Go ahead and use this space to introduce yourself to the group. What brings you here? What are your goals? What are you looking for from this group?

I'm annabelle and I just turned 40 years old. I've never been terribly athletic and I've always been a bit overweight, but active and happy in my body. About 5 years ago I was working more than full-time and going to graduate school full time and I got way out of balance with my health. I was very, very out of shape and gained a lot of weight. In 2017 I reached my highest weight of my life - 256 lbs. - and I started using MFP to track meals and exercise and try to make some positive changes.

It has not been a perfect path by any means, but I have lost about 46 lbs since then (currently 209) and would very much like work my way out of the obese bmi range. My next short term goal is to get to 185 lbs.

I am not looking to have some kind of "picture perfect" body - I don't buy into all of that hype and I don't want to be at odds with my own body. I try not to think about weight loss as a battle; I don't want to fight with my body. I do want to feel comfortable riding my bike, hiking, and being active and I want to continue to cultivate a healthy relationship with food.