Hi All!

My name is Steph. I am 21 Years old and I live in the UK just outside of London.

I would like to get down to a weight that i would class as "Healthy". Ok, to be honest, im not looking to be stick thin because i know my body isnt built to be like that, but i could be a hell of alot slimmer than i am now. But what is very important to me is learning to love how i look... I have never known what it is like to be slim or look great in what im wearing...so i guess my overall goals would be to get healthy and love my body.

As for how long i have been on this journey...well i could say since i started noticing my weight, so from around 11 years old.
Losing and gaining is all i ever seem to do but this time...its coming off and STAYING OFF! :happy:

I am your usual, happy-go-lucky kind of girl who likes to listen to people. I would describe myself as friendly and open i guess? lol!
Sorry i have never been so good at these "tell us about you" things... :blushing:

Feel free to add me :flowerforyou:

Love Steph xxx

I'm Frances, 29, and a married mother of one daughter. For most of my childhood up until college I was active and fairly slim. I was diagnosed with PCOS in my early twenties. Since that time I have slowly put on weight. In 2006 when I got pregnant with my daughter I was 176. I have only gone up from there. I hit 235 earlier this year - the heaviest I have ever been. I have struggled with losing weight always growing disheartened after awhile.

March 9th I went back to the doctor and was told the only way I'd be able to have anymore children would be to lose weight (something I already knew). Since my PCOS is primarily related to insulin resistance I was put on metforim. That day would change my life. Since that point I have dropped 17 lbs weighing in at 218 now. I'm just under that 100 lbs to go mark.

I have always been that quiet until you get to know me person. I'm incredibly stubborn. I have OCD tendencies when I put my mind to something. My family is the most important thing in the world to me. My husband is my best friend and there is no one else in the world I'd rather spend my time with. My daughter serves as my biggest achievement and is the light of my life.

I look forward to going through this journey with all of you!

Hi,

I'm Jovan and I'm a 24 y/o student from Florida. I was always pretty active up until I graduated from high school. I wanted a 'break' from everything when I first started college at 18, but that break turned into gaining the Freshman 15,20,25,etc. With my mom being a former model, I always had an issue with my body. My mom is naturally slim and my dad is big and broad. He played basketball most of his life....guess who got the basketball player body? :-)

I find that I'm more comfortable with myself now, than I was when I was 100 lbs smaller. I also realized that I have become too comfortable. Whenever I would go shopping and try something that was my current size on, if it didn't fit I would just buy the next size up without protest. I always brushed it off because I had so many hang ups with my body when I was younger, that I didn't want them to carry over into adulthood. Now I realize that I was just scared to face reality-- I needed to change. I've been on my weight loss journey since Feb 5th.

Unfortunately, I have been gaining and losing the same three lbs :-/ I'll admit I'm getting a tad bit frustrated, but I'm not going to give up...My muscles aren't sore for nothing! I'm really trying hard to make this change in my life so that I can be happy and healthy :-) I wish everyone the best of luck! You can do it!

Welcome Melissa! Congratulations on the weight loss so far! I know you can go the rest of the way! You're almost there! And thank you for all the tips!

And welcome, Jovan! Stick with it! Everyone has to find what works for them! And trust me, there is something that will work for you!

Thank you! I'm definitely working on what works for me. I've broken my weight loss into 25 lb increments. I feel like this will work better for me because if I keep 'mini goals' along the way, I'll feel more motivated! I am DEFINITELY the type to feel overwhelmed if I take on too much at once!

Hey everyone!
My name is Leah and I'm hoping to find and give some much needed support in our journey to healthy acceptance of ourselves-no matter what size! Thanks so much for starting this group- I've been heavy all my life and have gone up and down the scale. I don't like to weigh myself as I get fixated on the number on the scale; so instead I make "goal clothes". I just got into my goal pants recently and want to continue on the right path. I'm very active these days and am training for a 5K at the end of April, its been a goal of mine for some time to do one...very nervous but equally excited. When someone looks at me, the last thing they probably think is that I am capable of completing a 5K (I'm not a small lady)--but I am and I will get it done!...working out is not my challenge, its the FOOD!!!! I walk/jog 3x/week and also do Zumba and Yoga classes each week, but when the willpower leaves my car "takes" me to my fave restaurants or to the market and all the good I've done working out is erased by overeating. I'm definitely emotionally tied to food at times, and it has taken years for me to realize it.

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all,
Leah

Frances,
I joined this group for several reasons, but one was because I read that you struggle with PCOS and its symptoms. I also have PCOS and have been battling my weight and dealing with symptoms for 10+years. Thank you for sharing and helping me to feel like I'm not alone!

Leah

Anytime!

I think it's important that those of suffering from PCOS understand and realize that it isn't a battle that only we are facing. It's more common than people think and unfortunately for those of us who were diagnosed with it years ago didn't have the same resources that being diagnosed today does.

In September there is a PCOS awareness 5k here in Houston. My goal is to be able to run it. It's a cause that is now very dear to my heart.

Hey everyone!
My name is Leah and I'm hoping to find and give some much needed support in our journey to healthy acceptance of ourselves-no matter what size! Thanks so much for starting this group- I've been heavy all my life and have gone up and down the scale. I don't like to weigh myself as I get fixated on the number on the scale; so instead I make "goal clothes". I just got into my goal pants recently and want to continue on the right path. I'm very active these days and am training for a 5K at the end of April, its been a goal of mine for some time to do one...very nervous but equally excited. When someone looks at me, the last thing they probably think is that I am capable of completing a 5K (I'm not a small lady)--but I am and I will get it done!...working out is not my challenge, its the FOOD!!!! I walk/jog 3x/week and also do Zumba and Yoga classes each week, but when the willpower leaves my car "takes" me to my fave restaurants or to the market and all the good I've done working out is erased by overeating. I'm definitely emotionally tied to food at times, and it has taken years for me to realize it.

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all,
Leah

Hi Leah,

I can totally relate to emotional eating! I am a BIG comfort eater. I eat whether i'm happy, sad, angry, tired...you name it...i'll eat however i feel! It's only recently where i started realising i was using food as a friend my whole life and that it needed to change!!

But we have taken the first step in changing our habits so we have already accomplished so much!

I look forward to taking this journey with you! :happy:

Steph

Hi everybody! My name is Brittany. I live in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. I'm 25 years old and like most of you I have been big my whole life. However throughout high school I was much more active and about 60 lbs lighter. But still always over weight. After I graduated I got into a serious relationship and moved down to FL. Cooking yummy unhealthy southern meals everyday eventually landed me up to 244 lbs within just a few years! I moved back to Michigan a few years ago after a nasty split up with my ex and over those past few years I managed to lose about 15-20 lbs and keep it off.

I am just so sick of being a chunky butt! lol I love to go out and dance and have fun, but I feel so insecure about my weight and it slows me down. I'm ready to move on with my life and meet a new man. I miss the confidence I used to have when I was younger and lighter. Plus the older I get, I know it will be harder to lose the weight. I want to start being healthy so I can live a very long fun filled life!

About 2 weeks ago I started using this website again everyday (this is like my 3rd time and just can't ever stick to it). I'm doing good so far and have logged every single little thing I've eaten! I started at 228 lbs and have already lost 15 lbs! I'm super excited. So far this weight loss is from dieting only. I figure I don't want to add exercising in until I've got a handle on my dieting first. When things get too hard I tend to give up and I don't want this to happen! I figure once healthy eating is like second nature to me then I can slowly start adding in more exercise to increase my results. My goal is to weigh 150 eventually. That's not exactly 100 lb loss but according to "them" at my height I'm only supposed to be around 115 lbs and that would be over a 100 lb loss. I don't want to be that skinny though! I like having curves and being a woman and weighing in at 150 lbs would absolutely thrill me!

I hope we can all motivate each other and keep each other on track! I wish you all the best of luck

Hey my name is christie im 23 from worcestershire, uk. I have been struggling with my weight since i was 12 and now i have been at my biggest a size 20/22 for practically the last 6 years stuck and nothing seemed to work for me, i joined mfp with determination that this time i will succeed no matter what. I currently weigh around 260 (not weighed since jan) hoping to lose a minimum of 100 to set me on the path to being healthy.

I recently got engaged in november which has been a huge incentive for me to lose weight as i cant bare to look at photos of myself and dont wish to feel the same about my wedding photos. I feel very insecure and have a major lack of self confidence after being bullied most of my life over my weight and i hope to gain it back over time and not feel so ashamed that i let it get this bad.

I have already cut out chocolate and sugary drinks for a month before i found mfp and this seems to have had a good effect on me so far, i have now started logging all my calorie intake and excercise (which i never used to do at all!) Im hoping that i can get support from mfp as i know i lack will power and encouragement.

Welcome everyone!

Good luck

This group is growing fast! Hi and Good luck everyone!

Hello,

I have been overweight pretty much all my life. During my first marriage however is when I gained about 10 pounds per year for 10 years. I am now married again and have balance to my life in general so I have time and energy and drive to focus on eating healthy, exercising and loosing weight. I've been on MFP for a long time now and when I was really falling off the wagon I used it to get me back to maintaining. Now I'm in it for the loss, and long haul. This is the first time I used anything but the mobile app though. I'm finding the blogs, message boards and groups very inspiring.

I like having extra support, and I like to help with support also, so feel free to add me as a friend.