Hello from Texas! :)
 

Hello everyone! My name is Dana and I live in Texas with my husband and pets. Today I have officially lost 40 lbs! I have 20 more that I HAVE to lose before the doctor will allow me to have the IVF procedure to have a baby. I hope to be well under his maximum by April when I will have the procedure so I can have a cute baby belly and a healthy pregnancy. I started my path to health in Feb long before I knew I had to be under a BMI of 29 to have IVF. I am so glad that I had already lost so much because it would have been scary to have started cold knowing how much I would have had to have lost but now it seems so much more manageable. Our annual couple portraits from last year are barely recognizable as me now and I am getting compliments left and right, and my clothes are ending up in the yard sale box while I keep getting smaller stuff (the BEST part for me! LOL) While these make me feel good and I certainly am proud of what I have done and continue to do I would really love to share in getting healthy with someone other than my husband. I dont know anyone who has lost a lot of weight without the aid of surgery so I hope to get some buddies on here! As far as what I am doing to lose weight it is this: trying to eat the majority organically, watching my portion size, no soda (never was a have to thing for me anyway and now the thought of it grosses me out!), water only for drinking and milk only for cereal (milk was my huge hurdle even though we switched to skim years ago I would still drink it as my main drink with meals and outside them) and only going out to eat twice a month (that used to be several times a DAY!). At the gym I do upper body and abs MWF and do 5K training (I did it first on the treadmill and then on land)and finish out on the treadmill on the random setting level 20 for a total of 90 min of cardio. T R I do my treadmill as before for 90 min and lift lower body and abs. SS are my rest days. As far as me personally I was in social work for a few years and it just isnt for me. I now work just PT in retail and LOVE it! My gym time rounds out my schedule to full time lol. I started out wearing 20 pants and a 2x- 3x top and I am now in a regular XL top (and size LG for normal tshirts!!!) and size 16 pant(with 2 pairs of 14s in the mix too!)

Hi Dana and welcome to 3FC.

Congrats on your success and good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Welcome to the group and congrats on the weight loss!

40 lbs! Holy cow! Congratulations!

Welcome and congrats on your success so far. It sounds like you really have a good plan and lots of determination- the proof being 40 pounds are now history!

I'm your neighbor next door in Louisiana and am fairly new here myself. I was in retail as a buyer and manager forever and have always loved it so I know what you mean - unfortunately I was laid off earlier this year due to the economy and post-Katrina impact on tourism (I was a buyer for a museum historic house and gardens). So I'm taking this time of "leisure" to get myself on track with a healthy diet (low carb) and, hopefully, a healthy weight.

Great to meet you - keep up the good work - your goal is just around the corner!

Thanks for the welcome everyone!