Hello everyone! I've participated in these forums in the past (under a different username) and have decided to rejoin! A bit of background: I was a severely overweight child, teenager, and young adult, until about 4 years ago when I decided to get moving and watch what I ate. And...it worked! In a VERY short period of time (about 7 months, which I now realize was too short) I lost 75 pounds. I got a bit TOO intense with the exercise and too restrictive with the calorie counting, so as soon as I got a bit more lenient I quickly gained back about 25 pounds, but have successfully kept off the rest of the weight for all of these years (yay!
).
My goal: I do not want to get back to my lowest weight (which was actually too low - many commented that I looked sickly and they were worried), but I would like to lose about 10-15 pounds, get back into the healthy BMI range, and just generally tone up.
Some background about my motivation: in the fall, I will be beginning work towards a PhD in Psychology. The research topics I am interested in and will be focusing on are weight control, body image, and obesity. I really want to be at the top of my game fitness-wise if I'm going to be doing weight loss research (and don't worry - I won't be using anything or anyone on these forums in my research
)!
Anyways, I look forward to diving back into these forums! They really served me well in the past - you guys are all so supportive and I hope to be the same for you!