[seafoamgreen]

Screen Name: seafoamgreen

Age/Age Range: 26

Family Life: engaged!

Occupation: early childhood developmental therapist - also a doula in training

Hobbies and Interests: reading, hiking, world politics, women and children's issues, baking, spending time with friends and family, traveling, live music!

Favorite Music: alternative, folk, americana

Favorite Color(s): yellow

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: walking and hiking (and I'd love to try rockclimbing some day when I'm in better shape!)

What are your fitness/health goals? I would like to make a lifestyle change so as to avoid all the health problems that will come from being overweight (also getting married next May was a definite motivator )

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? I'd known I'd needed to lose some weight for some time and when I got engaged it was a wake up call - I don't want to start my new life unhealthy and unhappy with the way I look.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? avoiding processed junk and motivation to exercise daily

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? my exercise routines, what I'm eating and when I'm eating it

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? myself now!

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? my wedding dress!

[bec1989]

Screen Name: bec1989

Age/Age Range: 20

Family Life: live with partner

Occupation: nurse

Hobbies and Interests: taking the dog out

Favorite Music: anything

Favorite Color(s): blue

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: walking

What are your fitness/health goals: get to 9st 7

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit- Lecturing patients on loosing weight when i myself was overweight

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?: resisting when others are binging around me

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
1. do more excercise
2. motivate myself more
3. stop giving in

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : myself

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?: any size 10 item of clothing!!

[rtheising]

Screen Name:rthesing

Age/Age Range:27

Family Life:Married to a great man, with 3 kids who are 8,4 and 7weeks old

Occupation: house wife

Hobbies and Interests:Music, acting,and children

Favorite Music:Oldies, country

Favorite Color(s):Green and pink

Favorite Exercise/Workouts:eliptical, jogging,swimming

What are your fitness/health goals?I want to lose the weight I put on during my last pregnancy and some. I want to be a happy healthy person.

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? when I looked at myself, I was not happy with what I had let myself become.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?I tend to eat when Im not hungry so my biggest issue has been finding things to keep me occupide so that I do not eat when I do not need to.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? diet- I need to watch the foods that I am eating and make better choices. exercise- I need to try to get myself into a system in which I will work out at least 4 times a week

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : I dont want to look better then anyone, I want to look like the me I used to see.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? I want to be able to walk in the store and grab whatever I want off the shelf and not have to settle for things that I dont like anymore.

[Clockaleanie]

Originally Posted by aphil

Screen Name: Clockaleanie

Age/Age Range: 41

Family Life: Married, no kids

Occupation: Accountant

Hobbies and Interests: Horses, and going out to eat!

Favorite Music: Just about anything - right now I love Kings of Leon

Favorite Color(s): Purple

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Walking, turbo jam (except it makes my back hurt!), Wii fit

What are your fitness/health goals? To try and make sure I don't get any weight related diseases, like diabetes or high blood pressure. Not to sweat any time the temperature slightly raises!

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Too many to locate really, all followed by failure! Maybe last incident was when I didn't want to take a trip home because my friends and family would see how fat I have got.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Will power, self belief

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? More regular exercise, less beer and wine, realising that the one more slice of pizza really does make a difference

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : Me, right now!

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Shorts (I hate my knees), or a nice sundress (my husband likes them )

Shorts (I hate my knees), or a nice sundress (my husband likes them )

[beachbum1]

Screen Name: Beach Bum1

Age/Age Range: Forties

Family Life: Mom to three sons, wife to one fine husband

Occupation: Writer

Hobbies and Interests: Reading and writing

Favorite Music: classic rock

Favorite Color(s): blue, red

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: jogging/running

What are your fitness/health goals? To get stronger and faster

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Blood pressure almost on the ceiling

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Giving myself permission to indulge in what I know I shouldn’t

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Need to stop giving myself permission, need to ensure I hit the gym and not the wine

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : Me, at 20

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? A pair of blue jean capris
__________________

[coldbrightday]

Hi y'all! I'm introducing myself here for the second time, because i let myself slide right back to where I started over the last couple of years. (Here's my original intro, back in January 2008. Of course I'm upset that I regained everything I lost, but in many ways it's very uplifting to compare these two intros because I've accomplished a lot in the meantime.)

So here goes:
Screen Name: coldbrightday

Age/Age Range: 28

Family Life: live with my girlfriend of 8 years, and our two dogs

Occupation: Cardiac & Surgical ICU Nurse

Hobbies and Interests: Gardening, Running, Cooking, Knitting, Quilting

Favorite Music: This second? Grizzly Bear.

Favorite Color(s): Purple, gray, green

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Running, yoga

What are your fitness/health goals? I know I can LOSE the weight, because I've done it before... more than once, actually. Maintenance is clearly my weak point, so my biggest goal is to maintain my loss, and to be smart about addressing whatever barriers come up. Also, I have some serious bingey tendencies, that I want to confront honestly and head-on. I need to be able to eat a cookie now and then without going completely off the rails. Finally, I want to run a marathon. I ran a half marathon last month and am SO, so proud of myself for that. I like having a specific running goal and not just a weight goal.


What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit?
First my skinny pants stopped fitting. Then my fat pants stopped fitting. That's when I knew it was time -- I wish I'd turned it around sooner, but I'm glad to be here now.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?
See above. Binging, and not maintaining when I DO manage to lose.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Consistency. Being kind to myself. No more diet soda.

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : Still my sister.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Same as before: tall sexy boots!

[sandybunnychibi]

Screen Name: sandybunnychibi

Age/Age Range: 28

Family Life: live with bf of 3 years, 3 cats, 1 dog

Occupation: full time student right now

Hobbies and Interests: reading, playing video games, working on computers, nature, hanging with him, crafts and so on

Favorite Music: tech, jpop, country, rave, pop, lots

Favorite Color(s)ink, red, light blue (silver blue)

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: .none lol, trying to get into zumba

What are your fitness/health goals? able to do 30 min worth of exercise without wanting to die. and get down to 120

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? truely? nothing. i just thinking i need to get in shape, that my depression over my mother death had gone on long enough. ( i started gaining weight when she died...i coudlnt handel it, so i put on like 50 lbs in 2 years)

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? .cutting down my pop intake it my fav thing in the world, and not eating the greasy foods my bf loves (since i cook mostly for him lol he loves my chimichangas)

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? accutly getting up and exercising and not putting it off, eatting healthier, and drinking more water (all three things iv accutly began working on)

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : lol , truely the models! no.. um a girl i know named amanda, she is a great friend, but i use to be thin like her, and she has had a kid im like NOOooooo lol.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? my body hugging dress and tanktops!

[MAMABEAR1985]

Originally Posted by aphil

Screen Name:mamabear1985

Age/Age Range:25

Family Life:became the proud mommy of my gorgeous baby boy Emmett july-30-09 we are staying in Seattle with my mother at the moment and my mom and i are followin the south beach diet!

Occupation:stay at home mommy

Hobbies and Interests:spending time with my lil man and tryin to be as active as possible....which isnt nearly as much as i need!!

Favorite Music:anything from Pantera to The Gap Band or something like Brotha Lynch hung to Pitbull im all over the place 4rm classic rock to hardcore rap lol!!

Favorite Color(s):greens purples and silver


What are your fitness/health goals?i want to be under my goal weight by the time our Papabear gets out May19 2012 and i want to keep all this baby weight off and then some!

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? i need to lose this weight and be healthy 4 myself and so i dont freak out when my man gets out!

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?gettin enough excersise stayin away from sweets and carbs as much as possible

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?more excersice more aware of my calories and more veggies

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : i want to be more in shape then me even before i had my boy!

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?a great pair of jeans

[CorinneIrene]

Screen Name: Corinne Irene

Age/Age Range: 21

Family Life: Just me.

Occupation: Direct Care Professional for the mentally handicapped. Will soon be returning to school to pursue a degree in Wildlife Management.

Hobbies and Interests: Reading, writing, listening to music, gardening, outdoor work, watching movies, hiking, kayaking...list goes on.

Favorite Music: Rock'n'roll.

Favorite Color(s): Green.

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: I love pilates. I've been doing Slim in 6 and love those routines as well. Also, I like to just get sweaty doing outdoor work or going for walks.

What are your fitness/health goals? I just hope to be healthy. I don't want to feel worn down. My biggest concern is my heart.

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Well, I always have wanted to get fit, and would do really well and then gain it all back. This time around, at my highest weight, one morning I was eating 6 mini kit-kat bars for breakfast. I decided I had enough of waking up in the morning and feeling like the undead- I could feel the tiredness, the fat collecting around my sides. I decided it was finally time do to something for ME.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? In the past, I've been kind of a yo-yo dieter. I've experimented with anorexia, bulimia, and anything extreme to get the weight off fast. I put too much pressure on myself and ultimately fail. This time around, I'm not pushing myself toward unrealistic goals- not weighing myself everyday, and feeling ecstatic with the good choices I do make. I haven't struggled so far with an adjusted attitude.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? 1. Keeping away from cookies at work (I work in a home...that's stocked with goodies. They're all sugar free or fat free, but that's what led me to my highest weight. Thinking it was okay to indulge because they were "healthier".) 2. Not paying attention to my calories enough or time in the day. I was going under what I wanted for a while, purely by accident, but I'm being more careful about that. 3. Pushing through the pain when exercising. I push for a bit, but I really need to bring it.

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : Eh, I want to look better than my current self, hee.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? I would love to wear tank tops and shorts again in the summer. Not to mention a bikini- and I have the perfect vintage one.

[dboyuk]

Screen Name: dboyuk

Age/Age Range:37
Family Life:Married 5 years (yesterday), Daughter 4 yo.
Favorite Music:Mixed really, favourite artists are Sting, Phil Collins and Elvis. Groups are Police, Drifters and Beach Boys.

Favorite Color(s):Orange

Favorite Exercise/Workouts:5-a-side footy

What are your fitness/health goals? Basically just want to live as long as possible and hope that these aspects of my life can be improved and help with that goal.
What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Just the bad habit of snacking.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? More exercise I feel, I have a knee injury that's hampered my football at the moment so need to at least burn some cals off some other way. I hate doing the likes of sit-ups and stuff but that will be one I need to do on a daily basis. Also being more careful of what foods I eat. And also being a little more careful when having a drink as that can lead me astray with snacking.
(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? No-one to be honest, I'll just be happy if I can get my body into a little better shape, I do get a bit conscious even on holiday and stuff and prefer to cover up.
What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? Anything smaller than XL or maybe even better Large.

[Breannaj1215]

Screen Name:Breannaj1215

Age/Age Range:21

Family Life: Single, no kids

Occupation: Personal Asst.

Hobbies and Interests: shopping, jogging, watching movies, cuddling

Favorite Music: R&b

Favorite Color(s): Pink

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: jogging withmy ipod

What are your fitness/health goals? to lose weight to be at a normal weight range (160)

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? I dont want to get diabetes and im so unhealthy and tired all the time

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? not drinking reg soda

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? not eating past my calories and atleast walking

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : my ex's new girlfriend

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? shorts!

[Serbrider]

Screen Name: Serbrider

Age/Age Range: 17

Family Life: Single, student... daughter.

Occupation: I did work part-time as a Veterinary Assistant/Kennel Technician... now... just a student.

Hobbies and Interests: OH... too much. Ok... let me go through the list -
horseback riding
animals in general
my dog
crochet
knitting
sewing
crafts
drawing
painting
art
computers
graphic design
photography
science
biology
animal behavior
veterinary medicine
running (only recently)
fencing
archery
rock climbing (OMG!!! I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING!!!!)
etc
I'm willing to try everything... except team sports. I hate team sports. I like individual things.
Favorite Music: Everything except for jazz, classical, rap, polka, and japanese/chinese/asian music.

Favorite Color(s): heather gray and black

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: horseback riding and running/hiking/walking

What are your fitness/health goals? I want to get down to 140 lbs. Which is a 75 lb loss. I want to be able to fit into a size six.

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Well... I've been on diet after diet on and off every since I was 11. I've always been a bit "bigger". I guess the final trigger for me was looking at some photos and videos of myself recently... and then realizing... if I want this... I have to do it. Not put it off... not make excuses... just DO it. And this summer will be HARD (I'm traveling the ENTIRE time, and will be with family that eats a TON)... but I can do it.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? eating too little. Not liking the food I eat. I dunno... I'm weird. I don't enjoy food. I eat because it's a habit. I guess breaking that habit is a part of my struggle. But I honestly don't enjoy eating food. Now... corn... I'm obsessed with corn.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Procrastinating (to stop it... not improve it... ). Pushing myself. Eating more foods... but healthy foods... not "bad" foods.

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : my friends... and older brother's girlfriend.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? one of those 50's type dress (and dresses in general)... skinny jeans, skirts, shorts, tank tops, and those CUTE bras... like... the ones with polka dots and stripes and stuff... not the white and black ones... occasionally with a bit of lace on them. Though... I doubt I'll lose enough in my girls to allow that to happen. Sad...

[robinrose]

Screen Name: robinrose

Age/Age Range:44

Family Life:single mom of three

Occupation: RN instructor

Hobbies and Interests: art dance

Favorite Music:all

Favorite Color(s):blue

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: no really

What are your fitness/health goals? to love exercising

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? I saw the picture of my self in san diego and my doctor weighed me and 230.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? to consistently exercise and follow a eating plan

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? sick to it-tiveness, actual weight loss and exercise

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : myself

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? a bathing suit
__________________

[kendra]

Screen Name:kendra

Age/Age Range:34

Family Life: Single and loving it!

Occupation: Pharmacy Technician and a full time student-going for pre-pharmacy, so that someday I can be a Pharmacist.

Hobbies and Interests: listening to music, volunteering, NASCAR,

Favorite Music: Love all types-just no classical I LOVE LOVE Bruce Springsteen.

Favorite Color(s): Blue

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: the wave by the firm, walking

What are your fitness/health goals? to lose weight and become healthier, get out of the morbidly obese category, get down to a normal weight. eventually would love to run in a race

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? When I weighed 271, I saw a picture of myself and did not recognize myself. Recently, when my pants started getting tight.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? not to stress eat, which i've almost beat! woohooo! go me! Believing that I can lose the rest of this weight.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Make time for exercise every day of the week instead of 3 days a week, really need to get all of my veggies and all of my water in. Some days I do but need to do it everyday!

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? myself, I never want to see a picture of myself and not recognize myself again.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? I would just love to be in smaller sizes. To be able to say oh i'm wearing a 10 or ooooh an 8, *wonders if that is feasible*

[Im On A Boat]

Screen Name: Im On A Boat

Age/Age Range: 40's

Family Life: Married & a Foster Mom when needed (very rewarding).

Occupation: Part-time Office Manager

Hobbies and Interests: Water sports, beach, camping, pretty much anything outdoors.

Favorite Music: Classic Rock, some of pretty much everything else.

Favorite Color(s): Purple & Yellow

Favorite Exercise/Workouts: Swimming & Running

What are your fitness/health goals? To get back to normal.

What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit? Getting diagnosed with why I have been unexplainably gaining weight - hopefully with treatment & understanding of what's going on I can get back to normal.

What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health? Going from always being skinny to all of a sudden gaining weight because of a health issue, then dealing with health issues & learning how to lose weight.

What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve? Just get to normal & feel normal again.

(Evil motivation ) Who do you want to look better than? : I'm sure if I think about it I can come up with someone.

What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size? My favorite pair of cut off shorts.