Good Morning! - Newbie :))
 

I wanted to introduce myself if you don't mind. :wave:

My name is Lina. I am a mother (to a 3 year old girl who rocks my world), a wife (to my wonderful husband whom I have been married to for 4 years), and a full time employee.

I started my weight loss journey on August 31, 2009 on my 29th birthday and to date I have lost 35 lbs. :carrot:

I wanted to lose weight for selfish reasons. First, my little sister is getting married overseas and I didn't want to be the only fat one there. Second, I didn't want to enter my 30s unhealthy and miserable, and Third, I want to feel and look good for not only me but for my husband as well. Thankfully, I have a husband who loves me and thinks I'm beautiful at any weight but supports me through my efforts of losing weight.

I started out on Weight Watchers and lost 19 lbs. Eventually I quit because I wasn't getting out of it what I needed. The program is great and I highly recommend it, but for me I was starting to get discouraged at weigh ins because I'm an extremely slow loser and seeing the scale only go down .2 every week made me want to punch the lady weighing me. :D For her sake and my sanity, I quit and I have done great on my own!

I walk/jog outside for exercise during my lunch break. Most days I do 4 miles, some days I do 5 miles. I have started adding in strength training and I'm actually sitting here in pain from sore muscles. :dizzy:

5 days ago I decided to challenge myself to see if I could go 7 days without eating processed foods. Today is my 5th day. My only exception was my coffee creamer and Splenda once in the morning, because while i'm trying to change my habits, I'm not trying to kill someone. Gotta have my coffee in the morning! Since starting this challenge I have lost 2.6 lbs. It's interesting to see how different my body feels without the rice, pasta, etc.

I came across this site a few days ago while I was looking for goal pictures to motivate me. I can't believe how many wonderful and successful people are on this site. How could I NOT join?

So basically, throughout my journey my idea has always been to eat what I want in moderation, enjoy food and life in a sensible way, exercise hard, and lose weight in the most positive way, rather than feeling sorry for myself throughout the process (which is what I have done in the past). I feel like I have made a lifestyle for myself. My body did get use to my way of life and stopped losing, which is why I started the 7 day no processed food thing to jump start it again. It worked.

I have 34 more pounds to lose. I started at 209 lbs and I weighed in this morning at 174. My sister's wedding is on July 4, 2010 and I wanted to be 160 by then, but i'm not sure if i'll make it. I'm going to try like **** to make it though.

OMG, I just gave you guys my life story just so I could say hi...

Hi. :D

P.S. Will put some pictures up soon! ;)

Welcome Lillismom,
You will find tons of support here.Great job so far and good luck with the rest of your journey.

Welcome :D I wish you the best and hope you find support here when you need it :)

Welcome Lina! I'm so impressed you've done so well completely on your own, that's something I've never been able to do.

I started just before I turned 29, like you, I didn't want to turn 30 being overweight and unhealthy.

I can't wait to see some pictures! Again, welcome and pushing towards your July 4th goal!

Thank you for the warm welcomes :)

I'm soooo proud of you!!!! And your reasons aren't selfish! I wish you the best in your continued weightloss efforts!!! God bless...