Hello,

I was so excited to find a community of such great people. A little about myself.... I have struggled with weight my whole life, i decided after vacationing this summer, and erasing all the pictures of me, that it was time to get serious about the situation. I am happily married, and have a 2 year old son. In November 06, I started LAWL, at a weight of 209 pounds.

Today, i am down 44 pounds to 165 pounds. I am finding it really tough to keep my motivation. I am hoping that someone can give me some insight, as i have been struggling for a couple of weeks at this weight. Going up a pound, down a pound.

I never really signed up with LAWL, i bought everything that i needed on line. I find it tough, because i do not have someone to share my ups and down and struggles with.

I am also hoping that someone can tell me the best exercises to do at home, to lose weight in my house. I have an eliptical machine, and I would like to strengthen my inner arms and inner legs. So if anyone has any tips for me please let me know. I use my eliptical machine about 5 times a week.

I hope to hear from someone that we can be great buddies, and each other support

Thank you for listening.

Hi huntersmummie!

Welcome!

Good news! There are THOUSANDS of buddies here for you! WE are ALL right where you are...trying to have a body that we want and running into the same snags and blips along the way as YOU are!

This is a wonderful site! It is SOOOO helpful to have so many gals and even a few guys to sympathize with you at any time of the day or night!

I haven't used an elliptical, but my son and future daughter-in-law use them at the school's training facility. They make a very good substitute for when outdoor workouts are impossible due to large amounts of snow and ice. My son began running a couple years ago, and his fiancee has been a distance runner for most of her life.

I have had great success with yoga, Pilates, and with doing weights on my exercise ball as well as using a wide variety of exercise DVDs such as Turbo Jam, Walk Away the Pounds, and step routines. I just ordered HipHopAbs and can't WAIT for it to come in! Last week my future daughter-in-law (five-time marathoner who is training for her first ULTRA (100 mile race!) did Turbo Jam with me for an hour. She said it was so much fun, and we giggled as we tried NOT to kick one another in our small familyroom as we were doing it! (She's 5'10" with really long runner-legs!)

Squats and lunges are THE BEST for strengthening the legs! Yoga and Pilates have not only made me more flexible; they have helped with my balance and my coordination, too! I use DVDs for all of my workouts, and I can do them right in my home without ever having to worry about the weather or paying money for classes.

As far as food plans go, I'd suggest logging into Fitday. It's free, and you can monitor your eating and your exercise as well. www.Fitday.com

Cheryl