Another Newbie!
 

Hi everybody. I refuse use the word diet. I made a conscious decision to eat heathy and to get more exersize. I am still in my first month and I have already lost 10 pounds. I am excited and nervous at the same time.
I have never counted calories before, perviously I would just eliminate all the bad things out of my diet like processed and fast foods. It never worked. I would end up cheating and just give in. I have never been "skinny" but up until a couple of years ago, I weighed 100 pounds less than I do now. I got really depressed and gave up on myself. I feel great now. I have a great hubby, a super job, and things are really looking up now. I am a dog walker and pet sitter, I also do dog park outings. Because of this, I have been fairly active but I would just eat anything and everything. But I am 26 years old and maybe I want to have a family some day so I decided to get myself healthy before I reach 30. I don't have a specific time period that I want to lose the weight in, I just want to eventually get under 150 pounds so I am not considered "obese"
So far the diet and meal plans are going great. I cook up large portions of chicken and veggies and put them in the freezer in one portion containers for dinners. So much tastier and healthy than tv dinners. I am actually eating salads and veggies too! I am basically going for lower cal options and trying to eliminate all bad processed foods, candy, and most carbs.
My husband is very supportive and has been great at getting me off my butt in the evenings to go for walks with our two dogs and hasn't complained too much about the boring food that I have been cooking.
Now that I have written a novel, I will go explore the rest of the forums!

Your plan sounds sensible (and not just because it sort of agrees with mine :) ). I'm finding lots of resources here to keep variety in my daily meals -- boredom with the same ol' lean meat & veggies routine has gotten me off track in the past!

You've got a great job, too -- not stuck at a desk like me. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, I love my job. Really, I don't mean to brag but I get to work in the outdoors, I meet new people everyday. I get to make my own hours and ok, I do live in seattle and it rains for months on end, but atleast I am not stuck indoors with a million other people passing cold germs around all winter long.
The dogs really help motivate me and keep me positive. I've been thinking about writing a book about how dogs have saved my life and motivated me to be a better person. But then again, I am a crappy writer so maybe I'll keep it to myself :P.