[bananafana]

Hi all! I'm new (obviously, this is the intro board).

I'm one of those people who has always been fat. When I was younger, I could get away with being called chubby. My weight kept creeping up slowly. A few pounds a year, but that's all it takes. The heaviest I *know* that I was is 280. There's a good chance it was more - that weight was taken when I had been on a "diet."

I use the quotes because the past 6 weeks is the only time I have been truly, strictly on a diet. As in, I carry a calorie notebook. In the past two years, I have been watching what I eat. Less sweets. No more buying an Entemann's cake and eating it all in 36 hours. Diet soda. Doing so slowly whittled me down to 250. In February, I had a recurring stomach bug that took off another 10 pounds. Kept that off through March, and since the start of April, I have lost 12 pounds.

I'm not exercising. Yet. I'm considering one of the streamable dance workouts on Netflix. I have flirted with the treadmill in the basement in the past, but the basement is freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer.

Basically, I'm joining because I need to be accountable to something other than myself. After all, I am who ate myself into a size 28 (in the Lane Bryant blue cut). I've gotten that down to an 18 (still blue, though, dammit. My hips/butt are ridiculous. There's 15 inch difference between my waistline and my hips, argh.) I don't want to backslide. I have the 16s purchased already, and they zip and button. Bit too much muffin top, but almost there.

The reason I want to keep on track is that I'm meeting up with old & new friends in September. If I could be roundabouts 200, maybe I won't spend the entire week wondering how I look. Maybe. On the diet, I've been holding steady at about 2 pounds a week. Is this an unreasonable short term goal? I don't know. But then again, 3 years ago I didn't think I'd ever fit back into my junior prom dress, and I did that 2 weeks ago.

So here's hoping, right?

[Jen516]

Congrats!! You've made tons of progress!! Don't forget that...
I think your goal of 25lb by September is reasonable. And even if you only make 20 by then, that'll still be great, right!?
As for the exercise thing: I lost my first 60lb without a bit of exercise. For me, dropping pounds is almost entirely about what I eat. However, in the last 2-3 months, I've started walking and jogging. Exercise is definitely worth doing because it helps sculpt muscles and just makes me feel good about myself -- as in, I never would have jogged in a 5k race before AND had a time I felt good about! I used to HATE to exercise, but now I get a little twitchy whenever I haven't jogged. Keep track of your measurements in inches (if you aren't already). Added exercise can mess with the pounds you're losing -- muscle weighs more -- but the inches will still come down.
Keep up the good work!

[Lovely]

Here's to doing. =)

Welcome to 3FC. You've made amazing strides so far. Small, permanent changes and you're already down some pounds and down some pants sizes!

I think that's fantastic ^^

I don't think that your goal is unreasonable. It's probably quite do-able. Keep with the changes you've made so far. Continue adding small changes along the way and they'll add up. Just as they've already added up.

Look around. Participate. Best of wishes!

PS - Move your dang treadmill up from the basement or it's just a waste!