Thanks Snoozie for gathering us up in one forum. Can't wait to meet everyone or at least see where people are from

OMG, you ladies all crack me up! I think this is just what the Dr. ordered!
I'm Anita 53 as of 2 wks ago. And yes going thru menopause and all that good stuff everyone has been talking about. I love the comments of keeping the air on at all time of the year. I hear ya. I am married with two beautiful grown daughters. I have No reasons to not get this weight off. I just have to set my mind that this is the day I'm going to lose the weight (again) and keep it off. Feel free to add me as a friend.

Hello to Everyone from a wet and windy UK! I am Julie, I live by the sea on the South Coast of England with my partner, cat and dog. I used to keep fit by swimming, gym and running in my 20's and 30's but joint problems put a stop tp that and I now lift weights twice a week to the best of my ability, spend an hour a day doing "walkies" and am starting a keep fit class with some ladies from work this week. Best wishes to all, I look forward to getting to know you all better and making new cyber - friends.

Just to make my life easier and get to my JM30DS I am coping my my thought from my blog

Just a little bit of background

I have five children the oldest son is 30 and the youngest girl is 6. I have the oldest and youngest grandchildren of my parents. As an older parent being around and being active with my youngest has made me look at my food choices again.

I have been fighting my weight battle 40 years and while I know a lot of the right answers I have surrendered in the past. I have lost 100 lbs twice and gotten pregnant and gained the weight back both times. I have tried many times to gain a handle on this battle but often caved in to the sabotage of my ex-husband.

It has been with the love and support of my current husband that I have come to realize that I can win this battle and had the courage to begin this journey.

And now a bit more

My life its either black or white no gray area for me is how I have always put it. When I am good I am 100 % good and when I am bad it shows on my body. I have battled my weight more or less for 40 years. I want go into details but I had a very abusive childhood both physically and mentally during a time when there wasn't the resources there are today to deal with such.

Food was a source of comfort it didn't hit me, it didn't put me down, it didn't make me feel useless or like dying. It was the one thing I could control. It was not until decades later and many overweight pounds that I realized the food was controlling me rather than me controlling it.

The first success I had with losing weight was when I was pregnant. Unlike most people that gain weight when pregnant I lost weight during my terms b/c it was during this time I actually listened to my doctor and went by his advice concerning my diet. Once I delivered I continued losing by watching my diet and working out. Everything went well until I stopped going to work out at the gym then slowly but surely I begin to regain the weight.

I am not sure how many time I dieted and regained btw that pregnancy and the next one but I usually tried about once every year to year and half. I lost close to 75 pounds but my husband kept telling me my stomach was getting bigger. I know it will sound crazy but that was when I realized I was again pregnant. I again lost weight while pregnant and by the time I delivered I was down close to 100 pounds. This time around though I didn't lost much more after I delivered and I wasn't into working out at this time so it wasn't long before the weight began to creep back up.

After I am not sure how many years went by as I continued to yo-yo repeatedly as each result left me weighing more and more. Each time I would decide to do something about my weight my ex-husband would find ways to get me to cave in and give up. Don't get me wrong I know it was me but having support as we all know by now is a very very important part of success and that was something I never had at any time.

About 10 years ago I began another stage of the battle when my first marriage came to an end. While I didn't continue to lose weight I did maintain the lose for several years before it began to return after moving 2600 miles and remarrying. In 2006 while in the middle earning my BA I was most blessed to learn I was again expecting. I once again lost weight but not nearly as much as with the first two pregnancies. As I concentrated on finishing school the bottom fell out of teaching in WA and I found while I had accomplished my dream I could not find a teaching position and my weight crept up once again.

In 2010 we lost my father in law and decided it would be best for our youngest child and our finances to move back to my home roots. Upon returning home and finding a teaching position my weight began to go down. It has been two years and while it has not been a lot I have continued to drop a little here and there.

As a 51 year old mother of a 6 year old this continued losing without trying has given me the motivation to try and do more healthy eating and working out. I am not looking for a miracle. I realize this has been 40 + years adding this weight and it will be I figure a couple of years making it to my goal, but this time I do believe I can do it with the support of my family which is something I have never had in the past.

Hi everyone! I am so excited about this group. I too have had a weight problem my whole life, gaining, losing and then gaining back. But y'all know what I'm talking about.
I am a nurse so I should know better, kinda like the way we shake our heads at nurses that smoke, that is how I am. On top of it, I am a Public Health nurse, I am very aware of the problems we have with obesity, especially here in the south! As my boss told me I needed to come up with a program to motivate people to lose weight, I laughed and said if I could do that, I would have done it. :laugh:
I also have five kids, a 20 yr/old, a 17 yr/old (totally with ya in the teenager issues!) and triplet 5 yr/olds. If that isn't enough to make me stress eat, I can always come up with something!
My biggest weaknesses are all the things my kids love and eat constantly. Then I find myself looking at pics of food on Pintrest .:noway:
I decided I had to do something when a couple months ago when I realized that I could't put off a knee replacement surgery. I don't want to go thru that again, so I have to loose weight or I will need the other one done in a couple more years.

Oh yeah, I could use a glass of that wine too!