Featherweights - what's your story?
 

As you can see from my registration date I'm new here. I've clocked up a lot of posts because typing stops me from eating! With the exception of the odd blip I'm doing better than ever before and it's 100% down to 3fc and the amazing support here.

One of the things that has really helped me is reading the goal and mini goal stories and the photo albums. However, I'd really like to know (if that's OK by you guys) more about the featherweights because you are in my boat.

Would you mind sharing your stories? I'd like to know how far people have come - are these last few pounds the last few from a much greater weight loss or a few spare that have always been just a few? How long have you been battling with them for? What fab tips can you share? What made you finally decide to get to grips with your weight? How has 3fc helped you? If you've reached goal how has your life changed?

I'm off to Italy in a fortnight with a group of friends who are all reed thin. Whilst it'll stop me missing the other half I know I'm in for a rough ride diet wise. Whilst I am realisitic that your stories won't keep me on plan whilst I'm out there ;) I reckon they'd be invaluable when I come back.

Having re-read the above it seems terribly nosey but I hope you don't mind. Thanks :)

Who doesn't love talking about themselves?!?!?

This is the second time in my adult life that I've lost weight. The first time occurred when I became pregnant with baby #2 and discovered in my "what to expect when you're expecting" book a sheet of paper from just before pregnancy #1. On that sheet were all of my measurements and goals. I had started a diet and 2 weeks later discovered I was pregnant, so I folded the paper and stuck it in the book. 4 years later and pregnant with #2 and I thought to myself, "wow, I wasn't happy 4 years ago and wanted to change, where am I now?" I looked over all the measurements, and guess what? I was exactly where I had been 4 years earlier. At that moment I made myself resolve to lose weight after baby #2 was born. I had almost a year to prepare myself.

Fast forward...baby #2 is 6 months old and weaned. I can now go on said diet. I did it with a lot of healthy eating and exercise. I went from pregnant weight of 199 down to post pregnant weight of around 165-170 when I started and then went down to 128 in about 6 or 8 months (this was over 11 years ago and my memory is failing!).

I kept my weight between 128-135 for about 2 years. Then I got complacent. I stopped exercising regularly. I rationalized everything "women are supposed to have a little belly fat"....."it's okay to have seconds if I'm still hungry." You get the idea. Suddenly I was at 155. Still 10 pounds less than I was when I got pregnant the first time, so I wasn't too upset.

Then my job got extra stressful and the next thing I knew, my size 8 REALLY didn't fit and size 12 was getting too tight. Time to get back to work!

I started a little over a year ago and did basically the same thing I had done on the previous weight loss journey. I lowered my fat and calories. My doctor said to cut out "white" food, so I did. I exercised more. I've lost 30 pounds with 10 to go. (Actually a lot of you know that I was down to 135.5 on Thanksgiving day, but had some complacency issues during the holidays and packed on 8 pounds which are refusing to budge!)

So, I'm 43, married, 2 kids and this is my second and LAST time I will lose weight! I lurk around the maintainers section here at 3FC to glean some ideas for when I make my goal. I will not, WILL NOT, allow myself to ever get above 140 again (once I get under it!!!LOL).

I guess you could say that I've lost weight twice. The first time that I remember gaining some weight in a concentrated period of time (not sure how much) was after studying abroad in the Carribbean for a summer. My host family overfed me...It's hard to refuse politely when you're not completely fluent in the language, so I ate!!!

I got back and started graduate level study. Sometime that winter, I got sick with a GI illness for a week and realized that my clothes were loose after that. I had never tried to lose weight before, so this was quite a shock. It got me interested in the idea that I could be smaller than I was. I started eating less and exercising more. I think the lowest I got was about 132. I bounced back up into the high 140s during my 3rd year of grad education due to the stressful work and no perceived time/energy for exercise. My last year of study was much better, and I got to exercising again and got down to around 138-142.

I then moved to another city, started a very stressful job where working 120 hours per week was not unusual. For the first 6 months I maintained/lost a pound or two because I was so stressed I didn't eat much. The second 6 months were a different story. I stopped cooking completely; I ate the food they provided at work and purchased all my meals by takeout or delivery when I was home. Food was all that I had to look forward to. It was my entertainment, my excitement, my company.

When that job ended, I moved to another city, had much better hours, and I stepped on the scale and realized I was nearing 160 pounds. Prior to that I had asked myself questions like, "Did I always have this bulge below my belly button?" and "Did I always have this fold of flab on my back?" I had been in denial, and I had told myself that maybe I did!

I decided to decrease the eating out and start exercising intermittently again, and the weight started to drop slowly. At some point, I got tired of cooking again and started eating easy meals (lean cuisines/microwavedsweet potato with soup/carrots, pretzels,and sweet and spicy marinated tuna packs) for lunch. For dinner I always had a lean cuisine or healthy choice meal.

I also quit eating any of the free food at work that looked unhealthy, and later, I just started bringing my own food regardless--less thinking and deception with "healthy-looking" stuff. I have to admit that my calorie levels Mon-Fri were pretty low, and then I would indulge on the weekends and eat whatever I wanted. My weight dropped very slowly or maintained on that plan. I wasn't really consciously trying to achieve any weight goal, and I wasn't unhappy with my size at that time, so I didnt' care how quickly it came off.

I stopped working several months ago (I'm now getting ready to start my new job). I was concerned that my indulgences on weekends would start to spread into Mon-Fri since my schedule was much less strict, so I decided to try to eat evenly every day of the week. I quit all junk food/unhealthy foods, even on weekends. I had time to cook, so I threw the frozen meals out the window and started cooking again. I exercise regularly. I eat pretty similar foods every day and love them. I also discovered this site and fitday at that time, and the rest is history.

I've lost about 5 pounds since I started eating evenly every day, kind of unintentionally. I've struggled a little with finding the right calorie intake for maintenance since I started calorie counting, and I'm currently working on slowly raising my calorie intake to see how high I can go. I've been exercising regularly for the last several months, too.

Let me see .... I remember telling the fellow I was dating that I weighed 102lbs. Then I was lying on my passport and saying I was 118 when I was 120-something. Then I got married, had three babies and someone told me I didn't look bad for having three babies.
I remember hating the idea of being 130-something.
Then suddenly I was 157 lbs and a poster child for metabolic syndrome. I doctored for every symptom in the book.
At about 42-ish a doctor told me I should be walking.
I didn't listen.
I doctored for some more symptoms and changed doctors. Fooled with health foods and found myself well over 160 lbs.
I had no clothes that fit! Then I started walking.
I jumped in whole hog at 1200 calories and whizzled my way down to 119 lbs of skin and bone.
Rebounded, badly.
Tried again. Learned alot about body composition. Got down to 126 or so by adding weight lifting to a BFL type diet.
Now ... I still apparently don't have all my ducks in a row but ... I want to be thin and healthy. So, I carry on.
Yup, it went something like that.

My story's a lot shorter than most, as I'm a bit of a spring chicken. (I'll be 18 in less then a month.) My weight is always something I've been self-conscious about (like all teenage girls) but I didn't really notice how much it could fluctuate with exercise and eating habits until grade 12. Throughout junior high I was taking a martial arts class 3 times a week, and gym 5 times a week in school. I thought I was fat, but I realize now, that I would kill to be that size again (imagine thinking a size 4 was fat?!)

In grade 10 I hit a high point of 159, I remember being miserable with myself for being almost 160lbs; all of a sudden not wanting to eat anymore. At all. I stopped eating breakfast, took lunch to school and threw it out, and pushed the food around my plate at dinner. I think I ended up being about 115 in maybe 2 months? Then I started eating again (I typically eat healthy meals, with sweet snacks), and taking kickboxing, and averaged between 130 to 145 throughout grade 11 and grade 12.

Now I'm in University, struggling with being away from home and eating every meal in a cafeteria. I don't have a scale out here, but I want to be 123 lbs next time I am home because I don't really remember if that was an ideal weight (in my own mind) and because 123 is a BMI of 20, and I like how it is 1-2-3. My goal might change though.

Tips: lots of water, little or no caloric beverages (empty calories), make sure to get enough protein and fat to stay full!

Since junior high, I've been unhappy with my weight and appearance but it was after college that I really started to be overweight. From the time I graduated until I was 35, I gained a few pounds per year, eventually topping out somewhere around 150-155 lbs. I was a size 14 quickly headed to a size 16. My bottom half was two sizes larger than my top half. I couldn't find any dresses that fit and it was getting pretty hard to find jackets and shirts that fit too.

Then two things happened. First, I got a job that allows me to work from home full time on a flexible schedule, making regular gym attendance a possibility. Still, that wasn't enough to motivate me, although it was a New Year's resolution every year. Second, I had some health issues that originally appeared to be weight-related. It turns out that they had nothing to do with my weight (so all this diet and exercise hasn't help with them much) but I joined a gym before we figured that out.

When I first joined the gym, I didn't really think I could lose weight, so my stated goal was just to get into better shape. But I signed up with a personal trainer because it was clear that having a regular appointment with a trainer would infinitely improve my chances for success at even that relatively modest goal. The staff at the gym was so enthusiastic and appeared so confident that I could lose weight (they just took it for granted that weight loss was one of my goals) that I started to think that maybe I could lose weight. I remember sitting on the sofa with my SO after we got home asking him if he thought it might really be possible for me to be happy with how I looked. After literally decades of hating what I saw in the mirror, I just couldn't imagine looking in the mirror and being happy.

At first, all I did were the training sessions. Then I added a couple of days of cardio on my own. I didn't lose any weight but it did seem like my clothes fit better. So I decided to see if making some changes to my diet would work. I was REALLY SKEPTICAL that modifying my diet would work. I thought there was something wrong with me that would keep me from losing weight, but decided to give a 1200 calorie a day diet a try for four months. I was so convinced it wouldn't work, I didn't tell anyone, not my family or my close friends, that I was doing it. My SO knew only because how else would I explain where I was going every day and the excessive measuring of food.

And, what do you know? It worked. Turns out, it's not rocket science. If you eat fewer calories then you burn, you lose weight. After four months, it was very clear, not just to me, but to everyone else, that it was working. In fact, after a couple of months, I even got up the courage to tell a couple of close friends that I was trying to lose weight and exercise regularly.

My stated goal is 115 but I'm not sure that's realistic. My lowest weight was 117-118 and I got there in August of 06 (I started counting calories in Nov 05), maintained for a while but am currently up about five lbs from the holidays. I currently eat about 1500 calories per day and wear a size 2-4. I'm pretty happy with what I see in the mirror. :D I am currently trying to lose the five lbs I put on over the holidays and then I'll have to decide if I really want to get to my goal of 115.

Hooooo this will be interesting to type out! I haven't done it for a while, maybe I ought to save this on my computer just to remind myself how and why and what happened.

Ok, so I was a large child. I was always taller than everyone else at school. I was head and shoulders above everybody, then obviously since I was so tall, I was quite a lot wider than everyone else. I'm going to dig out some photos and decide when I really got "fat" but I remember being quite a slim thing at 7. I had gone on a doctor-controlled diet. 1000kcals a day. I remember being STARVING for lunch. I'd wait around the kitchen table and watch the clock until it turned 12noon so that I could have lunch! I remember my parents getting rid of the deep fat fryer, and then living on oven chips. I was a fussy eater when I was a child and probably kept Bird's Eye in business through my fish finger eating habits! :lol:

So I got fat, and I remember my mother telling me, "You're almost as fat as so and so now..." and she was huge! Thanks mum! So if I was fat then I should behave like a fat girl right? We used to live right in the middle of 3 sweet shops! I could cross the road to get to one, or walk next-door-but-one to get to the other. I think I spent most of my pocket money on sweets and ice creams. I remember being given £5 and spending it all on sweets with my friend.

So when I got to secondary school I didn't quite have the same opportunity for sweet buying but the only things I liked for school dinners were sausage rolls and hot dogs, chips and chocolate pudding! Other times when there was stuff I didn't like I ate cream crackers and cream cheese.

When I was 14 my parents moved house and I lived with my grandparents during the week so that I could still go to school. Oh my goodness I hated it there! I hated being fat, I hated not being able to walk to school (about 15 minutes) with my friend, I hated not being able to go to the shop after dark (less than 5 minutes away), I hated that they watched the holiday program, that my grandmother wrote me a letter with house rules in! That I couldn't have a pet there, that she called my favourite poet "mad" (Spike Milligan - manic depressive. SO?), etc! The one thing I could seemingly control was my weight. I skipped lunch. I was unhappy at school and didn't have many friends. Then I started skipping breakfast - I remember "washing up" clean bowls and spoons in the sink and only eating half a plain biscuit (cookie) for breakfast to "boost my metabolism" :rofl: (OMG something just hit me - remind me to talk about weekends!). Then when I got home from school I would eat whatever she cooked for me. Usually. There was a nice argument when I think I might've had an oddly horrified look on my face when she put 3 fish fingers that she had FRIED IN LARD in front of me! So she asked me what was the matter and I said, "They're swimming in grease..." AND she knew I was "dieting". I think that was the same night as the mad comment about Spike Milligan. I was obviously really excited about the new book I'd bought and she made that comment. Anywhoo, so most weekdays would go like that, then I would eat whatever I wanted at weekends, since I was home with my mum and dad and happy. I remember we used to have great roast dinners and huge creamy desserts and all bloomin sorts! Anyway, over that 18 month period I lost 28lbs and looked pretty good - I actually wore vests for the first time ever and some cute hippy clothes.

Then I went back to school for 6th form and became a border. I loved it! However I wasn't loving school dinners twice a day! Breakfast was good though! I started lifting weights then - I'd be the one with the key to the weight room when it went missing! :lol: I was also swimming almost every day in free periods and at lunch. Unfortunately my grades suffered because of all the exercise I was doing! YES REALLY! I didn't really want to acknowledge that fact, but it was true, so I dropped a subject and stopped swimming and weightlifting and bucked up my grades, although not enough since I still had to resit after the two years. During 6th form we were allowed into town in our free periods. Most people went to the big supermarket next door to buy bread for our toaster, tea, sweets etc etc. I wish I'd found healthy eating then, I could've bought all the healthy stuff I needed and continued exercising and I would've been fantastic! But instead I bought sweets and I remember bingeing one day at lunch. Needless to say I regained all the weight I'd lost while staying at grandma's.

After 6th form I worked in a sweet shop :rofl: I'm still trying to work out the logic that I thought it would be a good idea!!!! Anyway, so I put on an extra 14lb in about er 3 months or something! When I left that all came off again, and I took a year out, moved into a rented room with a family and did an engineering placement. I tried to restrict what I ate but I remember it mostly being macaroni cheese and english muffins! For lunch we would either go to this burger van that did amazing (fried food) sandwiches, or we'd have fish and chips! So I only stayed about the same that year, although I did go to the gym and go out dancing a lot with my friend.

Then I went to Uni and tried to look after myself better. I remember trying to like pork... It didn't happen then! I can't remember much about what I ate, but I don't think I cooked in the kitchen much! My first year at Uni I had a long-distance relationship with a boy I adored :love: he still gives me a bit of the goose bumps now! However we broke up because I wanted to marry him (never ask a boy after 6 months if he'll marry you!), and another time we had a bit of an argument while he was out partying with his mates and I was in my dorm. Oh and another time I remember asking him if my fat bothered him and I said I'd lose weight for him and not for me. (DUH!) And while he didn't exactly say that it bothered him, I could see it in his eyes. (He had previously been bigger himself). So it all fell apart and I wanted to "show him" that I could be thin and sexy! :rolleyes: And I was devastated and love sick and I probably didn't eat for about a week! I also entered my first 5k run then. I went out "training" once with my friend (now DH) and once on my own and I found it so hard that I basically walked the race. I lost about 7lbs between breaking up with that guy and the summer.

That summer I was kicked out of Uni (lovesick bunnies tend not to do much Uni work...) and I got a summer job in a kitchen! :faint: I lost another 7lbs while I was working there, since I didn't want to make anything to eat when I came home from work and my meanie mum wouldn't make anything for me, I remember her saying, "You've been making sandwiches all day, make yourself one!" :doh: So I ended up living on Weetabix! :lol: I also had mild fibro while I was working there and for the next 6 or so months and I lost another 7lbs.

I went to a new Uni, decided to eat right once and for all, joined a gym and actually went, went to body combat (fuelling the desire for kickboxing) and step and legs bums and tums and stuff like that. I also carried on lifting. I remember when I was at 6th form reading in Zest that Jennifer Aniston's trainer had her lift heavy weights because heavy weights built muscle and increased metabolism. I have ALWAYS lifted heavy because of that. However I only used machines, but they were better than nothing! So I lost about 14lbs that year.

My 2nd year at that same Uni I moved in with my then boyf (now DH) and I continued "dieting" on about 1200kcals. The first time I'd properly counted. I used to keep a diary and I'd be on about 1200 during the week and a little more at weekends. I also started kickboxing. :love: I dropped another 14lbs to where I am now.

During my final year dieting was still on my mind, but I only managed to maintain. I'd cycle to Uni some days and still kickbox 3 hours a week.

My first year of employment (last year) I decided to get down to it. I started eating 6 mini meals. Lifting heavy, I invested in dumbbells and barbells at home and started running. I completed lots of 5ks, a couple of 10ks and last October a half marathon. I lost another 7lbs before last May until wedding mania hit and I've kinda lost the plot since then and am up 14lbs since last May.

I need to find my groove again. I KNOW I can do it, I just wish these last few pounds were as easy as the first few!

re: Weekends. See when my weekend binging began? It's been ingrained since I was 14 years old that as long as I was really strict during the week I could stuff my face at weekends. That has got to STOP! I almost never eat off plan during the week, but weekends are very rarely on plan. :mad:

I was never worried about my weight. Throughout university and grad school, I was probably between 145 & 160 most of the time, and I liked how I looked. I thought I was attractive, sexy, etc. I knew I wasn't skinny, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. I didn't wear cover-ups over my bathing suits. I wore tops that showed my tummy. I worked out a lot, so I was more muscle than flab, and in photos from those days, I still don't think I looked half-bad.

Then I moved in with a guy who would grab my love handles, and say things that made me not feel so attractive.

The first day I got on the scale at this point, I was at 148. Over about a year and a half, I dropped down to a low of 122. It didn't come off all at once. I'd lose 4 or 5 pounds, then maintain for a while, then lose another 4 or 5. Some people thought I had lost too much weight, but I thought they were just jealous. But sometimes I got hungry. Once I ate half a cheesecake in my sleep.

The boyfriend dumped me, and I moved out on my own. Within about eight months, I'd gotten up to the 132-136 range. I liked it there. I looked good, I was comfortable, I wasn't hungry.

I stayed there until I met my husband. I went up to about 150 when we first started dating (comfort?), dropped back to 135 for our wedding, and then within a year was at 157, which is where I'm trying to come back down from now.

I have 120 as my goal, but that's to keep me from getting complacent and thinking I am close so I can stop trying - really I'd be happy back at that 132-136 range. But it's hard this time. I don't remember it being hard before. Every day is a struggle. I can't seem to move the scale below 145 to save my life. Maybe I'm older and my metabolism has changed, maybe I don't care enough any more, even though I think I do. I've tried calorie-counting, which I've never done before - all I've learned is that calories in v. calories out isn't the nice mathematical formula it seems to be. I've bought a scale, for the first time in my life - and discovered how easy it is to obsess with that number, without seeing it go anywhere.

That's about it for me!

Hi there cool chix! I have been looking for a site that is free and supportive and has a sense of humor...so here I am!

I have never been obese, but I have never known thin, either. I'm 5'4 and have always been around 150lb. When my husband and I got married I had managed to get down to 135lb, but ended up gaining and reaching almost 160lb. I decided that I DID NOT want to keep buying bigger clothes. So, I joined WW last year. It has been a love/hate relationship, but I have come to the conclusion that I feel best when I stick with the plan and exercise. I struggle with accepting myself where I am now. I have this nutty self talk going on in my head...one day I will say that I love my body and I don't need to lose...another day I will wonder why I can't just reach my goal once and for all. Some times I hate the way women are portrayed on magazines and other days I want to look just like them. Stop the insanity!!!

I hope to find some cool friends here who can relate.

~jblossom
http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/bar071...8/130/147/.png

Gee. It all happened so fast! One day I was comfortable at 109 lbs, then determined to draw the Red Line at 120. Held steady there until I had a foot reconstruction gone bad that kept me on the couch for 6 months living alone with 5 dogs. We ALL ate a lot. Suddenly I topped out at 152lbs.:fr: ...

When I returned to work I got back into the 140's. Then I was "let go" for having had so much sick time off. Hovered in the high 140's.

I'm just now working again and able to walk [about every other day] again. I decided I needed to do something more structured and drastic than I had been and so am doing the Body For Life for Women program.

GONNA make it happen!

spanky

Great thread idea Doughnut :yes:

I often have people ask about my story, I really feel that I have no big story :shrug: ...

I was a pretty average kid... As a teenager I thought I was fat, but looking back at pictures I was far from it. I had one aunt that always commented on my bone structure, I thought she was saying that I was overweight so I thought I was fat... I do have big bones which can be seen in my NOT so delicate hands, good hand for picking potatoes my g/f always says :lol: ... And I do have a very wide back even without weight training...

As a young adult, 20 yrs or so, I started biking and liking it and that's how I kept in shape.

At 28 I decided to quit smoking and start exercising. This is when I joined a gym, 22 years ago :faint: ... At the time there were only about 5 girls on the weight side of the room, we had a blast working with the big guys. I did some aerobic classes but I didn't like them at all, it was too much like work... I preferred just weight training.

At 30 my mother and I both needed to lose weight I was weighing about 150 then. We joined Weight Watchers I lost 20lbs, I was down to 130 :carrot: ... Then BAM, as soon as I reached my goal I got pregnant :mad: ... I wanted to be pregnant, but hated the thought of gaining all my weight back... I ballooned up to 180 :rolleyes:.

It took about 2 years to get back to 130, once again I got pregnant. This time I ballooned up to well over 200# ... I looked aweful I had no neck I shudder everytime I look at this pic of myself just days before delivering my DD... After DD was born I yo-yoed and yo-yoed and yo-yoed, up and down, up and down...

Then we bought this new fangled gadget a computer :comp: and this is when I discovered the internet and all the great resources available for just about everything imaginable. One day I googled "diet sites" or something like that, and discovered 3FC... I lurked for a very long time as most people do. I lurked the most in the Ladies Who Lift section and they talked a lot about Body for Life, eating 5-6 meals/day. I started posting and met Mrs.Jim, Meg and Mel... I learned a LOT from those 3 ladies and finally started to lose weight, I lost 15# :dance, but it took me foreEVER to lose :faint:, but lose I did and have kept it off...

I also started running and this has helped tremendously in keeping the weight off...

A few weeks ago I turned 50 :faint: ... this is the last time I will lose the weight because there is no way I am getting pregnant at this point in time :lol: ... So I have no excuse anymore ...

And that girls and boys is my story and I'm stickin' to it ... Later all :wave:

Any new Moms out there trying to lose weight?
 

Hi I'm new to this site. I've had two beautiful girls in two years and now that the youngest is weened I want to get my body back. I always weighed between 117 and 128 and I find myself at 160 and not liking it at all. Are there any other mothers out there in my situation, and if so what did you do? I'm in need of a little inspiration.

OK, here goes. I am 64, 5'2", and while my present goal of 145 seems pretty high comparatively, the few times I was at that weight, it was a good healthy weight for me. I am build really out of proportion, with a tiny face and frame on top and a large frame on the bottom... Only once in my life was I 116#, and that was when I graduated high school, and it was basically me losing my baby fat. My mother was always bemoaning my build....I take after her, and food and dieting was the much talked about topic in our house.In college, 135-145 was my norm, and it was a good one, for my face is so tiny it gets gaunt when I go below that. But then marriage, and an evolving bad marriage did me in. After 18 years of marriage and 2 kids I was up to 180....however, the last two years of my marriage I somehow found the will power to drop the weight, back down to 145, and I don't know if my husband felt threatened or not tho' I think there was some of that....a divorce later......I maintained at 145 for a number of years, then my daughter got very ill, I injured my foot, had to work under an "evil" boss, and my weight ballooned again. It has been only in the last two years that I have started to get things under control. Working out, joining a gym, getting a trainer, and then starting to do training myself all contributed. I think it was also that I finally had the self-esteem I needed, and recognized all that I've accomplished over the years, that made the difference possible.

Losing weight at this age is so much harder, much slower, and it means I need to think of eating not as a diet but as an eating plan for life. Most days it goes well, and even my binging isn't the horrendous overindulgence it used to be, when I could finish a gallon of icecream and still keep going. Thank goodness for that! Being a trainer also makes a difference, as I have to set a good example. It is a continuous process, and challenging, but having 3FC to come to, and the support and encouragement of everyone here has been extremely helpful.

Guess that's about it.

Really interesting to read everyone's stories! As for me, I was always a medium sized kid - I was fairly tall and had big boobs from age 11 on, so I was really all around thin through my sophomore year of high school. My family is naturally pretty muscular and has ridiculous metabolisms. My mom always taught me that food is the most reliable pleasure in life - something I still think is true, I just needed to learn moderation. Being in a boarding high school I put on a little weight, from about 130 to 140, but it wasn't until my junior year abroad in Israel that it started in earnest. I loved the program but hated a lot of the kids I was there with, and was constantly stressed - also, I didn't like much of the food but ended up eating a lot of different things at each meal so that I felt satisfied. By the time I returned, I had gone from about 140 to 155 or so, and over the next two years I ballooned up to between 185 and 190 - I refused to weight myself. I had struggled a little with eating disorders as a depressed early teen, and had a lot of trouble thinking about losing weight without slipping back into disordered eating, and so essentially didn't do anything about it. I generally had a few guys around, and was at an all girls school and insanely busy anyway, so it was no big deal.

Anyway, it just had to wait until I was ready. At the beginning of this past summer, I was housesitting and eating less because I was on my own, and ended up losing five pounds, effortlessly, over a matter of a few weeks. It was sort of an epiphany, an "oh, right, I CAN do this if I want to" moment. I monitored with fitday all summer, and was down to 160 when I returned to school. In the first few months, I kept up my eating habits but didn't work AS hard, and was walking around the city a lot - I found after two months that I'd lost another ten. From 150 to 140 has been an effort, punctuated by a brief holiday detour back up and down to 145, and I'm really working on those last ten. It was really funny, actually, today I was hanging out with a few girls from my school, one of whom had known me last year and two of whom were new, and I mentioned that I missed my shapelier rear (I DO!)... And when I saw the confused looks on their faces, realized I had to explain that I'd been 50 pounds heavier the year before. It was very strange having people not know that part of me, because so much of me is still the chubby girl inside. And that's not a bad thing at all. Anyway, thats my little story :) Do we get your full story soon?

These stories are absolutely great - please keep them coming!

I thought this thread had been deleted and then found it up here - I hope i didn't press something wrong, I don't think I did :?:



Anyway, my story which I've never expressed before let alone written down so this should be interesting (er - for me :) )

Skinny, skinny kid. Ate loads, exercised loads, never aware of my weight at the time - didn't occur to me to think about it. Then I went to bed aged 14 slim and I woke up aged 15 and fat. OK - that might not be quite right but that's how I remember it and it was really fast.

I probably wasn't fat either. At 15 I was about 5'"2 - 3" and I weighed 8 1/2 stone - 119ish but that was substantially bigger than my friends and I was definitely chubby. Then absolute disaster. A group of us (I was at boarding school so my parents had no clue about this) decided to "diet" which when you're 15 and nutritionally clueless means starvation. The obvious happened - I went up to 9 1/2 stone (133) and was fat. I stayed that way and got heavier. By the time I left school I was 147. Several of us from that "diet club" ended up with eating disorders and one of us died 6 years later from the effects of anorexia. I've never quite got over it.

Off to university and did a little better there because I started smoking heavily - terrible, terrible decision - but I went down to 135 ish and stayed between there and 140. I'd also grown so overall not too bad.

I stayed between 140-147 all my adult life except for a few months here and there when I got to 133ish again but always as a result of stress or upset. Anyway, 3 years ago I stopped smoking. I then blinked and was 163 - the highest ever. I totally couldn't handle that and calorie counted my way back down but have yo yoed between about 143-158 ever since.

I've never been slim as an adult. You'd think at my height that I would be at 133 but no such luck - annoyingly small bones. I want to be slim as a young(ish) woman and I feel like I've wasted so many years that it's time to do it. I feel like I did when I knew it was time to stop smoking.

Finally just to say:- I have never stuck to a diet for longer than 3 weeks before which is a period of time that usually sees me lose 10lbs. I've not lost as quickly this time but it's been over 4 weeks and I'm still going strong. That is absolutely 100% because of this site. Because members here have picked me up when I've fallen down, reminded me that one day can't possibly wipe out what I've already achieved and that this isn't an x number of weeks diet - it's a life plan so you've got to put things into context. Whilst I can come here and read and post I can keep going so thank you - so very, very much.

Doughnut -- Sorry I didn't PM you, I found it was such a great thread idea that I put it at the top of the Featherweights forum as a Sticky so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle...

Oh heavens - no bother. I'm technologically challenged and just thought I'd pressed something wrong!

New Member - Same Issues
 

Growing up, I was always teased about my weight. Three kids later (including 2 c-sections), those taunts and words still resonate loudly. Well, my youngest just turned 1 this week...and now, it's time for me to kick it into high gear. I've already shed some pounds, but I'm still not where I want to be. Of course, my husband tells me I look great. (Although, he thought I looked great 30 pounds ago...so I think he's got a biased opinion.) I'm just glad that this forum exists. My husband doesn't understand why I "need" to lose another 10 or 15 pounds. But, I'm sure many of you do...and that's what makes this site great!

Thanks.;)

Hello everyone!

My name is Erica. I am a fairly small person, in general. I was active in high school (gymnastics), but when I went to college (5 years ago), I gained weight steadily throughout the four years - a total of 10 or so pounds -- oh take out at midnight (wings, pizza!) and I was also very inactive. 10 pounds may not seem like a lot, but it is a lot on a almost 5 foot tall lady! My weight is has gone mostly to my stomach and BUTT! And, my face has gotten rounder too. I have been trying to lose my gut that hangs out over my low-rise jeans for awhile now. And now I am at about 116 pounds. I don't even want to be "skinny," I just do not like my big BUTT and my stomach hanging out over my jeans! (Oh those low-rise jeans -- why!) I always say that I won't buy new clothes until I get rid of my stomach, but it's been like two years since I've said that! So, I'm here.. I need support to get healthy.

Have a great day ladies :)

:wel3fc: honeyjobear :wave:

Ok, Here's my story. I was thin until I hit puberty, then I became chubby. By the time I was 16, all the fat melted away. I was always a little discouraged about my weight from the time I was 24 on, but I was always active, dance and kung fu. Since I moved from Ontario to Quebec I have had a baby and join the race of the domesticated, I became inactive. Although I lost my pregnancy weight, I was 144 before I became pregnant and unhappy then too. I did manage to lose 10 lbs, but they are back. So, I am beginning to realize that I need to find the time to exercise and cut back on calories to get down to weight that I am happy with, so here I am.
Dana

Here's my story:
As a child I was a painfully skinny competitive gymnast. Lots of exercise and I was naturally thin/small boned so I never worried about what I ate. I remember getting a speeding ticket when I was about 20 and being offended that the officer listed my weight as 120 (when I was actually about 100-105).

Fast forward to the beginning of the summer I turned 30. I was pretty happy at that point to be at about 120. By the end of the summer I knew I had gained some weight but since I had never had a weight problem I didn't own a scale so I don't know what the number was. A year and a half later I was trying to climb a volcano in Mexico and absolutely could NOT make it to the top.

When I got back home I joined the gym and found that I weighed (gulp) 148, which on my frame is quite overweight. I started exercising - lots of cardio, lots of weights and lost a total of 3 lbs in 4 months :mad: Have you heard the one about being able to eat whatever you want to as long as you get a lot of exercise? It isn't true! About that time I joined 3FC and started modifying my diet. I eventually got down to about 118 by the end of that year. I believe the day I reached 118 was the day that I started gaining weight again.

That was a year ago and I'm still working to get back down to 115-120. It's been at least 6 months since I have actively tried to lose any weight so when I got to my line-in-the-sand weight of 125 a couple of weeks ago I started thinking about cutting back/going back to the gym. Unfortunately I woke up this morning and saw 127 on the scale. I immediately started counting calories in my head and entered my stuff in fitday today for the first time in months. So I'm beginning the last assault on the last 10 lbs.

I've said several times over the past few years that I'm going to lose weight and each time I just didn't commit. I'd stay with it for a week or so and then go back to normal ways. It's hard when you're living with a stick of a man who eats all kinds of junk food and stuff and it's all over the house.

This time I just got sick of hating my body and wanting to cry anytime I had to look at myself. I have always been very skinny, about 110 pounds and I don't want to be that skinny again, but I don't want to be where I am now either.

On other people, my weight would be fine, but on my frame every single extra pound shows. Since January 2 I have lost 17.5 pounds. I want to hit 135 and reevaluate. I'd love to see 120-125, but that may end up feeling like too much. I have not really been exercising because it's just too hard. I want to join a gym, but the gyms here cost so much it's just not something we could do. There is a new one opening soon that I'm hoping to get in on pre-sale rates.

I've started doing 30 minutes - 1 hour of Dance Dance Revolution on the Playstation 2 (go ahead and laugh) lol I figure at least it gets me moving and helps me burn some calories during the winter when I'd normally not be up and out much at all.

I live 5 blocks off the beach and would like to buy a bikini for the summer just because I can look good in one. lol

Welcome soggy!!!

We won't laugh--in fact there are a lot of people who do DDR. If I had a Playstation, I might invest in the game. Another one is Eye Candy Kinetic (that one looks so cool!).

You've done great to lose 17 already!!! Congrats and keep on going. Join us in the Featherweights weekly chat.

-Fresh Blood-

Hey all,
I'm Ella and I'm guessing I'm a featherweight as I only have 5lbs left to lose after a long, hard battle.
I'm only 19 and yet by the time I was 15 I was approx 200lbs, over the past few years I've managed to get that down to 117, and would ideally like to hit 112 before too long,
though I appear to have been stuck around 120-117 since October last year.

Hmm yea, think that's it.:)

Hi! I'm new! Weight was really never an issue for me until about 27...then I put on some weight during a depressing period in a relationship. I had always hovered around 125. I think I maxed at 165! Then I lost most of it...probably hovering around 135...and probably reaching that max again when I was pregnant. For the past 3 years I've been hovering around 145. I'm 5'5" but have a pretty small upper body...so it's not like a lot of my weight is boob weight! :) Unfortunately I carry it in my stomach, legs, and butt. :( I don't look particularly overweight in the clothes I choose to wear, but I've definitely got some rolls and in general feel out of shape and unhealthy. I don't eat poorly...I'm a vegan. I just don't expend enough energy to make up for the calories I take in, and there are certainly some foods I should cut out. I love seeing everyone's little weight trackers. They're very inspiring! :)

My little story
 

I’m an artist who works in fiber, a magazine editor, and a writer. You can see my artwork, my studio, and our sailboat at http://www.clvquilts.com I like indie movies and all water sports. I enjoy a causal bike ride and a walk, but dread sweaty workouts.

My husband and I have been dancing for the past two years since we went on a cruise around the world (I was the onboard art/quilt teacher). He took ballroom classes while I taught. We went to 40 ports in 25 countries over 4 months and had the time of our lives. This past year, I went back for a second trip and he joined me for the African segment.

Since we’ve been home, we’ve gotten into swing dancing and can do East Coast, West Coast, and as of Saturday night, Shag.

Doughnut asked some great questions in her post, so I thought answer them.

Are these last few pounds the last few from a much greater weight loss or a few spare that have always been just a few?

Last week I learned of 3fc by reading an article in the March 2007 O magazine. I decided to join the featherweights because I was within pounds of my current goal. Plus, since I’m so little (5’1” ~110 lbs) I thought it would be a good category. I’ve taken off 49 pounds since mid-Dec 2005 due mainly to a switch in medications that changed my eating habits for the better.

As the weight came off, I became more motivated to lose more. So initially I hoped just to lose some of the weight that a former med had contributed to putting on. (I still take full responsibility for eating the food, the med just dramatically increased my appetite.)

Over the months, I came up with small goals of fitting back into a favorite dress or pair of pants. Now I’m at the point were everything’s too big and I’m going to have to go shopping.

How long have you been battling with them for?

It took me 4 years on the old med to gain 50 pounds.

What fab tips can you share?

I’m not dieting. I’m eating extremely healthy. Mostly whole vegetables and whole grains with some fish. I’ve cut down on meats and sugars no longer appeal to me because of the change in meds. (I know, you all want my ‘magic pills’, but trust me, you have to have a serious medical condition to be prescribed this one.)

What made you finally decide to get to grips with your weight?

At first, it wasn’t my decision. It was a ‘side effect’ of medications. But as I saw the weight coming off, I started getting motivated to eat a healthy way. Since my cravings switched from carbs and sugars to salads and vegetables, I started watching Christina Cooks, a whole foods cooking show on PBS. It taught me a lot about how to prepare quality meals. Though I don’t plan to become a vegan like her.

How has 3fc helped you?

It seems to be a friendly and supportive community.

If you've reached goal how has your life changed?

It’s easier to get around without lugging an excess 50 pounds. I look a lot better so I feel a lot better. It’s easier to be active. Other than that, I’m still the same happy person I was when I weighed 160 lbs.

New here
 

Hi, I'm 41 yrs old and 145 lbs. I've been about 15-30 lbs overweight since high school. I was down to about 130 lbs about 2 yrs ago when went low carb, but didn't last. It's such a surprise to be on the 'feather weight' board as I see myself as quite heavy. I think my problem is, like many people, emotional eating and then I feel that I've blown it so I go crazy on food for a while. I tend to eat better when I'm at work (I work pt) as opposed to when I am at home with my young daughter. Anyway, this board is so large that I'm not sure how to navigate!

:wave: Carolyn and missladybug :wel3fc:

:wave: ellastar and flitter :wel3fc:

dear JB,
my situation is similar. I too do the self talk about "loving my body" which of course, I do, but like being down in low 130s and feel great there.
Good luck. I just joined today to keep myself accountable. I want to lose ~14 pounds and it has been hard. I think this will be great...and hopefully fun.

:wel3fc: mary cady

I was always a skinny kid. I didn't play sports but took dance lessons and weighed around 108 at age 14. Then in 10th grade I quit dance and gained 20-30 pounds in two years. I didn't really notice how much I gained, but always wanted to be thinner.

I was able to keep my weight there through college and the first few years afterward. Then I moved cross country and got married. I was 135 on my wedding day. I had a really stressful job and would eat to relieve stress. I ended up putting on a couple pounds, then a couple more....

I weighed 148 when I got pregnant. I got up to 185 by the time my son was born. Afterwards, I stalled out at 166, then dropped to 160 when I stopped breastfeeding. That's where I've been hovering since November. I hope to get pregnant again sometime in the next six months and would love to be at least to my pre-pregnancy weight by then. My ultimate goal would be to get back to the 135 I was at when I got married. I am feeling really motivated this time and hope for some success!

Cindy

:welcome: Cindy :wave:

I thought I would introduce myself as well. I wont bore you with too much detail but here's a little about me....

I grew up in a house of very naturally skinny people. My mom tells me I am the "big boned" one of the family. In high school most of my girlfriends were worried about their weight and eventually I would seldom eat breakfast, eat nothing but a bag of skittles and a frozen juice box all day at school and then get home and eat nachos or something terrible as a snack and have dinner with my father a few hours later. I only ate when I had to - which was when my dad was around. I got really skinny and liked it. I worked a lot so people didnt really know how little I was eating. I didnt exercise at all except for some springs I would play baseball for the season. My last season I broke my wrist, likely due to my lack of nutrition. Not very many people break a wrist sliding into second base. I know my father (who I lived with) was quite worried about me and was always asking what I ate and "whipping up a salad" for me when he got home from work or asking me to "just drink one little glass of V8" before going to a friends. I started resorting to lying about what I ate and I would always spend so much time at friend's houses that it was difficult for him to keep tabs on what I was really eating. There was nothing he could do anyway.

Events like a big breakup with a boyfriend would spiral me into basically total starvation. I remember one time the cleaning lady at my boyfriend's house even commented on how skinny I was getting. She was quite worried. I think I just thought being skinny would make him want me. I didnt value my body. I got to university and I remember gaining 8 pounds (I was 105 when I arrived) and I thought I was gigantic. I think about that now and realize how dilusional I was. I went home to see my boyfriend at thankgiving and he didnt even notice but I was not happy. Living with 5 other weight concious girls in university definitely didnt help me. I got into eating properly and exercising regularly though and was quite healthy. Except in the summers, working at restaurants as a server, I would barely eat since I never wanted to food we served and I was never hungry when I got home at 3am. In my last year of university I finally found a balance of exercise and proper eating and hovered around 118-120 pounds. I was happy.

Then at the end of university, I got mono. I spent what should have been the best of my last couple weeks there in bed. That was horrible. I moved back home to my dad's and spent a month in bed after a relapse of the mono from the stress of exams and moving 4 years worth of stuff. It took a long time to get over mono and the fact that I couldn't exercise was so frustrating. I think that's when I started to really love eating. Although I can see in the past, restricting and bingeing did occur. My family is very focused on food - always talking about it, eating at all functions, etc. They have high metabolisms. Food is just a love of my family.

So I thought I had gained tons of weight after mono. Mainly I just lost the toned look I had and all my muscle turned to fat. So then I started working out again but with a job I hate and no boyfriend in a city where it seems impossible to meet anyone, I just started eating .. eating a lot. Bingeging then getting angry, dieting then treating myself/giving up. Over and over and over.

Finally I feel like I am ready to get back to my happy self. I have decided to quit my job after torturing myself for long enough. I am going on a trip to Europe that I have been dying to do for years, and I'm moving back to my home town afterwards. I'm very excited about being myself again and I hope you guys can help me through my journey. You've already been a huge help.

I said this wouldnt be long.. sorry.

:welcome: Bikini Dreader :wave:

Hey, I just found this thread. I had no idea there was a support forum for us "featherweights". Cool!

Here's my story:

I was never "fat" in high school, but nobody would have mistaken me for a bean pole either. I started college at around 135 lbs and didn't gain the freshman 15. But then something happened the summer after freshman year. I gained about 20 lbs in about 2 months. I had been sick a lot that summer, and so I spent most of my time lying in bed. And then to console myself I ate and ate and ate. So by the start of sophomore year, I was 155. I'm 5'2, so that's pretty heavy for me.

I stayed at that weight until the next summer. My "wake up" moment was 2 things that happened in the same week. The first was that I was playing the lead in my theater group's show, and none of the costumes fit me. The director topped it off by saying I looked like I had a "bun in the oven." That was upsetting, and I'll never forget it. Then I went to my annual check-up, and the doctor weighed me and said I had gained 20 lbs since my annual one year ago. So I had to do something about it.

I exercised religiously and ate sensibly until I'd whittled myself down to 126 lbs. I actually maintained this weight for 2 years. But after graduation, I started working, and I've been between 133-135 now for a couple of years. Over the holidays in 2006, I hit 140. :yikes: I'm terrified the weight will just snowball and I'll be back up to where I was sophomore year.

So here I am, trying to eat clean again and exercise regularly. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back down to 126, because now I sit at a desk 8 hours a day instead of shlepping all over campus. But I'm gonna try :)

LightWeight with an Appetite (For Life)
 

Weight has always been a big deal in my household. I don't place blame on anyone, but my mother has always been slender (115ish) and tall (5'8"). So once I hit middle school and hadn't grown tall and instead had just put on weight, I felt like I couldn't be a woman unless I was thin and pretty. I felt guilty constantly about eating and not exercising, I felt if I went to bed at night without working out an hour or skipping a meal, that I had "failed". In highschool, I really "bloomed", I guess. I grew several inches (5'7") and lost weight in healthier ways than before (now 120lbs). I met a great guy at the end of freshman year who loved my body the way it was, and he really helped me to discard any phobias of food or fat. I'm in my junior year currently, and although he's not around anymore (he's going to college out west) he continually provides support.
However, now that I feel like I am mentally healthy enough to see my body in a reasonable way (I no longer see a 'fat girl' but a lean, mean, healthy machine!), I'm ready to get into the best shape of my life. This does not necessarily mean losing weight, but instead working out, weight training, and kicking my system into high gear! Also, I've vowed to stop putting foods in my mouth that are unhealthy for me. This doesn't mean cutting calories, but instead just avoiding foods laden with trans fats, fake sugars, and chemicals I cannot pronounce.
I read through this entire thread and feel so inspired by all you ladies! You all have really become beautiful people in your efforts to have a healthier body. I can't wait to take this journey with you!

JellyDisney! Your story is so similar to the stories of many college girls I've known. In a post-college word, it's hard to keep up the same busy lifestyle you once had. But if you remember that your fitness should come BEFORE your job, your love life, or whatever else is in your life that keeps you from workin' out, you're sure to succeed! I wish you luck!