Or all that painting? Awesome loss in January and awesome NSV with getting into the "normal" BMI. I am excited that I have a few more pounds before I go from obese to just overweight, I am sure I will be even more excited to get where you are! You just have such productive months with every aspect of your life! I also have to say, how awesome that you have an attached apartment for your disabled daughter. I am sure she loves the independence while still being close.
@starcrystal3 I am so glad you are here! If you have any questions feel free to ask. We will help. I love your February goals! Sounds like you have done well before so I know you will get those last 15 lbs off for good.
@ljdanny I forgot the baby was due this month!! How exciting! Two little ones and I am still waiting...Lol! One of these days...I am sorry to hear your granddaughter is sick, especially when they are still so little. I am glad she is home with you and didn't have to be admitted. Just out of curiosity, you neck and hip...are they the same side? All my issues seem to be the same side of my body so I am taking an informal poll of people I know. Most are the same side. What I am going to do with my poll results, I don't know but I find that interesting. Let's make February the month we break out of our gaining and losing the same amount. We need to keep the scale moving downward.
@Freeglerock No, February is not going to be an easy one for you. I think you are going to have to force yourself to make a plan. I was never a smoker but my husband was. The 3rd time quitting was the charm and he hasn't smoked for over 15 years. He did the patch but I think the last time he finally had his head together and really wanted to quit. Do you have a plan for when you have a craving or want to smoke. He went through a ton of toothpicks when he quit. I know he used to call a friend when he drove home from work as that was a time he smoked. I would imagine if you can think of situations when you would want to smoke and make a plan how to handle them. Maybe sugarless gum? I know people gain when the substitute food for the cigarettes. I also think you should make a plan for your health. Make a plan each day and make sure you get your exercise and plan your food. It really doesn't take long. It will be easier to do ahead of time instead of making decisions when you are tired or emotional. Most of all be kind to yourself. You are making a lot of changes, things wont go perfect. Don't beat yourself up, just dust yourself off and keep going. You have so much going on but you still need to take care of yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to. You probably didn't think you could get through the month you just had and here you are on the other side. You are stronger than you know. Hugs my friend!

@Freeglerock - Thanks for the welcome! I'm building to the 5k!!! It's actually a little intimidating to me; furthest I've run (ever) is just over a mile. I'm following a training plan that uses interval training (similar to Couch to 5k) and the next two weeks really start ramping up. Wish me luck!! Another goal of mine has been to catch up with technology, so I just got my first fitness tracker watch this week (a Garmin).

Sounds like you've found a lot of support in this group - I'm looking forward to that. Through the ups and downs, it's nice to have people in your corner. To listen, to cheer, to relate.