Introduce Yourself

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Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,302 Member
    Nicely said Connie!
    Hi everyone!

    My name is Lori. I live in North Aurora, IL. It's about 45 minutes west of Chicago. I have a daughter, Lena, a sophomore at Boston University. I have three dogs. Lilo is my 10-year-old black lab mix. Zed is my 10-year-old chihuahua/mini-pin mix. Jax just recently came to my house. He's 5ish and a chihuahua mix. He's also diabetic. I'm diabetic too, so he and I are helping each other control our diabetes.

    I weigh 290 pounds and plan to get down somewhere around the 160s. I started at 335. Although I want to lose weight, I'm really working on eating better and exercising. I'm currently focused on getting 5 fruits and vegetables a day. I'm also walking for at least 30 minutes a day. I'm going to add strength training and yoga soon.

    I'm excited to connect with people who want to live healthier lives.

    So don't forget to join the "bunny" thread: "five bunnies a day to keep the doctors away!"

    Plus the more bunnies you eat... the less room you have available for some of the ubiquitous higher calorie options we are all so used to!
  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,789 Member
    Congratulations, Darksfallen. I'm just over 6 years as a nonsmoker. Still working on getting a handle on the weight thing. You are in the right place - lots of support here and experience to learn from/lean on. See you in the threads!
  • nsk1951
    nsk1951 Posts: 1,304 Member
    Hello .. I've decided to jump in and join this group even though it's not very active. Sometimes I just need to spend some time on these threads within MFP (MyFittnessPal) and being in a place where there people with similar struggles as I have is such a blessing.

    My nickname is Niki and I am 77 years old, with a birthday coming up in mid-March. Back when I got serious 'again' about losing a lot of weight I was hoping to use the last two years before turning 70 to get to a weight where I would only be overweight instead of obese. Ha, Ha, Ha ... on me! Her it is 9 years later and I am still struggling to get to that point, and am still in the obese classification. I've lost between 50-60 pounds and kept it off, the spread of 10 pounds is because my maintenance weight seems to hover within a 10-pound range.

    I need a new winter jacket and refuse to buy one until I can purchase a size smaller and have it fit nicely.
  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,789 Member
    Welcome, NSK. Things are slow here lately - but I trust they will pick up.
    Good for you on your determination. A 9 year maintenance success! Are you somewhere that is going to get cold soon? I was laughing thinking how funny it would be if you were in the deep south ;)
    I look forward to seeing you on the threads. I'm back from two weeks of poor eating on a road trip....looking forward to getting back into the groove in the next few days.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,302 Member
    Hmm... the small jacket dilema! Hopefully it doesn't snow much over there. But maintaining a 10%+ loss for multiple years is a major accomplishment on its own.
  • pdd1216
    pdd1216 Posts: 319 Member
    It looks like the boards have changed a lot since I was on last...which was probably last year. My battle is life long. I have currently starting back at 298 and have lost about 7 in two weeks...the drudgery starts now that the initial drop is gone, right? I am in need of a new hip and have been told I can't have one until I get the weight down. Super challenging to do but I am too young (58) to live in pain and incapacitated for the rest of my life. So I'm very motivated right now. I'm not able to exercise but I'm gonna figure something out. Every pound off is a pound back to my more normal life! I hope to connect with some of you....if I figure out how to add friends now. :D
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    edited November 2022
    Don’t think of it as drudgery PDD! It’s an open door to better health and new adventures. Treat controlling your weight like an opportunity.
    And don’t worry about the exercise right now. Do what you can but remember most weight loss is from eating less. Exercise helps but you have to do hours of hard work to work off meaningful calories.
    I spent an hour and a half in the gym this morning. Forty five minutes of medium cardio and forty five strength training. I might have burned off 300-400 calories. What’s that? A few cookies? Extra helping of pasta? Two ounces of cheese or peanut butter?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,302 Member
    I will admit that to some degree less activity = less actual hunger type hunger for me.
    so easier actually to eat less...

    Except that, of course, hunger type hunger is not the only reason for which I eat food... and none of them reasons change with less activity! In actual fact, deliberate activity actually reduces some of that!
  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,789 Member
    That is how it works for me also, PAV. Being active seems to reduce my not really hunger type hunger. Since that is my biggest problem that is very important, more so than the calories burned.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,302 Member
    And active can take many forms. Including painting in your case! :smiley:
  • nsk1951
    nsk1951 Posts: 1,304 Member
    Welcome, NSK. Things are slow here lately - but I trust they will pick up.
    Good for you on your determination. A 9 year maintenance success! Are you somewhere that is going to get cold soon? I was laughing thinking how funny it would be if you were in the deep south ;)
    I look forward to seeing you on the threads. I'm back from two weeks of poor eating on a road trip....looking forward to getting back into the groove in the next few days.

    Thanks LauriK ... It's cold here now. Todays low was 21 and the high 30 degrees F. However, while a lot of areas to the west, southwest, and northwest of me got hammered with a major snowstorm that dropped upwards of 5 feet in some places, the area I am in got 6 inches the day before yesterday and about 3 inches today. We expect snow overnight so I'll see in the morning what my day will bring.


  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,789 Member
    Sounds pretty nasty! You need a warm coat - NOW! Those temperatures feel like a great motivator to me :)
  • scoutmom1981
    scoutmom1981 Posts: 303 Member
    I was a member of this group a few years ago and it was super supportive. I was very close to reaching my goal weight and then COVID. Sigh. I was laid off from my job and things just fell away. I had to prioritize other things. I opened a private practice and took some time doing some fun things with my son. All the while eating all the things. Like eating everything. I am almost 2 years since I was laid off (March 2021) and I have gained all the weight back (and then some). I know this worked. I weighed everything for over a year and lost a great deal. So I am back at it. I have a ton of things that I want to do and being larger doesn't help any of them. One day at a time. Getting used to eating way less than I was and not wasting calories.
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    Don’t know how many “old timers” are still around that you might remember. But welcome back. You’ve done it before and know how to get there again. New year, new start!
  • scoutmom1981
    scoutmom1981 Posts: 303 Member
    I was looking through some of the recent posts and didn't see many names I recognized. I was around when Nova still participated. I remember Connie was a huge inspiration. It has been a while!
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    Connie is still lurking and pops up occasionally. Maybe you can convince her to come back more regularly?
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    I am here!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,302 Member
    Hey look who the Willowy sounding family dog dragged in! :wink:
  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,789 Member
    Welcome back, Scout Mom.
    Glad you found the strength/determination to get back onto the healthy feel good wagon.
    I too am struggling after almost a year of slipping - hoping to get back on track now. I'm really tired of the misery I've been slogging around in for the past few months. The weight creeping back on has just made everything feel terrible.

    Let's do it! We have lots of support here :)
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    I am going to do this one more time!….let’s all get our acts together this year!…I am so tired of being miserable!
  • scoutmom1981
    scoutmom1981 Posts: 303 Member
    I am going to do this one more time!….let’s all get our acts together this year!…I am so tired of being miserable!

    One day at a time. The past doesn't matter as you can't go back and change it. The only thing that matters is what you do moving forward. Today is day 3 of full weighing and tracking. It sucks! It works!
  • amnu_co
    amnu_co Posts: 21 Member
    edited January 2023
    Hey there hey ... 👋 Looking for friends and support!! A pre-diabetic diagnosis six months ago wasn't enough motivation on its own to get me out of the doldrums I've been in since covid started. Losing and regaining the same 20 pounds all year ~ I'm still 80 pounds overweight, what some would consider slightly over the hill at a menapausal 50 something, lol ~ and finally sick and tired of being sick and tired.

    O.V.E.R. living less than my best life. Hoping putting myself on blast like this gets my head (and azz, lol) back in the game. Happy New Year | New You all ... cheers! 🥂
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    Welcome Amnu_co! You’ll be happy to know some of us are post post post menopausal. So no age barrier there. Of course we do have a few youngsters too.
    Take some time to read older posts and then jump in and we’ll do our best to support you.
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    Welcome!…we are a small but mighty group!…please join in and comment on anything!…ask questions!….no one judges or shames you!….we all have stories of why we are here!…
  • amnu_co
    amnu_co Posts: 21 Member
    Thanks ladies for the warm welcome and lololo @Yoolypr ~ looking forward to learning more and getting to know you all. High Five to a great week!
  • Hi! My weight has always been up and down, I lost 60+lbs before and got to a weight that felt good, but now I am way heavier than I was even before I lost that weight, and have 100+lbs to lose. The past 2 years I've been gaining/losing the same 15lbs back and forth, and although I'm glad I'm not gaining weight, I am looking to get serious about losing a good chunk of this excess weight.
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    Coffee and mindfulness! Who doesn’t need that? Welcome to our group. We’re all here to support you and each other.
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 3,338 Member
    Welcome Brent! All of us have dealt with weight loss for many years. Don’t be discouraged. This is doable and it’s possible to succeed. Some of us are in maintenance, some actively losing or struggling a bit. You may want to read today’s post in Share Your Numbers by PAV8888. Much good advice there.