Hi I'm Imani, and I'm to the website and weight-loss communities in general. I've tried losing weight in the past, but usually after a while I just lose motivation and start packing on the pounds again. I'm 20 and I honestly can't stand being over-weight anymore. I always feel tired, my mood changes ever minute, and i just feel like it slows me down. Now last March is when I finally told myself that enough was enough and that i have to stick with my goal of losing weight. I think it was the fact that i didn't really have a lot of support, and well i'm not good at exercising :P. So I'm hoping I can meet people here to help me to keep pushing myself forward. I've read a lot of your stories today and it honestly gave me a bit of a boost to know i'm not the only one going through this .

SW: March 17, 2013/ 232 lbs
CW: May 2, 2013/218 lbs
GW: ???/150 lbs

Hello Imani (beautiful name!), I've struggled with maintaining motivation in the past too, but you've come to the right place! Just keep at it, we all slip up, but new moment brings opportunity, and each little decision adds up. I wish you luck. Are you following any plan in particular? I started counting cals on Myfitnesspal, and it's been pretty helpful for me.

Hi hows it goin'? Um, currently all I've been doing is working out. 3 days of Cardio for 30 mins, 1 day of strength training, 1 day of calisthenics, 1 day of beginners yoga, and then a day off. And I'm a vegetarian, so no meat and I cut out most junk food. That's what I'm working with so far. I count calories, but I'm not so strict on them. I pretty much estimate on how much I'm consuming. Should I be more strict when it comes to calorie counting?

Strict is maybe not the right word but diet makes as much or more of a difference than exercise IMHO. It's about deficit. Are you eating less than you're burning? If not the exercise will make you healthier and increase muscle (which burns more calories) but your weight loss will not be great. Try logging calories consumed vs calories burned on an app like MyFitnessPal and see where you're at. I don't measure and weigh every food like some folks suggest but I do read labels carefully and consult MyFitnessPal for foods not labeled with nutritional information. All the best and congrats on your losses so far! Oh, and Welcome!

Welcome to 3FC! I'm sure you'll love it here. Everyone is so helpful and encouraging.

I'd like to think that I'm burning more then I consume, but I honestly have no idea. The only time I actually know how many calories I burn is when I'm doing cardio. But usually when i'm on the treadmill i burn between 350-400 calories, and when I'm doing my other exercises, I honestly never know how much I'm burning then. I used MyFitnessPal once, and when I tried to see how much I burned with my other exercises it never tells me. It says I burned nothing, and I know that's not true.

Welcome to the forum. You will find great info and people on here.

If you run into trouble with the cals burned in My Fitness Pal, what about setting a good cal limit and just sticking to that without tracking cals burned? That would make your tracking a bit easier. I read on this forum once, "You can't out-exercise bad eating habits.", and somebody motivated me to start counting cals. I tracked how I used to eat for a week, I can't speak for everyone, but I was WAY underestimating how much I ate! It's a bit tedious to commit to at first, but if you team up with some supportive friends (from 3FC or that you know personally), it's pretty fun. It's such a good feeling when I weigh-in each Saturday, weather I lose or gain, I have wonderful people to support me or offer possible solutions...or just sympathy.
Sounds like you are kicking-arse on the treadmill already! Good for you!!!

Welcome and good luck on your journey!!