Hello Everyone, longtime lurker, now want to be proactive
 

It's official...I'm no longer a girl that gets flirted with. It's bad enough I don't like being in my own skin...it's worse when others validate my feelings. I was out getting wine for our Christmas Eve party tonight and I was practically invisible to the cashiers...who were falling all over themselves and giving free liquor and gift bags to a skinny blonde chick. Who by the way was acting as if she got free stuff from guys all the time. Ugh. I left the house thinking I looked pretty hot, and got home feeling like a fat cow.

A bit of history...

Ever since having my kids, I have allowed myself to put on more and more weight. I started at 133 lbs (5'5") which, incidentally, I thought was chubby...and am now a pleasantly plump 173 lbs. Kids are now 2 and 4. I'm still fat. I need support from others who are in my same position. I love the board and have been a fan/visitor for a while now. I hope this time my attempts at weight loss will be successful.

Carrie

Welcome to the world of posters. :) It sounds like your "trigger" to start this was similar to mine. My youngest had just turned 2, and I was at a party where a woman at the table with me said that I "looked like such a mother." A few minutes later, when I was in the restroom, I looked at myself in the full length mirror...really looked. While the WAY she said it was pretty rude, what she said was absolutely right. I wasn't "fat" really. I wore a size 12/14, but I just looked so, well, matronly. I had a total "mom bob" hair cut. My clothes looked...tired. My face looked...tired. I could hardly see "me" in there. And I decided then and there that NO ONE was ever going to say "I looked like such a..." ANYTHING ever again. I drew a line in the sand, and the next day I started watching what I ate and walking. A few weeks later, I started calorie counting and ramping up the exercise and strength training. I am NOT a stereotype. Being a mother is the joy of my life...looking like a "mother" archtype? Not my life goal.