Hi all! I am joining the forum to help stay motivated during my weight loss goal. For the past 2 years I have gained some weight from being in graduate school and sitting on my butt all day studying and eating snacks. I would like to lose a moderate amount of weight (10-15 lbs). Right now I am 5'5" and 125 lbs. My body gains weight in a strange way -- none of the weight goes to my stomach, but it all goes mostly to my arms, but also my butt and legs. Wearing tank tops is out of the question until I shed some of this poundage!

I started the Slim Fast diet yesterday. I had a Slim Fast shake for lunch, 2 snacks of baby carrots and celery with mustard, a Healthy Choice 320 cal frozen dinner, a glass of milk, and a handful of pretzels. I know you're technically supposed to drink two shakes, but I didn't have time for breakfast and didn't leave school until 1:00 to eat lunch, so I only had one. That seems like practically nothing, but I was snacking all day -- just on healthy stuff. I also didn't feel hungry at all.

Yesterday I also went to the gym and ran 2 miles, then power-walked for 15 minutes. I also did free weights for my arms, 50 lunges (ouch! I'm feeling these lunges today!), and an ab workout.

Ready to LOSE THIS WEIGHT! I am so happy to finally have free time to go to the gym and burn some calories. And I no longer have to sit around all day living a sedentary lifestyle due to cramming for exams.

Anyway, that is my introduction! Happy to be here!

Hi, my stats are very similiar to yours. I'm new here too, see my post in the 'Introductions' section. Although being a banana-shape, my weight tends to creep to my waist area, lol. I'm not following the Slim-Fast diet but have tried it in the past. I've basically cut out all the white refined sugar/flour from my diet, drinking loads of water, eating veggies and fruits, lean protein, low-fat diary and I feel so much better.

My workout routine looks pretty similiar to yours as well. I did a lot of core exercises last night and I'm feeling it this morning but in a good way. I love that the weather's warm too so I can run outside.

Nice to meet you. See you on the boards!

Hey fitmom! Did the SlimFast diet not work for you? I wasn't sure what diet to try. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't feel hungry at all yesterday. I thought I'd be starving after drinking that shake for lunch.

What's your work-out plan right now? The best shape I've ever been in was in undergrad during my junior/senior year. I didn't do a TON of cardio -- ie some of my friends were running 5-6 miles per day. I only ran 2-3 miles/4 times a week but I ran them hard. I always did sprint intervals throughout the 2-3 miles instead of just running at a slow pace. I want to get back to the point where I can run 2-3 miles doing sprint intervals, but yesterday the best I could manage was 6.5mph on the treadmill and I felt like I was going to die after the 2 miles were over. I'm only 2 weeks back into my workout plan, and I really fell off the shelf last weekend for the 4th of July (didn't work out at all -- oops!). Hopefully after a few more weeks of running, my lungs will be able to handle sprinting!