Hello, I'm 22, mother of a 2.5-year-old, retired dieter.

I dieted unhealthily as a teen, directed by my misguided mother with diets like "Stay under 800 calories" "Only eat fruits and veggies" the HCG diet (which made me very very ill) and others. I was never over 120 lbs at 5'1 until around 19 years old, when I became pregnant.

During this pregnancy I also quit smoking and was dealing with a lot of stress, so the weight piled on-I was 187 right after giving birth. I didn't want to leave the house, I had so little energy, and I couldn't tell if I had baby blues or was just depressed. After a few months of staying at 182, I decided to try 'dieting' again. However, my stomach had been so stretched that I found myself woozy if I didn't eat enough, and I had never learned to lose weight the healthy way. I did, however, lose about 10 pounds by cutting out candy. :]

Last year I decided to quit obsessing over how much to eat, when to eat, blahblahblah, and just follow my instincts: eat healthy, eat only when hungry, quit stressing out about it. I got down to around 155. I gained back 7 pounds the past two months, though, with holiday eating.

I have picked up calorie counting now that I know what filling foods for low cal I can eat (like tuna, eggs, lots of veggies, etc.). I use the LoseIt app, I plan on exercising at least 4 times a week (initially, I hope to move this up to 6 times eventually) with either running or pilates, depending on the weather/if SO can sit with our daughter. I plan on making my portions 50% veggies, 40% protein and 10% grains with fruits as snacks.

Here's to a successful 2013!!

Good luck....I have also used loseit in the past and really liked it. It really makes you think about what you're panning to eat and how things add up. One thing that really helped me was cutting out wheat. When you don't eat it you don't have to eat as much and it almost eliminates cravings. What I eat now for lunch would have been a snack before. It helped me lose 18 pounds and although I gained six back over the holidays I have lost three of them already since new years day. I thought it would be so hard to cut it out but it's not nearly as bad as I thought!

Good for you for quitting smoking! And good for you for retiring from dieting at the age of 22. I finally retired at the age of 49. I wish I would have recognized at your age that dieting is not the answer. I'm just realizing that I need to stop the diets and find a way to eat that I can live with for the rest of my life, something I can stick to.
I avoided counting cals like the plague and went on many different drastic diets where they say to eat this and not that or stay away from this group of foods and only eat this group. blah blah blah I just couldn't stick to these diets and sometimes they made me feel horrible. Finally I decided to bite the bullet and start counting calories. Not points. Actual calories. And guess what? It's not that hard and it's not that annoying to do especially since now we have all these wonderful websites that calculate everything for us. All we have to do is make the effort to remember what we ate and how much. Love it! And it's working. It's going slow for me but that's okay because it's a learning process for me. But I have to say I don't feel deprived and I'm not starving and I'm not craving any one food because it's not on my food list.
Like I said, it's been a learning experience for me so I have learned that carbs hinder my weight loss so I control those and eat only a certain amount, I don't cut them out totally. And I've also learned that eating whole foods and cutting out the processed and fast foods helps me to lose quicker.
I've also learned that I'm a stress eater and a night-time muncher and just today I've learned a certain stress that causes me to eat mindlessly and the night-time eating is just out of boredom or just being tired.
Sorry, I didn't mean to make this post about me. I guess I should go write this stuff on my blog.
I think you will do well if you just stick to your calorie count and record them on your app, read the food labels and make good food choices, and exersise when you are ready (start slow). You will be surprised like I was that in time and through learning it can be done and there is no magic wand, ritual, or potion and it is as simple as counting a few calories. You can do it!

Welcome!

valentine21463, I hope you don't mind I added you to my buddy list! It's so true-everyone I know that tries fad diets, best case scenario they lose for a few weeks, then go back to eating crap. The ones I know that have actually lost weight, I almost crack up when people ask, "how?" and they answer, "Uhh, just quit eating crap and started exercising" and everyone looks near dissapointed-nothing magical here, just pure common sense and motivation!

penmage, I also added you to my buddy list as our goals, height, and current weight are very similar!

Hi good for you on your previous losses if you dont mind me asking how long did it take for you to get to 155lbs? and how much was you exercising, looking forward to following your progress x

Welcome and good luck on your journey!

Not at all! I just added you to mine.

Sounds like you have a good plan. All the best to you! Your photo is adorable.

newmoon-about six months, but I allowed myself one cheat day, I wasn't too strict, and I went walking for about an hour about 4 times a week. I could've lost it a lot sooner and probably more weight had I worked out more.

Thanks for all the welcomes, people! I love this forum already. :P