[cagesorwings]

Hi guys!
I'm sure this website has had a big rush of people since the new year... and I am just another one of them! Oh well, I think I'm here to stay...
I am seventeen years old, a freshman in college going into second semester (going back in three days!) and very very sick of being overweight.
I am 5'8" and 180 lbs (approximately). I think I have sort of a large frame, as I have never been truly thin, but I definitely have weighed less. Two years ago, I joined the spring track team in an effort to lose weight (I was probably about 168 lbs), and got down to around 153 lbs. I maintained that for the summer, then senior year started and the stress of college and whatnot got me back to around 165. I stayed around 160 for the remainder of that, and went into school hoping I'd fight the freshman 15 since it was an urban campus and I would be walking a lot. I even signed up for fitness classes at the gym. Unfortunately, the lack of scale and that assumption combined with the fact that I hated my fitness classes (blech yoga, and the abs class that was good was at a very inconvenient time for me) made me gain the dreaded freshman... 20. Oy. So, this semester... I want to change things. Hopefully this forum will help with that My goal is to get down to 150, hopefully by July... but we'll see about that! Ideally, in the end I'd like to be around 135 or 140, but I know that that is quite slim and I am not sure that my body is programmed to be that way.

How I plan to do it:
I just bought the book "Think Yourself Thin" its all about self hypnosis and weight loss. I have no idea if it works, but the principles that are outlined seem great. Its all about the psychological aspect of why you are overweight, why you want to lose weight, how you eat, and all that. I need to change my eating habits (I overeat and have a huge sweet tooth). I am also miserably out of shape, and I need to change that. I've been trying to be more active while I am home, and once I get back at school I hope to go to the gym several times a week.
Ok, here goes!

[boaterswife]

Welcome in! Yes, there are a lot of newbies around here these days, but hey, the more the merrier!! Good for you for deciding to be more active. I remember those college days, eek! Sounds like you have a plan and a place to start. You can search the internet (I don't have the site in front of me right now, sorry!) but there is a site that tells you how to determine if you are small, average or large framed. The designation is based on wrist and elbow measurements, I believe! You may also want to check out the BMI charts to help determine what a healthy weight is for your body style and height. Good luck to you!