Beacher BIOS - 2008

[sophie]

User name: Sophie
Age: 63 (how did I get here)
Birthday: 8/9
Married: 39 years
Children: 3
Top weight: 190
Current weight: 180
Goal weigh: 155
Heigh: 5'4"
Eye colour: Blue
Hair: Blonde/Grey
Hobbies: Weaving, beading, knitting, spinning(yarn) travelling
Occupation:retired
Geographic location: Ontario, Canada
Favourite colour: turquoise
Favourite food: everything except liver
Favourite exercise: walking, hiking
Favourite books and movies: anything with Paris(my fav. city)
Problem in weight loss: weak
What is different this time: Want to lose weight to be around for my grandson who is 13 months old

[pam920]

User name-pam920/Pam

AGE: 59

BIRTHDAY: 9/20

MARITAL STATUS: Married

TOP WEIGHT: 185

CURRENT WEIGHT: 146

GOAL WEIGHT: 141

HEIGHT: 5'3"

EYE COLOR: Green

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Love to sew and paint with oils

PETS: 1 dog (long coat chihuahua)

OCCUPATION: Online store/retired from PO

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: KY

FAVORITE COLOR: Pink

FAVORITE FOODS: Mexican and some Italian

FAVORITE EXERCISE: None are favorites, but I do use my treadmill. Love to walk when weather permits.

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Beaches

FAVORITE/GROUP: I love the oldies from the 60's-70's and some Country

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: Staying with the program

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: After a health scare, I am determined to lose and keep this weight at a healthy level. (Loving SB)

[tmignemi2]

User name: tmignemi2 / Terri

AGE: 36

BIRTHDAY: 12/10/1971

MARITAL STATUS: Married

TOP WEIGHT: 227

CURRENT WEIGHT: 217

GOAL WEIGHT: 160

HEIGHT: 5'7"

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Drumcorps/Colorguard

PETS: none

OCCUPATION: stay at home mommy

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Staten Island NY

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

FAVORITE FOODS: Italian and Chinese

FAVORITE EXERCISE: None are favorites, LOL

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Pretty In Pink, The Nightmare Before Christmas

FAVORITE/GROUP: Duran Duran

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: laziness

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I'm determined to lose the weight this time around.

[SBD Sass]

User name/name: SBD Sass - but everybody calls me online and offline SASS

DIET OF CHOICE: The free one that works! The South Beach Diet!

AGE: 30

ASTRO SIGN: Gemini

MARITAL STATUS: Single

Children/ages: I have two girls - 13 and 11 mos.

TOP WEIGHT: 223

CURRENT WEIGHT: 190

GOAL WEIGHT: 173

HEIGHT: 5'8

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: blogging, debating, politics, shopping, makeup, spending time with my kids, travelling and more shopping

PETS: 4 cats (3 girls and 1 boy)

OCCUPATION: An overpaid Customer Service Rep - I work for the State of NJ

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: New Jersey - 10 mins away from Manhattan

FAVORITE COLOR: red

FAVORITE FOODS: Chinese, Spanish and Mexican

FAVORITE EXERCISE: What is exercise?

FAVORITE BOOK(S): Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The American Frugal Housewife, Black Like Me, Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now, Poems by Langston Hughes and My St. Martin's Handbook.

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightly version), Sense & Sensibility, Transformers, Blade, Ocean's 13, House Party and The Wraith

FAVORITE/GROUP: THE RAMONES!!!!!!!, Guns N Roses, Evanescence, kitty Cat Dolls and Genesis

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: I love to snack! I have a problem staying away from Cinnabun at the mall. Thank God they make those cinnabun minis or I'd be in trouble.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I like the fact that I can wear little clothes now. This is the first time ever in my life that I can fit a Medium sized shirt. No more being big for me!!!

[Betsi]

Name: Betsi
Age: 26 (posted Oct '08)
Location: Waltham, MA (near Boston)
Occupation: Disabled/aspiring entrepreneur... that is, I'm an autistic/depressive artist who's trying to find a place to fit!
Hobbies: Art... I enjoy experimenting with lots of things, but my main artistic endeavor hobby-wise is ATCs (artist trading cards) that are trading card size artworks that I trade on an online site (ATCsForAll) and in person at my local Meetup.
Health choices: On the South Beach Diet, and also trying to get more exercise in simple ways like walking more and listening to my iPod while I do housework (it gets me boogying!)
My story: My sweetie (sometimes referred to as just "bf" for boy/best friend) went to the doctor and was told, as usual, that he was too heavy. The doctor suggested he go on the SBD, so he ordered the book when he got home. I agreed to do it with him, since I'm a supportive girlfriend like that. Of course, it's also because I could stand to lose too - I was on 3fC something like half a year ago, trying to lose through calorie control - consume less, burn more. I wore myself out and lost slowly and eventually burned out. It crept back on so now I'm losing it for the second time; I originally gained a bunch of weight - about 50 lbs - when I moved out of my mother's house several years ago. When Sweetie and I started SBD we lost about 10 lbs each on P1, and as of posting this we are just starting P2. I am nervous about the progress slowly, so I'm trying to squeeze in more exercise.
Complications: I am a high-functioning autistic (Asperger's) which among a myriad of other odd symptoms means that I crave crunchy food on a neurological level. Weird, yes, I know. The worst of it is, the only things that feed that craving is extremely unhealthy carbs like potato chips or pretzels. I deal with this by regularly exceeding my SB allowance of legumes, and also allowing myself a very occasional small cheat. So far it seems to work ok, as long as the cheats are in the evening.
I also have recently developed a fairly high lactose intolerance - I used to have alow level one, but over the summer it abruptly got pretty back. I'm finding it very hard to cut back on cheese, especially on SBD but as long as I try to limit to one dairy per day with LOTS of lactase pills I seem to be ok.
And in case that wasn't tricky enough, Sweetie is gluten-intolerant (aka Celiac, though we have no proper diagnosis) so trying to slowly reintroduce healthy carbs on P2 is HARD since it seems the only acceptable carb is whole wheat which makes him quite ill in the short term and long term would even kill him.
Weight and goals: I am about 5'8" (just shy of, really) and at my highest I weighed 200 lbs. That's what started me watching calories, and after I gained the weight back it never quite got that high. So my start weight on SB is 195. As of 10/21/08 (not quite three weeks on the Beach) I am 182.5 lbs. My initial goal is somewhere around 160-165 lbs. This is the high end of "healthy" according to the BMI - and also the high end of "one size fits all" to most hosiery manufacturers! I'm a bit fan of funky tights (stripes and polka dots, silly things like that!) but it's almost impossible to find plus sized ones. Ideally I want to get down to 150 lbs, but we'll see how things look when I hit 160 or so.
I'm on 3fC because: I found my way back here when I needed some ideas for snacking on P1. I found the Fake Garlic Bread, and I've been reading recipes ever since. You girls have such great ideas for recipes - even as simple as "this is what I put in my oatmeal" and it really helps to keep from getting burned out.

[my2trollmonkeys]

User name: my2trollmonkeys

AGE: 29

BIRTHDAY: 05/07/1979

MARITAL STATUS: Married

TOP WEIGHT: 304.4

CURRENT WEIGHT: 286.6

GOAL WEIGHT: 141

HEIGHT: 5'6"

EYE COLOR: green

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: reading/crafts/politics/baking

PETS: do my 2 kids count?

OCCUPATION: stay at home slave...sorry, mom. Part time baker/server.

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Minneapolis, MN

FAVORITE COLOR: Red

FAVORITE FOODS: Mexican

FAVORITE EXERCISE: weights, yoga, body flow

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Wonder Boys, all Harry Potters, the new Twilight (yeah I know it's not out yet), almost any Judd Aptow film and oh so many more movies

FAVORITE/GROUP: Yonder Mountain String Band

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: laziness, no will power.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I have to lose it, no more excuses.

[Big Mama]

AGE: 37

BIRTHDAY: November 20

MARITAL STATUS: Married

TOP WEIGHT: 222 (end of pregnancy #3), 208 when not pregnant

CURRENT WEIGHT: 194

GOAL WEIGHT: 154

HEIGHT: 5'7"

EYE COLOR: blue

HAIR COLOR: dark brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: reading, baking

PETS: none

OCCUPATION: SAHM

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Toronto, Canada

FAVORITE COLOR: burgundy

FAVORITE FOODS: Italian; sweets; anything that has chocolate in it

FAVORITE EXERCISE: elliptical trainer, pilates

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Moonstruck

FAVORITE/GROUP: Radiohead

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: inconsistent with exercising, emotional overeating.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I am sick of feeling unhealthy and ugly

[mythreesons]

AGE: 35

MARITAL STATUS: married (5 years)

Children/ages: 3 boys (3, 2, 4 months)

TOP WEIGHT: 228

CURRENT WEIGHT: 225

GOAL WEIGHT: 150

HEIGHT: 5'7

EYE COLOR: blue

HAIR COLOR: dirty blonde

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: playing with my boys (which means running around, trucks, trains, mud), reading, baking

PETS: None

OCCUPATION: currently a SAHM but I was a teacher for children with special needs

FAVORITE FOODS: salty foods (chips and dip)

FAVORITE EXERCISE: walking

FAVORITE BOOK(S): I love to read almost anything

FAVORITE SINGER/GROUP: DH's band

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: giving into cravings at family gatherings (which happens almost weekly)

[TripMom]

User name/name: TripMom

AGE: 48

BIRTHDAY: March 7

MARITAL STATUS: Married eight years

Children/ages: I have a 5 year old girl, and 2 year old triplets, 2 boys and a girl

TOP WEIGHT: 305 preggo with the triplets (preeclampsia, so I held water)

CURRENT WEIGHT: 207

GOAL WEIGHT: 160 ish

HEIGHT: 5'10"

EYE COLOR: blue

HAIR COLOR: brownish with highlights

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: internet, playing with my kids

OCCUPATION: SAHM - but used to be an elementary teacher

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Huntington Beach, CA

FAVORITE COLOR: purple

FAVORITE FOODS: mexican, italian, and anything sweet

FAVORITE EXERCISE: walking, elliptical trainer

FAVORITE BOOK(S): I have NO time to read these days

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Sleeping with the Enemy

FAVORITE/GROUP: 1970s and 1980 rock, country, alternative

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: I can loose the weight, but it keeps coming back, because I go back to my old ways. I'm just disgusted with my actions.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I don't know. I've got to make a positive change in my life or I am going to end up just like my mom. Overweight with lots of health problems. I'm an older mom and I need to be here, and be able to move for my kids.

[QTestRDH]

User name-qtestRDH

AGE: 23

BIRTHDAY: 6/5

MARITAL STATUS: Living with bf

TOP WEIGHT: 242

CURRENT WEIGHT: 238

GOAL WEIGHT: 140

HEIGHT: 5'10"

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Hobbies? what are those? My life is consumed with working 40 hrs/wk and going to school online for my bachelors

PETS: 1 cat

OCCUPATION: Dental Hygienist

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: NY

FAVORITE COLOR: Pink

FAVORITE FOODS: Mexican all the way

FAVORITE EXERCISE: I hate it all! ..probably pilates

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Little Miss Sunshine, Fight Club, Godfather, The Notebook

FAVORITE/GROUP: Brad Paisley, Rascall Flatts, Carrie Underwood, basically all country

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: Commiting for the long term

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I have probably 3000 dollars worth of cute skinny clothes I used to fit in that I can't bare to throw out!!

[bky106381]

AGE: 22

BIRTHDAY: march

MARITAL STATUS: single

TOP WEIGHT: 150

CURRENT WEIGHT: 150

GOAL WEIGHT: 115-120

HEIGHT: 5'2"

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: I love to paint, listen to music, go to live concerts, drink coffee and meet new people

PETS: a fish name gregory

OCCUPATION: student/barista

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: WA

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

FAVORITE FOODS: Really good goat cheese, pastries, hot chocolate, cheesy new york style pizza

FAVORITE EXERCISE: weight training my arms

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Old School

FAVORITE/GROUP: too many to list

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: the diet part, I can do the working out I can never stick to eating well, I can't have one cookie or one slice of pizza. I tend to binge eat and over do it.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: Everyone I live with has been on a plan and sticking to it for a month now, so having the house be a no junk food zone and hearing about their weightloss achievments makes me want to really stick with it too.

[fmb101]

User name/name: fmb101/Flavia

AGE: 35

BIRTHDAY: October 1st

MARITAL STATUS: Happily married for 15 yrs

Children/ages: 4 girls - 12, 10, 9 & 2

TOP WEIGHT: 154

CURRENT WEIGHT: 150

GOAL WEIGHT: 130-135

HEIGHT: 5'2

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Singing, computers (myspace), tv, movies, camping

PETS: None-have too many kids...lol

OCCUPATION: just opened my own home daycare

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Rhode Island

FAVORITE COLOR: purple

FAVORITE FOODS: junk (birthday cake, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough ice cream, chips, m&ms)...lol, Italian, Portuguese steak

FAVORITE EXERCISE: Swimming, cycling, strength training

FAVORITE BOOK(S): don't have much time to read but just finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Myer and LOVED it. (I know, it's a teen book but I liked it anyway)

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): WAY TOO MANY to mention. Mostly sci-fi, horror, drama, supernatural, etc.

FAVORITE/GROUP: DAVID COOK!!! and also Daughtry, Evanescence, Nickelback, basically rock music but I love dancing to pop and Latin music.

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: I keep gaining?...lol j/k I have a really hard time denying myself my comfort junk food. And I am pretty lazy when it comes to exercising. I do like weight training but I hurt myself and now I'm scared.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: Did something very outside of character for me - I signed up to audition for a band that plays at clubs & corp functions. So I don't want to look bad on stage AND I need to have enough energy just to do it.

[Spooky]

User name/name: Spooky

AGE: 32

BIRTHDAY: October 12

MARITAL STATUS: Engaged to my wonderful partner of 5 years

Children/ages: None yet.

TOP WEIGHT: 261

CURRENT WEIGHT: 232

GOAL WEIGHT: 140 (I think, I have no idea what I'd look like at this weight)

HEIGHT: 5' 3"

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Dark brown

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Knitting, blogging, gaming, decorating, cooking, etc.

PETS: Dog (Jessie, springer mix), Cat (Murray, persian).

OCCUPATION: RN

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Eastern Shore, MD

FAVORITE COLOR: green

FAVORITE FOODS: sushi, baked goods

FAVORITE EXERCISE: Kettlebells! Running.

FAVORITE BOOK(S): I like creative nonfiction and biographical stuff. I've been very into Michael Pollan lately.

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Miller's Crossing. Like indie films, Coen brothers, ridiculous pedestrian comedies.

FAVORITE/GROUP: I like everything from Maria Callas to Britney Spears.

PROBLEM IN WEIGHT LOSS: Honestly, my problem with weight loss is largely emotional. I can be REALLY great at diet and exercise but as soon as I get small enough that someone notices, I freak out. I'm not sure why this is but I'm going to change it.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL: I'm committed to making this lifestyle change. I'm sick of being fat. I want to have children and be energetic and healthy enough to chase after them. I want to role model healthy, appropriate behavior. I'm seeking a support system and keeping a blog to work through emotional issues as they arise.

That's it! Happy to be here!