Hey there - I'm ReNae from the beautiful and cold state of Maine. I am a mom of 2 amazing teenage girls and have been in love with DH for 23 years. I simply let myself blend into the background after I had kids and this past February I ran out of excuses. Today I exercise each morning, eat healthy and recently joined a gym. I ran a few 5K races this summer and although I don't like to run I do love how it makes me feel after. It's been nice finding myself again. I've found that I'm worth taking time for and I can actually say that I do it guilt free now!!! 11 months ago I couldn't have said any of this.

As a family we love outdoor activities (camping, biking, skiing, kayaking) and our girls play sports year round so we are a busy bunch. We are planning our first real family vacation to Disney for next Spring and my goal is to wear a bathing suit and not feel like I need to run for cover. Reaching my goals with MFP friends keeps me going!!

Hello everyone.
I am Carla better known as carhicks. I live in Windsor Ontario Canada with my hubbie. I am a retired elementary school principal (retired June 2011). I have been overweight all my life and have yo-yoed regularly. I have tried Weight Watchers, Herbal one, Weight Clinic, and all kinds of diets only to put the weight back on. I jokingly told people I had to lose the baby fat for years. When asked how old the baby was, I would laugh and reply accordingly (she is 24 now). Once I retired, I decided it was time to take care of me. Summer of 2010, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and put on blood pressure meds, metformin, aspirin and cholesterol meds. I really want to get off the meds and am vowing to do this the right way. Slow and steady, living healthy is my plan and MFP is a big part of it. These challenges really help and have lit a fire under me. I look forward to this next one as well.

I really want to be down to 225 by Christmas. I am going to work at it.

Hi everyone! My name is Andrea. I'm 29, and live in Illinois with my husband. We've been married almost a year and a half, no kids yet but hopefully someday. I'm support staff at a counseling office...billing, insurance, filing, receptionist, etc. I've been overweight all my life. Towards the end of high school/beginning of college I was still big (about 215lbs) but was starting to lose weight and get more active. However, I ended up moving back home and not finishing college and through my 20s gained a lot. My highest weight was 298 (in 2008) but I hovered between 285-295 until this year. I decided this spring that by the time I turn 30 (in November 2012), I want all this weight I gained in my 20s to be gone! I've lost 34 pounds so far, and I've got 64 to go to reach that goal. After that, I want to get to 150 for sure, and then decide where I want to be for good

Hey ya'll!! My name is Lane and I am a 30 yo single mommy to a 3 yo boy. I'm actually separated, but have been since before my little boy was conceived (long story lol.) I am a 9-1-1 Telecommunicator, I work 12 hours shifts... 1 week 36hours and the next week 48 hours. I have always been the big girl in class, the big girl in the family. Heck, I weighed 269 when I had the surprise of becoming pregnant with my son! Started this journey in May of this year at 302lbs and I haven't looked back. I've sold and gotten rid of my clothes that are too big, I refused to EVER go back there! I am currently working on my self-image issues, I seem to not see what everyone else is. I'm hoping it's just because my loss hasn't caught up with my eyes, because I don't want to be one of "those" people who is constantly putting themselves down, saying they can do better. I'm a work-in-progress!

I love this group of people, I can identify with you guys more than anyone else...and I look forward to staying right here and seeing everyone to their goals and beyond!

Hello Everyone! My name is actually Laura...but everyone on here calls me Penny which is totally cool with me.
(My dog's name is penny eclipse so when I was 11 i used that as an email address and I've never entirely changed it so I use it for a lot of usernames...)

I am a 23yrold student from England, I'm from hertfordshire which is just north of London, but I'm currently at uni in Oxford studying architecture. I'm in my 6th year of university now, (4yr undergrad in Edinburgh, and now in the 2nd of 2 years Msc in Oxford).

I've always been *big* but I was always on the BIG side of average...and it didn't matter because I was always really fit, danced, was on netball and basketball teams and could manage a massive hike etc....until I went to university and the dropped exercise (except walking), late nights, allnighters, workload, stress, grabbing food quickly to help when working late and constant snacking. Shopping for 1 and all the offers on snack foods got to me, and I'd keep myself going on snack food to keep my sugarlevels high, my tiredness at bay and kept telling myself I HAD to to get the work done and I didn't have time to exercise...

I started dieting 4th Jan 2011 at 232lbs...I only started because my mum was joining a slimming group (slimming world), and we were going through a really bad patch at home because my nan was dying, and I felt mum could do with some support. I decided to go along to her first 2 weeks as I was back for the Christmas holidays, and felt I could help her stay on track. I didn't start because I felt I needed to lose weight, I didn't really think there was any point trying whilst I was at uni as I felt it was completely impossible to fuel myself to work as hard I had to (especially now that I was a post-grad), also I didn't feel big or especially uncomfortable about my weight, I was confident and happy just being this big and no bigger...

The thing was that the diet plan actually completely worked for me...I still got to eat proper meals, like I'd always done. I'd always been keen on cooking, (I normally cook 4 portions worth of a meal)...the problem before was I'd eat double portions because it was made, and I'd eat loads of rubbish food in between meals to keep me going...I was actually less hungry on the diet than I had been before, and the weight loss just kept coming. I went back to uni, with the change and told myself to just see if I could keep it up and when work got too much then I'd stop, but at least I'd have lost a little bit more...the thing was it never really hit that point. Nothing was banned on the diet so there wasn't the guilt if I had a piece of chocolate...sure I couldn't stuff myself full with 250g...or eat a whole plate of nachos without any guilt, but it was all about moderation, so often I chose the right choice to protect my weight loss just because it felt more worthwhile, and other times I made another choice and absolutely enjoyed every single mouthful!!!

In about april when I went home for easter i started c25k...I needed to get away from work for a little bit a few days a week, I'd seen adverts on TV for the race for life to raise money for cancer research and I decided I wanted to not have to walk it all...I didn't really think I'd actually do it, I didn't think I'd be able to start a training plan and stick to it...but I said I'd start it...I told my mum and my brother and they both said they'd help me. (NB even at school when I was fit and exercised 5days a week I couldn't even run 400m without wanting to die, let alone 800m or 1500m, so 5k was a BIG DEAL).
I found the c25k plan online and took my mum (who decided she'd give it a shot too) and my bro out with us. He does run, he's a rower, he is SO FIT, but was also carrying a bit more weight than he'd like to. The first day was excrutiating, I wanted to die...I can't believe how difficult I found it,,,and I'd already lost at least 2.5stone maybe? (32lbs+) But I carried it on, and I always felt smug afterwards even if I did want to die.

It wasn't until it started getting warm and I realised I had no clothes that fitted me that I even thought about clothes shopping...and it wasn't until this point that anyone even noticed. My uni friends hadn't commented or noticed that I was dieting, my family could see a bit of a difference, but it wasn't until I started wearing clothes that started to fit that there was people actually starting to notice. I'd gone from a massive pushing the limits of UK18 (but probably should've been wearing a 20 or more), everything was elasticated and stretchy and skimmed over stuff to hide me.
Suddenly in the summer sales I was buying UK 14s, and then everyone noticed.

I ran the race for life 5k in the blazing heat (for england) in 34mins, the fastest I'd ever run it. Mum ran it with me in about 42? I raised over £200 for cancer research uk and felt great. I'd started 30DS as soon as my final coursework got handed in at the end of june, and I started Zumba at the start of july. Suddenly my summer was filled with exercising.

I only joined MFP in May because my brother who decided I was doing a little bit too well on my diet found the site. He couldn't understand how I was losing so much weight with the portions I was eating (and not even thinking about calories) so signed me up so that he could log my food for me. I took over because I got sick of having to tell him what I'd eaten and the rest is history...

When I went back to Uni in sept/oct having lost just over 4stone ( 58lbs ish) everyone noticed. People didn't recognise me. They'd not seen me ever like this, people (some of the girls) were even catty about it, whilst most of the boys were either amazed or a bit sarcastic about it. I joined the gym, kept up my running and now go to classes most mon, wed, thurs, plus runs once or twice a week and TONS of cycling (I don't have a car at uni, so to even get to/from lectures it's 20mins cycling/day).

I still follow the Slimming World plan...but because my exercise has gone from walking the dogs and doing 30ds or a 20min jog to running for an hour, hour of zumba, hour of boxercise etc etc and I cycle everywhere I knew I needed to log to watch the calories to check I was eating enough net calories. For me it's still about the types of food not the calories though...

I can't believe I'm now a small UK12 and I don't want to be any smaller, I'm toned, I have 1.5lbs to go to reach my goal weight of 164lbs (the very top of my healthy bmi). I didn't even want to lose the weight, but now I don't understand why I didn't.
My mum can walk past me in a supermarket because I look so different, I have bones in my shoulders and collar bones and hip bones, I have muscles and definition in my arms and legs. My bingo wings are almost all gone etc etc it's crazy...I still can't believe it.
People keep telling me to stop, they told me it 8.5lbs ago when I just had 11lbs to go...they said I was fine and I shouldn't get too small but I wanted to do the last little bit for me, to get within that healthy range, to know I could do it. I don't want to be smaller than this, I know i'd look silly as a size 10, but size 12 is genuinely maintainable...I never ever thought I'd even get close to 164lbs...the last time I was that weight was when I dieted the unhealthy way when I was 16, and it looked much too thin on me even then. I only set it as an arbitrary number and accidentally ended up getting so close that it felt silly to stop. (plus I'm always too stubborn to admit failure if I can do anything to help it).

People that meet me now think I'm a slim, active person, they never knew what I was like a year ago and I'm a bit embarrassed of telling them! I'm trying to get out there and go on dates and things but I feel stupid telling people I'm on a diet, when clearly I don't need to be anymore, despite what the scale says and the fact the doctor would like me to weigh nearer 150lbs. It feels weird being a completely different person in terms of attitudes to food and exercise, whilst being the same person in all other ways.
My changes to diet and exercise have helped me feel better, get less ill, make me so much less stressed, stay happy, healthy, and actually my work is way more productive by scheduling in compulsory exercise classes and mealtimes as I make time for me and work more productively the rest of the time.

I'm sorry this has turned into such a long essay! I just kinda started and didn't stop....

So that's me really!

Becky and Lexie are you really?? I am so excited for you!!! My son and I have talked about it several times but we have to wait until he is out of the Army to apply. I will be watching and cheering you on from my living room.

Can I join you all?

I was a member of MyFitnessPal in mid to late 2011 and life caught up to me. I was actually a part of this group before groups were around and before MFP changed a bit.

Anyway, My name is Sara and I am 23 years old. I married my best friend in 2009 and we have had our ups and downs since. I got pregnant in May of 2010 and miscarried in July. It took a lot out of me and now a year and a half later I have finally accepted the miscarriage and I am ready to get move on with my life. When I was trying to lose weight in 2011 it was so I could have a healthy pregnancy and be more active for my future children. Something hit me in December and I realized that I need to do this for ME because there is no guarantee of a child and I should take care of myself for me and not for someone else.

So here I am, a brand new year with new goals in mind. I am not looking at the big picture for weight loss. I am looking at the way I feel about myself and the way I feel in my own skin. If the pounds drop off during that time then great. I want to feel beautiful on the inside and look beautiful on the outside and that is what I will be striving for in 2012.

( I am under the impression that when MFP updated a few months back that everything got erased which would answer my question of why I have no friends from before or topics etc )