Family Life: Married, with lots of furry children (dog, cats, horses)
Occupation: I am the director of a horseback riding program for a non-profit youth church camp
Hobbies and Interests: horseys, violin, hiking, hanging with my hub
Favorite Music: I have an appreciation for all music
Favorite Color(s): green
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: running, stacking hay
What are your fitness/health goals? I was a heptathlete in college, and in a car accident. After the accident I was having sharp pains in my right leg. They found that I had a severe stress fracture in my leg, and in my foot. This injury never healed right, and I was no longer able to compete in track. Obviously this was very devastating to me, and I gained LOTS of weight. While I was competing in track I weighed 153 lbs. 5'7", and at my peak (2005) I was 230 lbs. Since then I have lost some weight ( due to my current job) but now I am hovering around 190 lbs. I would like to get down to 170lbs. I have matured out of my lean teenage body and now am a curvy girl. Looking at me you can see that I was an athlete, and I don't look like a typical person weighing 190lbs. But I characterize myself as an athlete... for life. Not a highschool athlete, not a college athlete, but an athlete for life. I want to trim down, because I really enjoy running, and being trim will enhance my riding capabilities. Being a little heavy has made my riding work a lot harder. It is alot harder to ride a cross country course on my horse.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? I just am so tired of being this way. I want my old self back.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? eating when im bores.....i LOVE sweets.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? I need to eat more veggies, and exercise a little
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : my sister in-law
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?
bikini next august on vacation
Family Life: Married with 2 boys - ages 2 and 2 months
Occupation: stay at home mom, freelance writer/editor
Hobbies and Interests: scrapbooking, journalling, shopping, reading, watching movies
Favorite Music: christian
Favorite Color(s): pink
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: yoga just my size, swimming, walking
What are your fitness/health goals? to be able to be skinny enough to comfortably play on the floor with my kids and to be able to run after them in the park - that is my short term goal, anyway
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? reaching 350 lbs!
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? I love to eat, and I love to eat sweets. I also eat as a way of dealing with stress, which is not good.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? I need to actually exercise, not eat after 9 p.m., and make better food choices.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : My skinny sister.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Skimpy lingerie for my hubby.
Family Life: single, live alone, have a cat (family is all in texas, i'm in seattle)
Occupation: financial analyst... desk job from 730-4pm
Hobbies and Interests: music shows, socializing with friends, shopping
Favorite Music: indie
Favorite Color(s): green & black
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: i'm not going to lie- i come up with great excuses not to exercise
What are your fitness/health goals? i'm tired of being fat. i finally want to look in the mirror and not be ashamed.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? i'm tired of not being able to buy the clothes i want to. i dress my sister up in clothes "i'd totally wear," which are very fashionable. i want to be able to shop at boutique stores and pay $100 for a shirt that looks amazing on me.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? self motivation. i lose sight very easily.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? 1) exercising period. 2) counting calories 3) no splurging
Who do you want to look better than? : My skinny sister.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? normal size clothing from boutique stores
Family life: divorced, but dating someone serious since sept of last yr. and my three cats.
Occupation: stay at home caring for my grandmother and mother ( who suffers from cervical dystonia )
Hobbies and intrests:coffee houses, learning to cook, reading self help books
favorite music: pink floyd, Godsmack, led zeplin.
favorite color: green
favorite excersize/workout: Shimmy ( the workout program on fit tv and working with my resistance bands on alternate days. when its pretty and warm out i go walking on the nature trail near my place.
What are your fitness/health goals? to be able to workout for an hr and not get short winded, increase flexibility, to be able to walk the stairs or do everyday tasks and not get out of breath, to feel pretty and sexy inside and out and not be ashamed for my bf to see my body in the daytime or with the lights on.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? when i saw myself in the mirror and i looked as if i was 8 mths pregnant and i cant have children. I was literally wearing maternity clothes because people kept asking how far along i was. i was hiding behind maternity clothes instead of doing something about my weight
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? my bf needs junk food and protien to bulk up and i am stuck with healthy foods lol.
the motivation to find a way to work out for at least 40 min a day
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
1. better food choices
2. no more snacking after 9 pm
3. portion control
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? my tall skinny sister who is 10 yrs younger than me.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?
something sexy for my new bf, a bikini, my old jeans * the pretty ones that are a size 8 that are hip huggers and have a beautiful glitter rose design on them.
Family Life: Single, quite a few animals, and I live with my mother.
Occupation: Student.
Hobbies and Interests: Animals, nature, fantasy, writing, reading, drawing, music, art, fashion, dancing, cultures, other countries, languages, etc.
Favorite Music: Hard rock, Metal, J-rock, Opera, Classical Rock, Indie, etc.
Favorite Color(s): Purple!!
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Walking my dog, swimming, riding my bike.
What are your fitness/health goals? I want to lose a minimum of 50 lbs of fat and gain muscle. I want to be toned and not flabby, I want to look in the mirror and be happy with myself and not think 'I need to work on that, improve that, get rid of that, tone that'.. I want to be in a 'healthy' weight range for the first time in my life, I want to be able to go to the doctor without him/her telling me that they're concerned about my weight... I want to be able to run for 6 minutes straight and actually not pass out by the time I'm done.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Having to get a medical note to be excused from PE a few years ago because I'd literally get sick from running.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Being surrounded by people who eat junk 24/7 and do everything they can to get me to join them in doing so.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? I need to get more exercise, drink more water, and stay away from frozen Lean Cuisine meals.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : My best friend.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Tank tops, SLEEVELESS dresses, and corsets(!!!)
Occupation:Insurance/Grad Student - Planning on going back for my PhD
Hobbies and Interests:Not a lot right now I'm fighting back from about 2 years of hard-core depression during which I pretty much stopped doing everything I liked. It'll be exciting to see what hobbies and interests I develop now! Oh, I love dogs - have 3.
Favorite Music: Enter the Haggis (cool celtic-rock band), Natasha Bedingfield, Tom Cochran (life is a highway....so much fun to rock it out to while cleaning the house)
Favorite Color(s): Green, Blue, everything!
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Walking my dogs, I used to love Yoga, but its been a while
What are your fitness/health goals? I want to get healthy - no more fat, no more excuses for sitting on my tush. I'd like to have a healthy BMI and be able to be more active - maybe do a marathon again some day.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? When I really started about thinking about leaving my job and going back to school. My work life has turned me into someone I don't want to be anymore (fat and depressed) and I want to be free to start myself on a new path without having to carry all that with me
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Two main struggles - depression and hunger. My doc has me on medication now to deal with both, and I am taking advantage of that opportunity to develop healthy habits so that someday I can do it med-free.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? #1 (Big One) I need to get more active. I put the sed in sedentary, but that is going to change. #2 - I need to learn to treat food with respect and dedicate time to making healthy food from scratch. Convenience foods are a major crutch for me. #3 - I need to become more present and accept the day for what it is - I get WAYYYYYY ahead of myself and run off into dreamland about what I will do in a year instead of doing the work I can today.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? I want to look better than an unhappy person.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? My doctoral gown and hood
What are your fitness/health goals? To have a normal BMI and not an obese one
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? The scale reached 250 for the first time ever and my size 20's were getting tight!
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Getting time to exercise.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
1. I need to stop estimating calories and start really measuring them.
2. I need to force myself to make time for exercise.
3. I need to stop stress eating when I'm not hungry.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : The skinny sister who seems to be an evil motivation for many.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? A cute dress from the juniors department.
Family Life: Living with my dad and younger brother, about to move in with my new stepmother and stepsister.
Occupation: Student
Hobbies and Interests: visual art, writing, reading poetry, scifi television (<3 Battlestar Galactica), GOOD scifi/fantasy books (Terry Pratchett, Robert A. Heinlein, Sherri Tepper, Neil Gaiman, etc.), reading Latin, learning languages. I'm also just learning sabre fencing, which is a ton of fun because you get to hit people in the head with a sword, and I've run for a few months now.
Favorite Music: Mostly I listen to music when I'm running. I don't have much of a defined taste. I basically listen to anything- I have a walkman, but no music tapes, so I listen to whatever's on the radio. Preferably music with a fast beat, interesting guitar and as little obscenity as possible. If I had my choice, I'd probably listen to more heavy metal, celtic, and medieval music, and that really bizarre genre that is a mix of folk music and heavy metal. Really, though, if I get an iPod, its playlist could include anything.
Favorite Color(s): Green
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Sabre fencing and running!
What are your fitness/health goals? To lose as much weight as makes sense given my weird build, which I anticipate will be to reach 160 pounds, but it could be less. I guess I'll see what I look like when I get there. Really, REALLY long term to fence internationally and run a marathon. Hey, a girl can dream. Short term, to be able to run a 5k in the next year or two and get a fencing rating in the next five or ten years.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? A few things- stepping on the scale and realizing I weighed over 200 pounds, and looking at my driver's ed photograph in which it was clear that I was twice the other students' size. I also saw a woman at a play who was so overweight she could barely walk a few feet and had to use a cane. I knew I had to stop before I started to seriously injure my health.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? A tendency to eat WAY too much. Sure, it's easy to be thin if you can't finish a slice of pizza. I on the other hand, could probably finish the whole thing. I love high fat, high sugar foods, and I hate salads.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
Trying harder to keep up at fencing practices, snacking so I don't get hungry and inhale the kitchen, distracting myself long enough to get through my running sessions.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? :
Anyone. If I'm no longer the fattest person I know, I'll be happy.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?
A skirt that shows my legs.
Hobbies and Interests: reading, golfing, being dorky, losing weight
Favorite Music: anything really, just not that big a fan of country
Favorite Color(s): blue
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: I like running...a lot
What are your fitness/health goals? To maintain my weight loss and lose a tad bit more weight
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Well, I was 17 and pushing on being morbidly obese. My doc told me that I'd probably have a heart attack by the time I was 40...that was scary as ****
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Eating well used to be really,really,really hard. I've gotten better at it, but sometimes it's still a little hard to resist temptation
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Lets go with everything
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : I just wanna look the best that I can
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? stuff
Hobbies and Interests: Being with my family, Reading, Playing Wii, Singing
Favorite Music: Eclectic - I enjoy many types of music.
Favorite Color(s): Blue
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Walking
What are your fitness/health goals? Lose 57 lbs., tone muscles, increase cardiovascular endurance
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? My wedding ring was tight and uncomfortable.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Sugar
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? 1) Counting my calories 2) Increasing the intensity of my exercise 3) Eating less junk
(Evil motivation) Who do you want to look better than?: My current self
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? A cute swimsuit this summer.
Hobbies and Interests: bowling, reading, cooking, hang with family and friends
Favorite Music: rock and country
Favorite Color(s): black
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: tie bow work tapes
What are your fitness/health goals? Finally being healthy and to be around for my son
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Was going good after my son was born, but got into my bad eating habits, not good
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?
Finding good recipes to eat.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
My butt, upper legs and continue with exericse routine
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? :
my sister
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? really nice size 14 jean, sexy top
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Hobbies and Interests: LOVE to play video games and watch "reality" tv.
Favorite Music: i like a little of everything!
Favorite Color(s): actually i like all colors!
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: WATP, Richard Simmons,
What are your fitness/health goals? its not about being skinny, its about being fitter and healthier!
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? i started getting heart burn, i went up a size in jeans, and the highest weight i have been in the 20 years of my life.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? staying motivated.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? have more of a structured routine, eat SENSIBLY, and exercise regularly.
(Evil motivation) Who do you want to look better than?: one of my friends that thinks shes hotter than a summer in vegas!
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? omg what cant i wait to wear????
Age/Age Range: 33... edited to say... I mean 32! Apparently I'm so heavy that I feel older than I really am LOL
Family Life: married with 4 daughters
Occupation: sahm
Hobbies and Interests: reading, photography, spending time with my family
Favorite Music: i like a wide variety
Favorite Color(s): green
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: no favorite really, i'm more a 'make myself do it' type
What are your fitness/health goals? I admit it, I want to be skinny. And, I want to have more energy and improve my general mood.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? No trigger really, I've wanted to lose weight for years. I've lost weight before. Now that I'm done having kids (my youngest is 1), I'm ready to do it for good this time.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? remembering why I'm doing this, when I'm in the moment (and tempted by evil food LOL)
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? make better choices as to WHAT to eat, stop myself from eating when I'm not really hungry (I'm a BIG snacker) and start exercising (and keep at it!)
(Evil motivation) Who do you want to look better than?: I don't know that I want to look better than anyone but if I could look as good as my sister-in-law or sister, I'd be thrilled.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? a bathing suit without wanting to hide!
Family Life: Married, 3 grown children gone this year. So I am a new empty nester.
Occupation: Office work
Hobbies and Interests: Photography, dachshunds, sewing.
Favorite Music: all kinds
Favorite Color(s): pink
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: I havent really found anything yet.
What are your fitness/health goals? to become healthy and to lose 50 or so lbs.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Starting the 2nd phase of my life. I quit smoking about 8 months ago and the weight was next in line to go.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? understanding the whole planning thing. My DH is thin and doesnt need to loose and is very picky about his food. I like lots of foods and I think I am an emotional eater.
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Drinking water, my snacking is way out of control and I need to start moving.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? :
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Heels and cute clothes.
After the accident I was having sharp pains in my right leg. They found that I had a severe stress fracture in my leg, and in my foot. This injury never healed right, and I was no longer able to compete in track. Obviously this was very devastating to me, and I gained LOTS of weight. While I was competing in track I weighed 153 lbs. 5'7", and at my peak (2005) I was 230 lbs. Since then I have lost some weight ( due to my current job) but now I am hovering around 190 lbs. I would like to get down to 170lbs. I have matured out of my lean teenage body and now am a curvy girl. Looking at me you can see that I was an athlete, and I don't look like a typical person weighing 190lbs. But I characterize myself as an athlete... for life. Not a highschool athlete, not a college athlete, but an athlete for life. I want to trim down, because I really enjoy running, and being trim will enhance my riding capabilities. Being a little heavy has made my riding work a lot harder. It is alot harder to ride a cross country course on my horse.
I'm fighting back from about 2 years of hard-core depression 
during which I pretty much stopped doing everything I liked. It'll be exciting to see what hobbies and interests I develop now! Oh, I love dogs - have 3.
fulltime student
