Also saw Maykatcooper's intro and copied questions:
Hi, my name is Jo. I started IP on March 3, 2011 after running into my friend
Amy on three seperate occasions over a 3 month period of time. The first time I saw her, she looked like she had this inner light that was just beaming from her face. I had no idea she had lost 25 lbs, I simply noticed how great she looked. The second time I ran into her, she was noticably thinner, and I asked her for more information about what she was doing - because it was certainly working for her! She had lost over 35 lbs! The third time I ran into her, I could not believe the change in her. She had lost over 50 lbs! I sat down with her, asked a lot of questions, called the provider in my area and said "I want to look and feel as good as my friend Amy!"
Well, it's been over 4 months and I've lost 55 lbs. I have more energy and I feel so much better than before. My weight loss has slowed these past three weeks. I'm struggling with the head game on this protocol and joined this group in hopes of being energized by all of you.
Screen Name: JoLoMN
Age/Age Range: 45
Family Life: My husband of 17 years and 4 kids.(16, 15, 13 & 11) I'm blessed to have my family be very supportive of my weight loss.
Occupation: Curriculum Writer
Hobbies and Interests: Watching my children's activities & walking
Favorite Music: I like most types of music
Favorite Color(s): As I look at my warddrobe - it must be khaki & navy.
Favorite Exercise/Workouts: I enjoy walking. I hope to one day enjoy jogging - which would be a HUGE life change for me!
What are your fitness/health goals? To be in the "normal" range for my BMI. To be able to sit in a theatre seat or plane seat and feel like I fit and am not spilling over. To maintain a healthy weight for life.
What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? The stress of my job and life was killing me; I could see it in the mirror. I had always looked young for my age and I was feeling old. I had no energy. I was placing the needs of my family and work projects ahead of my own needs. I had helped my three sons get their weight issues under control through education, exercise and changing the way the family shopped (and reducing the amount of drive through meals we ate) and as they demonstrated great success, I continued to gain weight.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? While the protocol has removed cravings, I struggle with mental cravings. I'm more aware of the mindless eating I engaged in before, and worry that I will pick up horrible habits when in maintenance. Also, I've tried WW before, and feel like I never
finished. I want to finish this journey. I want to lose the weight, maintain the loss for a year, and then begin the journey to maintain for a lifetime!
What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Activity: Let's face it, I'm a couch potato. I need to get consistent exercise and find things I enjoy doing, so I don't look at it as a chore.
Love: I need to love myself enough to commit to doing what I need to do for me, whether losing weight or maintaining in the future.
Eating: I need to look at food as fuel and not something that I constantly turn to when I'm stressed, happy, sad or bored.
(Evil motivation
) Who do you want to look better than?
: Myself 20 years ago!
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? I'm having so much fun with what I can wear now that I couldn't wear 4 months ago - it's just so different to look forward to getting dressed because I
like all my clothes.
Good Luck to Everyone! Let's do this together!
I am pretty similar to you in that I am only 14.5 lbs away from my goal. This site is AWESOME--so much great information & recipes. 
) after you get past the first 3-5 days. And this is a great forum for encouragement and support...and recipes! Good luck with your decision!
