How has MFP helped you?

Good fir you!
I have always been the fat kid, as I call it. I never weighed less than 175 pounds from junior high on. I crept up slowly to 180 and then one day I saw a pic of myself and almost fainted..I had ballooned to 230 pounds. I inadvertantly saw something online that horrified me with meat, so I was veg for about a yr or a little less. In that time, I dropped 80 pounds and ended up at 156..wow was I happy.

In 2006 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which from time to time has required me to be placed on oral steroids. Thanks to the "marvels" of modern medicine, I am now..again..200 pounds and I am NOT doing it anymore. A good friend of mine that I hadn't seen in person in a while, came through my state and visited. She is on MFP and HOLY WOW what a difference and she has lost even more since I saw her a month ago. I am thrilled for her and inspired beyond belief.

I love this place, it is inspiring and gives you a can do attitude and there are othe people that you can share your story with or encourage, which encourages you as well. I love this site...more than I could evern describe!

I was not overweight for most of my life. I lost a bit of grad school weight before having my 1 st child. I lost my pregnancy weight after as well in fact maybe a few more. Then I had 2 hard pregnancies where I couldn't keep food down for the first 4 months and it ruined my metabolism. My second child was clingy and made it harder to exercise. C-sections made my stomach look worse. I slowly put on weight. I felt I could get it off when I had more time but I didn't figure on age another metabolism slowing factor. On and off I tried exercising more and didn't really lose. A few years ago I got serious and really started exercising seriously and still didn't lose. I saw an article on a women using MFP who had been on a morning show as well but just more than a year ago and came on here. By logging exercise and food intake I was able to finally lose weight. I also measured as well. I have lost very slowly this past year but I am not going to stop. I try to make this a sustainable process since I have a ways to go. I have lost alot of inches and sizes but still have lots of work to do.

I have been overweight ever since second grade, but wasn't aware about it until 5th grade, and at that point, my self confidence dropped. Throughout middle school and my first year of high school, I had low self esteem. Sophomore year, I tried Atkins, which helped me lose 40 pounds, but unfortunately it was all muscle. My body looked exactly the same, except smaller. Essentially, I hadn't lost a lot of fat. I just gave up on Atkins because it was too stressful, and gained 20 lbs back when I started going to the gym again. I was ready to give up, when I saw a forum topic on losing weight. I read some of the replies, and one of them mentioned MFP. I decided to give it a try, and I'm really glad I joined that forum, haha.

Ali, you know I love you dude!
I feel you on the whole picture thing. There are so many pics of Munchkin from when she was little and not very many of them had me in them and I felt AWFUL! I kept saying "she's going to wonder why I wasn't around". I ended up forcing myself to take pictures with her but you can tell in all those old photos that I was NOT happy about it. I didn't want to be seen that way. I only gained 30lbs when I was pregnant with her (my cousin gained more than 60 and lost it and now she's a flippin stick).
Even knowing that I wanted to lose weight, I still steadily gained. It was terrible. I've put on soooo much since getting pregnant and then giving birth and all the aftermath. It's just unreal. Just before Summer I tried tried losing weight again. I was doing all these Biggest Loser videos, walking several several miles each week and was constantly gaining weight. I didn't want to hear that whole 'muscle weighs more than fat' crap because my clothes still weren't fitting any better so blah.
You posted on fb about MFP and I signed up. At first I just skimmed through it for the first few weeks, being the skeptical nerd that I am. Then when I gained 3lbs one week I said "what the hell am I doing? there's this tool that people are swearing by and all I have to do is log in and USE IT!" That was about a month and a half ago and voila! I'm down 16lbs so far.
It's the first time in 3 years that I've started to actually lose! Woo hoo! You are forever my Hero Ali. lol

MFP has helped me stay within my allowance as well as helping me make better choices. At the moment calories aren't listed in restaurants or when you are on the go and need something quick, no listed calories. Once I plug in what I am thinking of choosing, I either quickly change my mind once I see the nutritional values or it's thumbs up if it is within my allowance. It also help me keep track of my physical activities from the gym to just leisurely walking. I almost forgot, reading informational posts on health, nutrition, recipes, others with questions and pictures are inspirational. I feel I will do it this time with the help of MFP.

I've been here 5 weeks and I am lucky to have NBB and Ali on my friends list (you 2 are so supportive, you SO rock).

I was always THICK. Think A short version of Katarina Witt. Quarterback shoulders, muscular legs, bubble booty, big tata's. I was very athletic. Always moving. As a teen I modeled and did figure skating, in my 20s I walked everywhere because parking is a real pain in SFO and I danced every weekend until the clubs kicked me out. In my 30s I had my twins, lost my BFF to suicide, was diagnosed with cervical cancer, broke my elbow resulting in 3 reconstructive surgeries...all while still dealing with my childhood issues of asthma and the results of childhood kidney disease. Let me just say I never want to repeat my 30s (although I do love my twins more than anything).

It was after my twins that I went on Depo and put on almost 100 pounds in less than a year. A very deep depression from my bestie's suicide left me hopeless and stuffing my emotions with food. Then the cancer treatment further screwed up my hormones and added to my depression...and more eating, then the losing the use of my dominant arm meant my self-esteem taking a dump and more depression. Did I mention I am an emotional eater?? So here I am depressed, getting fat, not moving because of depression, fat, and pain...so I got even bigger...and lazy and unable to workout.

Just before my 40th I went into an age crisis. I was telling a friend on Facebook that I don't want to be 40 and fat. She said...SO DON'T BE. Really?? Is it that easy?? So with her as inspiration (she'd recently lost a ton of weight from changing her diet and exercising) I started looking into ways to take baby steps and ease out of my depression and into a new me. Then my sister-in-law posted on Facebook about MFP. I checked it and and saw that it linked to my droid and jumped in head first!!

I initially lost 5 pounds, then gained 15 (the 5 I lost plus 10). THAT has been killing my motivation, but I am starting to think that it is all the old muscles coming back to life. Everyone comments that I *LOOK* thinner. That my belly no longer sticks out more than my boobs. That I am getting my hourglass back. The scale says otherwise.

So where MFP is helping is through the support of others. When I feel like I want to quit, they kick me in my butt and remind why I need to keep going. It took my 30s to make me into a lump, so I don't expect fast results. The fact that at my skinniest (135 pounds) I looked like I was bigger...probably because of these ginormous tata's and bubble butt. I was always told that my legs were scary muscular, like I could easily snap someones neck using them...so I am now going into my 6th week, with my motivation a bit slowed, but realizing that I have a body (or musculature) that is more suited to WWE than ballet...short and bulky rather than thin and sleek. I know my MFP peeps will keep me going, even when I cannot seem to.

MFP is more than a diet. Sometimes the weight results we want don't always happen the way we want or in the time we want...but it should be more of a lifestyle change than diet. MFP has tools that, for me, have helped me make healthy choices, and people who are going through my ups and downs with me. I want to get back to 160 (the weight that I felt healthiest), but it may or may not happen...what will happen is that I know through the tools and people that I will develop a lifelong way to be healthy...and maybe that is more important goal to shoot for than squeezing back into that little black dress.