Hi everyone!

My name is Michele, I am 25 and I live in Upstate NY. I am 5'0" and my current weight is 170 ... I would love to be 125 or less, according to a recommended weight for my age/height. My high school weight was nothing to brag about (only 145) so I guess I don't fit in the "High School Skinny" category. The ironic part is, I would give anything to be that again. Even at that time, I saw myself as overweight. I had no idea at the time that I would gain much more.

When I graduated with my BS in 2009 I weighed the highest in my life (190). That was it for me! And I ended up losing 35lbs in the beginning of 2011 (155 by May). I was going to the gym constantly and created my own diet. It was a restricted calorie diet, and though it was successful and I saw results, unfortunately I have gained 15lbs back. But if those of you are looking to lose by a certain day/date, you can follow my plan. But don't be like me....once you reach a goal or even if you want a break, don't binge like me and completely swear off exercise or it will creep back on you.

Here's the plan:
-I used Isopure protein powder in a shake 2x a day. (for whichever meal I wanted. I did it for breakfast and dinner because lunch was hard when I worked in an office and everyone was eating something!) Try mixing Chia Seeds or Flax seed for extra thickness and it will also fill you up more. To keep the shake interesting I bought 2 flavors (chocolate and cookies and cream). Some days I would mix in fruit other days I would add instant coffee for a frozen "frappacino"! YUM! (about 300ish calories)

-For the 3rd meal, I would try to eat a balanced portion of the triangle. (A typical meal consisted of 1 can of tuna with some italian dressing for flavor, 1 apple, 1 can of V8 juice, and a few triscuits). But you can mix and match items too. Sometimes instead of tuna I would eat 2 hard boiled eggs with hot sauce. I would eat any kind of fruit instead of the apple and I would cut up fresh veggies instead of the V8. I also would make fresh chicken breast in the am to have for my lunch. Keep the calories for lunch under 600

-Snack on low cal items like fruits and veggies. (Celery was my favorite! or grapes!)

-Exercise. This was key. I belonged to LA Fitness and was alternating workouts between cardio and strength. My schedule consisted of Mon: Spin class, Tues: Upper body strength + abs, Wed: Spin class, Thurs: Lower body Strength + abs, Fri: Break (gotta have a social life ;-) ), Sat: Free cardio (pick something like treadmill, cross trainer, elliptical, etc), Sun: Break. You have to stick to your workout. If you find yourself getting bored, switch it up, DON'T STOP! If you don't belong to a gym there are TONS of exercises you can still do.

-Vitamins + Water!! I took a daily women's multi, vitamin c, vitamin d, calcium, and B12. I forced myself to drink the water, especially while working out. I would usually drink 1-2 bottles during a cardio workout and I would force myself to drink a full bottle before getting in the sauna at the gym. And then several times throughout the day. I don't have a problem with tap water so that wasn't an issue. If you do, maybe get those vitamin waters or a Brita. Also, I found that just before a workout if I took a B12 dissolvable (sp?) strip, I could get a second and third wind no problem. You can buy them at the Vitamin Shoppe or Vitamin World. Just ask the register person. They are awesome for a boost of energy!

Stick with this and you will lose for sure! The best feeling in the world was clothes shopping and I actually saw the results. We are all our own worst critic....it was awesome for my to approve of myself for once.

Here goes round 2. Good luck everyone!

Hi all!!

I'm a 36 year old wife and mother of a 5 1/2 year old little girl. I want to lose weight to be a good example to my daughter and be a better wife to my husband - and I'd like to look hot! lol!

As I get older, it seems to get harder to lose weight. I joined MFP a few weeks ago in hopes of going from 164 to 135. I've lost 5lbs so far, but I have a ways to go.

I work full time at a book publisher/distributor as a Publisher Relationship Manager. I do some traveling - maybe 3 -4 times a year to assorted trade shows. I try to eat healthy, but some days are better than others. I enjoying using my elliptical and playing all the "Just Dance" games on the wii with my daughter.

Why hello there! I'm Kristina, my nickname's Canada. I'm silly at times, but that's just me being happy. I'm not eighteen yet, but I'm close. I'm still in school, and I met most of my friends there. I'm into anime, manga, television, movies, animals, cosplaying, friends, art, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous stuff. I do suffer from depression and I have anxiety disorder, which I take Celexa and Lamocital for both of them. I have been hospitalized for attempting suicide, and I'm going through a really long rough patch of my life. I think it might be getting better though. I live in Pennsylvania, I'm quite awkward, and I try to fix other people's problems before my own. I don't always get think right the first time, but I learn eventually. I hope we can be best friends!

Hey folks!

I'm Rob, I'm 49, married with three grown kids, and a house full of more dogs and cats than I care to admit to. I work at a University as an Instructional Technology Specialist, helping faculty use media and technology to improve teaching and learning. For fun, I sing in an acappella (mostly barbershop) quartet, and I direct a small men's chorus. I used to spend a lot of time working in my garden and yard, but have cut back on that over the last few years.

For most of my life, I was a skinny, scrawny guy who could eat anything, and eat as much as I liked without seeing any ill-effects. But over the last 15 years, my weight slowly crept up, until a year and a half ago, I discovered I was 50 pounds above my (albeit scrawny) college weight. I was 215 at my heaviest.

A year ago, I started tracking my food with MFP, and that helped me realize why I had gained weight. Then I began exercising and did the C25K program. It was AMAZING to go from not being able to run for more than sixty seconds, to being able to run for thirty minutes at a stretch! And the pounds started melting off. Got down to 187!

Then I suffered a bit of an injury (not exactly a "running injury", but it's too long & weird a story to relate here...), which knocked me out of running for six months. I've gotten back into it now, and I'm preparing for my first official "Run" in August.

But my weight has stalled at 194 (swinging back and forth a few pounds) and I just have NOT been able to get it moving back down. Mostly due to poor portion control, and a lack of self-control around pizza. I'd really like to see the scale move again.

That said, getting fit and exercising regularly is my main goal, above counting pounds.

Best wishes to all of ya!

Hi my name is Michelle and I am new to this group. I think its an awesome idea to team up with someone that is going through the same journey. I am married to a wonderful man and have 2 amazing sons. They keep me busy and on my toes. I work as a teachers assistant at my sons elementary school and I LOVE IT!! I jus turned 40 and decided enough sitting on the couch I am not living my life I am watching it go by.

My name is Sam - 22 years old and live in Texas. I'm a student at Texas Tech University and work full time for a logistics company.

Start weight: 187
Current weight: 153
Goal weight: 130

Height 5'6

Lets do it!

Hi, I'm Tara. I'm from St. Francis, Minnesota. I'm 40, married, no kids. I'm happy to be here

I'm a supervisor for a drafting department. I like to work out, but I've lost my way. I just switched gym's to try to get myself back on track. The trainer suggested MFP. I'm training for my 5th Breast cancer 3 day walk, and several 5k's. I like to have fun when I exercise.

I'm looking forward to making some new friends.

Starting weight: 149
Goal Weight" 130
Height: 5'-2"

Hello! I am also looking to lose around 100 pounds and my goal weight is 160. I sm currently 265 so I need motivation as well. Feel free to add me if you like. Good luck!

Hi I'm a 38 yo stay at home mom of three (two teens and an 18 month old). I am a former 911 operator and police dispatcher but left my job just before delivering my third child who was born Feb 2011. I went back to the hospital 2 days later with what I thought was pneumonia but was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure on Feb 19, 2011. My weight has fluctuated since then but I am trying to lose 60+lbs. My poor eating habits and obesity has caused a lot of health problems just in the last three years. Its been hard to lose weight due to PCOS and Hypothyroidism. I am 5'4" and weighed 179 prior to pregnancy, 220 post-delivery and 210 now. My goal weight is 150...from there I will strive for 120 but that is a long term goal. I like to walk, do couch to 5k and lift weights.

Hey~ I'm 21, in Australia (Perth). I've always been "skinnyfat". Not fat at all (my friends would probably slap me for even suggesting such a thing, haha) but definitely not fit or healthy. I'm 5'4 now (have been for years so I doubt I'll grow any more), and a pretty steady 54 kg, my highest weight actually. Technically I'm something like 53.7 last weigh in but it jumps around, so meh. 54 it is. My goal is a toned tummy and fitness, that's it. What ever else i pick up along the way is a bonus

As a kid, and up until this year really, I avoided "exercise". If I ran or skipped it was once in a blue moon for fun, not really focusing on fitness. I was a pretty active kid outside school in primary, practically lived on my trampoline and loved my skates and skateboard! But then I got the internet

I've been struggling with mental trouble.. Nothing really serious, no diagnoses, but I've had a lot of trouble in my life thinking positively. So far this year I've been doing a lot better, exercise makes me feel amazing, and I think it's helping to reduce my anxiety levels and once it's part of my routine I think my motivation will look a lot less like that of depression.

On top of motivation trouble I have this weird thing about eating. I've always eaten like a mouse, it's scary to see MFP telling me I should eat 1620 cals, I barely manage 1000 a day usually, and not healthily!! I'm sensitive to textures and smells so I get put off a lot of food. I want to get into smoothies but haven't really learnt how to make a good one yet haha. I don't really like calorie counting, but I need to keep track of it and eat more. And more healthily.

I've never been a disciplined person and it's not something I'm proud of. I think if I set and reach this goal without failing I'll have a wealth of confidence to apply elsewhere in my life (while maintaining my wonderful new healthy lifestyle!)

I run a Fitblr on Tumblr for motivation. If you run one too let me know, I'd love to pick up on your energy :P


I'm at university right now but I'm not sure where I'm going with it. I'm aiming to get into UWA to study Psychology and Philosophy. When I applied for Japanese a few years ago they said "it makes sense for you to apply to Japanese considering your background, as opposed to something like.. sports science, say." HA HA I may just have to overturn that. I find I study things that benefit me more than to get a career out of it, heh..


But anyway, I message friends who are gym junkies about my progress as it is but they're already fit and only help so much. I'd love to find someone on a more similar level to rant and rave to about my fitness kicks


Cece

Hi!
I'm former military and currently a full time student. In the process of moving out of state for a new job.
Last year I finally reached close to my goal (20 pounds lost) - but then everything flipped up in chaos (divorce, moved from Guam to the states, basically - someone hit a giant reset button on my life and I had to start from scratch). End result: have regained 8 of the 20 I lost, and need to get this stopped fast.
I now have close to 15 total pounds to lose - I was 5 pounds away from goal weight last year. Am hoping to find a fitness buddy/motivator on here so we can keep each other going.

Hi everyone. I'm 35, 5' 6" and 234.6lbs to start. I officially started on here yesterday. I'm pretty excited and like the accountability of logging anything that passes my lips. I find myself MUCH more aware of all the snacking I was doing and am now starting to see why I wasn't losing weight even though I was working out 3-4 times a week. I'm looking to get down to 165 then adjust from there. I want more muscle and tone, so I'll see where I land. I'd love to meet someone to chat with and compare notes on a somewhat personal level. Even exchange recipes. I'm artsy and crafty and a Baker. I love to take photos and have fun. So that's a little of me.
Good luck to each of you

Hi I'm Lara. I've been using MFP on and off for the last couple of years and do well with it when I use it regularly. I left teaching at Christmas and my new job involves a lot less running around and a lot more sitting at a desk so my weight and fitness have both gone in the wrong direction this year.

I've never got involved with the forums before and this one sounded like a great idea.

Hi! I'm Holly and completely new to myfitnesspal, but not new to trying to be healthier. I thought I would try this, because so far me, myself, and I are not working out so well!

I'm 35 and 5'2", 144 lbs. I'm, for the first time in my life, deemed overweight by my doctor. I had a hysterectomy in December 2010 and ever since then, have gained about 20 lbs. My goal is to get back down to 120 at least. I would love 110/115 though!

I'm an Administrative Assistant in Topeka, KS, and sit behind a desk all day.

I don't know if I'll find my twin, but a friend working towards the same goal would be so awesome!!

Hi

I'm Brooke, and I've been on MFP on and off for almost a year now. I'm a student (and an avid baker! Help!) - I try to make the most use out of the University Gym, but I find that I might need much more motivation and this might just do the trick!

B