[RamseyLea]

Hello everyone! My name is Ramsey and I am new to this community. I am in desparate need to lose 65 - 70 pounds. I had a baby in June 2005 so I am a mommy to a baby boy. I know how important it is to have support and have heard so may great things about this website so I decided to join. I am looking forward to getting to know some wonderful women who are dealing with the same issues as me - weight. I am 21 and I weigh 190 pounds. I don't even feel my age anymore....I feel old, my body hurts all the time, and I don't feel healthy. I am HOT all the time and get out of breath very easily which all is due to my weight - so I am convinced. So here I am and I hope to find a diet and a new lifestyle to eating healthy and excerising.

[Buffy0]

Hi Ramsey! I am new to this community as well. I need to loose about the same amout of weight as you do. I currently weight 198 and also had a baby boy in August of 2005. I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant with him but started out overweight so that didn't help. I just started the Atkins diet this week -- I am on day 3 and I've lost 2 pounds so far. We'll see how it goes. Now I just need to get my butt in gear and get exercising.

I'd love to check back here so we can look in on each other for encouragement. I'm older than you though...I'm 34 but am also a first time mommy.

I hope everything is going well with you so far. Are you on any special diets or exercise programs so far?

[RamseyLea]

Nice to meet you! Well, I am starting the South Beach diet tomorrow. I did alot of research before hand and bought and read the books so I understand the diet and the do's and don'ts. I am really excited about it and hope these pounds will start coming off! See, I was 125 lbs. before I got pregnant and weighed 188 lbs at 10 months pregnant. I now weigh 190 so I have actually gained weight since having the baby. Our situations sound so similer! I would love to chat back and forth and check on each other for support!

[Buffy0]

Hi Ramsey. I heard the South Beach diet is a great one. I actually bought a South Beach Diet Recipe book some time ago. There are some good recipes in it, but I think you could get by reading about them for free on the internet. But the diet is supposed to really work. My friends and her mother did it together and her mom lost 30 pounds and she lost 18 and is still going. She says the diet is easy to follow and it's a good diet to incorporate into your life.

Right now I'm starting on the Atkins for just 2 weeks. I want to try getting all of the sugar out of my body...so for that reason, I think this is for me. Plus, for some reason, I am doing ok on it...I thought I would be dying for some carbs by now.

I got married a year and a half ago and was about 150 (more than I would have liked but oh well)...then after getting married I gained about 15 pounds then got pregnant right away -- like 2 months after the wedding. I then gained much more weight then I should have. I actually got up to 230...I was crying when I saw that. But after the baby I came down to 198 and it seems that it's starting to come off but very slowly so I decided I really needed to get on a strict diet. I think I just simply overeat and do not exercise enough.

I'm also looking into getting a personal trainer or possibly joining one of those boot camp programs. Where are you from? I'm from the Bay Area.

Good luck to you. I look forward to seeing your progress. We can do it!!!