Hello all, my name is Alisa (Ahhh - lee - sah) and I am excited to be joining in with this challenge. I have been consistently losing weight through tracking, but have been inconsistent with movement - excited to have some accountability there.

Feel free to "friend" me on MFP, I love the connections!

Starting weight (Feb 2020) 272 lbs
First Goal Weight (Nov 2020) 212 lbs
Next Goal Weight 199 lbs (onederland!)
Next Goal Weight 172 lbs
Dream Goal Weight 136 lbs

My Inspirations
Live to be 80 years old in a healthy body.
Give my daughter an example of healthy living.
Going on any ride I want to at the amusement park.
Enjoy getting my photo taken by other people again.

I have been overweight for as long as I can remember, always the heaviest of friend group and siblings. I would eat when I was bored and definitely when I was under stress. I remember sneaking food as a young child and eating an extra meal every night for my evening snack in my adult life. I gained weight with every kid, even though they came to me through adoption/foster care. I gained when I lost my niece to cancer.

I have lost and regained 20 lbs a few times, first when I went on an international trip for 6 months (no access to my own groceries/snacks) and then when I was training for a half marathon (MFP and TONS of exercise). And now I am still losing, more than I have ever lost (MFP and minimal exercise).

I have two goal weights, the first being the weight I was at when I ran a half marathon for charity (212 lbs - DONE!) and the second being the healthiest adult weight I can remember for myself, after months of international travel (172 lbs). If I were to reach both of those goals it would mean the world to me (but my dream, dream weight is 136 - which would mean I lost half my body weight - and would be firmly in the healthy BMI range).

But, for the first time, I don't see a "finish line". This is just life. This is just what eating looks like for me, a historically terrible estimator of how many calories are in things - who can get off track without an external touchpoint like a calorie counter.

Hello all, I'm Michelle and live in NYC. I'm 48 and lost all the extra weight years ago with MFP. Unfortunately, I gained it back because I stopped logging food and weighing myself, which I need to keep myself on track. Otherwise, my portion sizes creep up and I don't notice myself gaining the weight. It also didn't help that I'd quit the gym to save money.

This time around I've found that I love doing spin classes (at home) and yoga. I've also started doing some strength training and pilates, as I really want to improve my fitness level as well as lose weight. So far, I've lost 20 lbs but need to lose about 26 more to be at a healthy BMI.

I think this group will be good for me. I've been doing well with exercise the last few months, but I really need to keep with the yoga daily to avoid stiffness/tightness. Also, one of my main downfalls with maintenance was continuing to log, so I am hoping to build this into a strong habit.

OOh...I'm so excited to join this journey with you all! I am a very consistant runner but tend to get bored with my in between workouts. And, since I run a lot I tend to justify eating lots more junk than I should. I like the 20 minute requirement for a daily workout. I also want to work on hitting my step goal on my days off from running. (These virtual meetings really make that much harder.) The food logging is going to help me lots too!

Thanks for organizing this! You all inspire me!

I'm back for the new year! I joined the UAC in September last year and found it super helpful, but work related stress took over my life back in November and everything else went by the wayside. Having had 2+ weeks off over the holidays has helped me slowly recharge, but since I don't expect the stress to be any less in coming months my main focus is on anxiety management - and exercise and good eating is definitely a part of that.
One of my aims for 2021 is to get back into regular running; I made several starts at this in 2020 but was thwarted by injuries so a slow process is anticipated. I'd also like to lose ~15kg. However - although fitness and weight loss and being part of the winners circle would all be nice to have, to start I'll be happy if I just manage to stick with daily check-ins for the whole of January. 🙂

Happy new year!

Hi Everyone. I used MFP in 2018 and had some success. I have not been kind to my aging body during the pandemic. I'm a school principal, so it's been an extremely stressful time the last 9 months. I've been back at school, full time in-person since August, which is better, but also stressful. Tomorrow is my 60th birthday, and I'm determined to get myself back. I need the accountability of the community.

Hi everyone, signing up again for another month of UAC. I have maintained a 30-35 lb loss thanks to tracking and the principals of this group. I still have at least 20-30 to lose, have been at my current weight for about 2 years. I'm coming to terms with the fact that it's not a plateau. I'll need to really focus and change my approach if i want to lose again and break into a normal weight range. Feeling good about it in 2021!

Thanks for this group. New here and to MyFitnessPal. I think this is just what I needed. Stay strong everyone.

December was the first month where I logged in to the UAC even though I had about 12 pass days (as of this writing). Accountability helps me! Thanks for doing this challenge every day!