Hiya! I started back up here about 3 weeks ago. I'm 5'1" and have got a bunch to lose.

SW: 178
CW: 175
GW: 158 (Though I'd like to be less, I'm starting with a 20 pound goal smaller chunks work better in my mind)

So glad I found this group!

I'm so glad I found this group! My Hubby isn't really the supportive kind so I have to look elsewhere!

I'm going to turn 26 on the 6th of June. I have a son who turned 1 in May.

I have always been overweight and I have PCOS so losing weight has been a constant struggle. In Oct of 2008, I decided I was ready to do something about it and dedicated myself to a VERY restrictive diet suggested for PCOS. NO DAIRY, EVER. NO SUGAR, EVER. NO GRAIN, EVER. I did it for 5-6 months and lost about 30 lbs (started at 174 lbs) which isn't really that much since I was exercising like crazy and eating all fruits, veggies and lean meats. After awhile I added some foods back into my diet but overall tried to keep within my eating plan just not so strictly.

I stayed around the 145s until I started doing an intense indoor cycling class 5-6 days a week. 139 was the lowest I got to but then I got pregnant! I was 198 the day I went in to deliver even though I had done Zumba 5 days a week my whole pregnancy (last time I went to class was when I was 2 days overdue!). I had an emergency c-section bc he was too big and his heart rate kept dropping and now my stomach folds over right at my huge scar. So here I am, fluctuating around 168-170.

I went to my doctor the other day because I have been having problems with my ADD and for some reason he prescribed phentermine which I was surprised to hear the pharmacist say is for weight loss. I researched it when I got home and it's an obesity drug- guess it was my Dr's way of telling me to lose weight lol. This is my 3rd day taking it and while I love that I have no appetite, the side effects are pretty strong (the first night I didn't sleep AT ALL, it gives me headaches and I feel restless). I haven't really noticed a difference in my ability to concentrate so when I go back in a month for a check up I don't know if I will ask for another prescription or not or maybe to try something else.

So here are my stats:
CW: 168
Height: 5'2"-5'3" not really sure lol
GW: I don't know! 135? I want to be confident with and without clothes! I want to not have a belly that rolls over when I sit down. HECK I want a belly that doesn't hang over when I stand up! I want to be in the "Normal" BMI and Body Fat % group! I want to look in the mirror and smile at myself, not say "Ugh" and look away.

We can do this!!!

Hello..I just finished reading up on everyone and so glad to see so many amazing people in here. My name is Chantelle, I am 42 and have 4 kids, 15, 12,9, 7. I am super busy running with them and up until my littlest was in school always had at least one at home so left very little time for myself. Most of the time my husband worked out of town so I was doing everything on my own. I guess I was average growing up...even though it wasn't average At 5'1 around 130-140...and just was happy most of the time with it. As I got older I was more concerned with my weight but it wasn't really until after I started having kids that weight was an issue for me personally. I have asthma and found it has gotten way worse as I have gotten older and heavier. My highest weight within the past 7 years (after having kids) was 208 and my lowest (6 years ago) was 150. I did get back up to 206 summer of 2010 and have been slowly trying to get it off. By slowly, I mean....go really hard for a couple of weeks...then give up...and then try again. So now I am back to 170 as of June 1 and am concentrating on my health and cardio and have a goal outfit to wear by the end of June. The scale is the devil and it always affects me, so I am trying to use these jeans as a goal instead. GOOD LUCK we can all do this!

Hi, I just joined today. Nice seeing the community here.

I'm 26, 5'4 and 170ish, which is about my highest weight. I have a history of pretty disordered eating behavior so dealing with that slowly has made me loathe to just hate on my body without question, and in fact I'm reasonably comfortable in it right now (decent activity level, happy relationship etc), but the fact remains that my current weight is not ideal for me, and that it will take a little attention and effort to change that. Right now I'm focused on finding a healthy level of attention to fitness/weight loss that will stay positive and not go overboard into irrational obsession. I think one reason I've gotten (back) up to this weight is that I'm afraid that focusing on controlling my diet will prove as unhealthy as it has in the past; mostly I've swung too far into the other direction of just accepting everything about my body and any sort of diet, even if it's less healthy than it could be, so long as it isn't disordered in the ways I got used to as a teenager/young adult.

In the past seven months or so I've finally developed a strong interest in cooking, so I feel a lot better able to control many aspects of my diet if i choose to. I have lots of support at home for healthy eating and exercise (do a lot of both with the boyfriend for fun anyway), so it's just a matter of concentrating and defining goals. I hope, lol.

My biggest personal obstacle at the moment is beer. After finally getting down to tracking my calories recently (honestly tracking - I had been half-*kitten* tracking in my head for a while, but I'm sure you're all familiar with the difference!), I was amazed at how many, every day, come from beer. Sigh. For now I'm just trying to pay close attention to all my food and exercises and make some allowance for alcohol, but I know if I want to get serious about healthy weight loss I'll have to change that habit quite a bit as well.

I guess this post is all about health and body things and not very personal, but I'm still feeling a little shy! Glad to see this community and hope to share more thoughts/ideas.