Happy New Year! I'm new here and it sounds like I'm in the right chat group. 54 years old 5'8 ish. Been slim all my life but with a layer of somethin' lol. Peri-menopause came as a Christmas gift and I know that I have to now be careful of those sneeky calories. Like CeeBeeSlim above, I have an ageing parent who has been through WWll, I tend to tell myself that life is short and to enjoy a snack / drink every now and then. Hubby and I splurged on a Pelaton so I will now finish my protein coffee and go for a spin! Hoping that I can log what I eat as that is 80% of it all!

@Kitri2020 Sounds like you are in the thick of it. Those days were some of the hardest I've been through. I went for lots of walks when my twins were little (still do), but couldn't ever manage running with them. I pumped for the first year, and that was rough. I completely understand what you mean about it taking a toll on your mental health. It wrecked me. I don't have any advice, but just wanted to let you know that I understand that what you're going through is HARD. Don't forget to give yourself grace.

5’4” 46y/o

1/01: 137.2
1/03: 136.6
1/05: 136.6

I’ve been on track with all my goals so far.

I have a formal event tonight at a fancy venue. I don’t know what the food will be, but last time I was there it was amazing. I will just be mindful of portion sizes and try to only eat what I want to and not nibble things I don’t like just because they are there. I don’t love that it’s assigned seating and am already feeling the social anxiety. 😬

Hello everyone! Hope you have all had a good week! I have been reading posts, but haven't kept up with posting during the work week. This week had not been perfect, but I would say I am mostly successful and making big improvements. Definitely room to continue improving, but I am pleased with this week as a start. Sorry for the wall of text below! Feel free to not read it, but I want to keep myself accountable!
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Alcohol: I've stayed away from wine, except for 1 glass to be polite when my husband's aunt visited and brought a bottle to share.
Exercise: I have exercised for 30 minutes every day, which I had been really neglecting for several months. I am extremely lucky to have a small home gym, so I don't have to go outside when the weather is crappy or if the air quality is bad (I'm asthmatic). I'm just starting to get back to running after a long break, so starting with run/walk intervals to try to get me back in shape. And a few barre workouts in between as well. And yesterday, husband and I bundled up to walk a mile to dinner in the cold. We discovered last year (after living in our house for over a year) that we could walk to the nearest shopping center, where there is a movie theater, a bunch of restaurants, and a bunch of stores.
Food: This is where things haven't been entirely successful. I have been logging everything, so that's a victory. I have not been sticking to my calorie goal. We have been eating out a bunch this week (had husband's aunt over for takeout on Wednesday, and had the leftovers for dinner Thursday, then went for dinner on our walking date yesterday). I did try to pick a lower cal option when we went out yesterday. Got mashed potatoes and broccoli instead of fries. And man, did my husband's fries look good. If eating out was all I did for my calories, I think it would be okay, but I am still snacking a lot. Less than December, but still too much. I have been keeping within my "exercise" calories in MFP, but I am sure that those are over-estimates. But overall, I think that even counting and trying is big progress for me.
Weight: Probably too early to tell anything conclusive. I weigh every morning and keep losing and gaining the same half pound this week, after reaching my all time heaviest on 1 Jan. Technically down 0.4 pounds since then, but it's been up and down.

@SherryRueter I've seen people talk about alternating days with higher and lower calorie goals. That would probably not be a bad idea for me to try, since I've had some 2000 calorie days this week (goal of 1500ish).
Last year, when I was losing, I had about 1 day a week where I just didn't care about tracking, which probably averaged out to about the same thing. These were either family parties, date nights out with my husband, or days where work was stressful and I told husband to get me something from a drive-through on the way home...
I wonder if alternating days would be a more sustainable method for me, so I don't fizzle out after a couple of months like I did last year.

I just realized that I never set any goals for this month. I want to continue to stay on track in losing some more weight but I will keep it moderate due to how im gonna be with hubby gone. I want to gently bring myself back into running so maybe 2-3miles a week or 1-2runs a week. I also need to go OUTSIDE and touch grass for my mental health as much as my physical need for vitamin D and fresh air. I have been playing my guitar 2-3 hours a week and I want to keep it up since i enjoy it so much. And I also have been telling myself to increase my milk supply for literally 2MONTHS now, its time to actually DO it. That means no skipping pumping sessions and not starving or dehydrating myself randomly.

Goals:
*Weigh 152lbs (CW 154ish)
*Run 10mi
*Get outside every day for at least 30min of sunshine and fresh air
*Play guitar 8hrs
*Pump 5 times a day
*Drink at least 56oz a day
*Eat 3 high protein meals a day

Well, I crashed and burned on Friday. There was a whole lot of stress before and during the event. I ended up having several drinks and felt queasy all day yesterday. I did not feel like eating much or drinking as much water as I was supposed to yesterday, but I did get my exercise done.

*Edited because I typed out a whole long thing that I realized was TMI.

I finally had a woosh, and dropped from 134 to 132.5. I'm in shock! There is a part of me worried that it'll be back up tomorrow or the next couple of days, but for now, I am very happy.

I've always been inconsistent with tracking calories, but whenever I do, weight comes off. I don't know why I always end up stopping at some point. I'm trying to get to 125, so still a few more pounds. I'm sure I can do it IF I continue to count calories.

5’4” 46y/o

1/01: 137.2
1/03: 136.6
1/10: 137.0

Water and diet have been on track this week. I missed my exercise on Monday for semi-valid reasons, but did get it in yesterday and today.

Knowing I’m going to report back here on my progress is helpful.

It's been a few days, so checking back in. Hope everyone is doing well!

I'm doing okay with fitting foods into my calories and mostly staying either at my 1500 goal or at least within my exercise calories which MFP seems to overestimaye based on my watch. But at least that's some self control.

Husband and I have a date night scheduled for tomorrow, so we will be going out to eat before seeing one of our students in a play. I told him that we have to eat early enough to give me time to bring leftovers home so I can eat something tasty and still stay within my calories.

For exercise, I am sticking with the trend of doing something in my home gym every day. I never intended to be doing every single day, but once I started on 1-1, I got afraid that if I skipped a day I would stop altogether. I have lost a bit of motivation there, but I have been making myself do it anyway. Once it's a bit more of a habit, maybe I'll try backing off a bit.

Weight I am down 2.3 pounds since 1-1, so that's a good start. I have about 20 to lose, which seems like a lot,, so I'm trying to focus on small goals. 10% there!