Welcome back Erika! Your journey is one we’ve all been on so there’s lots of wisdom here. Read some of the previous posts which may be helpful.

Hi, I'm new to this group and started my mfp journey back in late january. I'm 26 and have been overweight all my life. Throughout my childhood it was only by a few kgs so never into obesity territory but all my memories from childhood are related to needing to diet. Everyone around me was so obsessed with my weight and none of the diets ever worked.

I've been active all my life, with the exception of the first 1,5 years of the pandemic but I managed to find myself at 304lbs on january 29th this year anyway.

I've had one successful weight loss period in 2018 where I was waitressing, cycling everywhere, doing taekwondo regularly, but most of all where I didn't have time to be bored and my stress levels were down too. Boredom and stress are two big factors that lead me to overeat. Still, I only lost 10,5kg over 7 months at that time but it was the only time my weight ever went down in my life so I count it as a win. And I wasn't even trying. I regained that went and 7kg more in the next 6 months though.

I started exercising again last september. I built it up slowly, starting with only twice a week. Now I do 5-7 classes a week and I feel good. It triggered weight loss somewhat accidentally and my current weight is somewhere around 282lbs, possibly 280. I don't own a scale and that makes my mental health better but I do weigh myself at my mum's. Last time was May 7th (the 282lbs), next time will be June 3rd. I had a 2,2lbs a week pace for a while but started eating a bit more to fuel my workouts so I'm down to about a pound per week loss. That's fine with me.

I'm 5'9 so I can lose about half my body weight and still be in the middle of the healthy bmi range but I decided my first goal is 220lbs and then we'll re-evaluate. I expect to be happy at 180ish lbs but who knows.

Every few weeks I feel that parts of my body are feeling different to the touch. At the start my glutes were feeling much firmer because of all the heavy squatting I'd been doing. Recently I've been obsessed with how much bonier my shoulders feel. I can't actually tell if this is new or if I just never felt myself up like that before but my muscles definitely feel different to me. My fitness has greatly improved too. We have aerobic capacity classes at our gym and the one and only time I did one I was 2nd or 3rd fastest in the class of 11, and the only obese person there. Since then my fitnesd has further improved, as has my strength.

I'm also losing inches here and there, though that process isn't linear at all. I've never fit into the clothes I needed according to my measurements. I'd try on jeans/pants/sportlegging supposedly my size and they would be extremely loose at the waist. So even though I should be wearing an EU54 or 56 (UK26-28, US22-24) to fit the measurements of my hips, I never wore larger than a EU48 (UK20, US16). And I recently fit into size medium sports leggings from adidas (the technofit range or something like that), which is supposedly a size EU38-40, which is what my mum wears and she's half my body weight. So I don't trust sizes and don't use them to measure my progress.

So yeah, I've already lost about as much as the last time but I think this time I might be able to keep it up since I'm actually tracking this time. Also sorry about mixing lbs and kgs. I only know a few key numbers in lbs and I could probably translate it all using a calculator but I hope the story still makes sense.

I've already had a bad experience on the dutch forum so I'm not even looking for support as much as I want people to stop discouraging me. I remember reading a thread from this group a few months ago and this seems like an understanding bunch of people so I'm happy to have found it again! Nice to meet everyone

Welcome @bojaantje3822. I'm glad you are here. Like Bella said - we are a friendly bunch - lots of kindness, humour and support - all sprinkled with a nice dose of wisdom and understanding.

You started almost exactly where I did - 280 some odd pounds and I too am 5'9." Made it down to the low 170s (even 168 a couple of times) - then bumped up about 30 pounds since surgery last fall. I'm am now holding steady, trying to find my way back into the weight loss groove. This group is my anchor.

Is there something magical about the 280+ range for a start? Now why did you ladies steal my 1.xx inch between 172.25cm and however many cm you 5ft 9" ladies all are.... And remember: no looking down at me?!!!! 😡😘😹

Welcome! You’re in the right place to get the support you need. Please go back and read some of the earlier posts and discussions. We’re all in various stages of weight loss and maintenance. So there’s a wealth of wisdom here on having much weight to lose and how to do it successfully. It’s a learning process to find what works for you. A good start is logging and measuring your daily food intake.

Welcome MrsWynn! Please read my comments to defiant63 above. I think that could be helpful. All of us here have lost and regained many times over before finding a path to losing weight. The good news is that you can do this and will reap the benefits of feeling better and healthier.

My name is Jesi and I currently live in Wisconsin. I am the heaviest I have ever been at 346.0 this morning and I need to come back to using MFP religiously as it helped me to lose 50lbs back in 2011/2012. I plan for this to be my "hot girl summer" and get back at it. If anyone wants to be pals, send me a request and we can motivate each other along the way

Oh Yooly you're hot alright ☀️🔥🏜️♨️🌶️😎😘

Yoolypr wrote: »

103F... I think young Jesi is hoping for a more esoteric hot.

Hot is hot my friend!

Welcome back! Scroll down to the discussion section for the most recent posts. Many of us are in summer mode with family commitments, vacations etc. So posting is spotty - which is why you’re a welcome addition! Jump in the pool.

PAV8888 wrote: »

I think young Jesi is hoping for a more esoteric hot.

I had to google esoteric I'm too old to be using phrases like "hot girl summer" but I try to be hip to the groove with the youths

Inner hotness - feeling confident and good about yourself. Although it’s not always about weight, losing some can’t hurt.

External hotness 🔥. We have no 72F even at night. Check out Sunday (42C) 🥵

I’m sure the people in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dubai are laughing their butts off at my paltry heat wave. But 95F is more usual here. Sooooo....... no more complaints!

Hmmm.... the thing is whether they're laughing or not.... the ability to function and do things is as impacted by "extreme" hit and "extreme" cold weather. Do we ackimitise given time? After 2-3 years I believe most people do even when moving from hot to cold or cold to hot. But it still affects and I still think that 15 -21C is much much better than 0 or 30!🙀😎

Temperate climates - I dream about that. In the meantime we’re into week three of 100+