It's been a while..
 

Hey there!
I used to be a part of this community, a long long time ago. I lurked mostly, didn't chime in much, or post as much as I should have at the time, but I'm back. Couldn't remember my old username so I made a new one, but anyways..I'm babbling.
A little about me, I guess?
I'm a short, tattooed, 31 year old mama of one beautiful daughter from Canada who needs a little more motivation! In the last year I've lost 30lbs through exercise and watching what I eat. It's been a journey with some ups and downs but I'm proud of what I've done! I still would like to lose another 50 or so lbs, and gain some muscle, and I know this community is amazing when it comes to support and guidance, so I definitely plan on using it!
So....there's my introduction, haha! Thanks for listening (reading)!
Ciao for now;)

Hey and welcome!!!

are you thinking of weight lifting? That would be a great way to get that extra 50lbs off and tone up.
I am currently 284.5lbs (was 323), after losing my first 50lbs I will start to do weight and resistance training. First I wanted to get my nutrition sorted, so maybe this is something you can work on first? Have you heard of MACROS and do you know what your intake of calories should be?

I have a feeling that we are on the same kind of journey :D

I am a little younger (28 in January) but I think that I would really be able to help you out as I follow GrenadeFit and their muscle group.

Hey! A reply:) Thank you! I've actually been lifting for a bit now, as I MUCH prefer that over cardio. And I do find that has helped in my weight loss for sure! My nutrition could definitely use some help, well a lot.
I have heard of macros, but to be honest, not enough to know anything about it really! I am definitely interested though, Scotsgal, any help would be great at this point! I have this image in my head of what I'd like to look like one day and it's definitely on the strong and fit side of things. I'm currently 180lbs, and when I started I was around 210. I've definitely put on some muscle mass too, so I think that's why the scale maybe isn't dropping as much as I'd like? I dunno....

So, how about those macros?!:)

So, first of all if you don't already use my fitness pal, then I would start now.
Macros are basically Carb/Protein/Fat, Some people will look at calories only, where are some people will concentrate on making sure they have enough protein in their diet or low carbs.

At the bottom of the diary page on MFP, where you note your food for the day is a button called Nutrition (with a pie chart). Along the top after you press that will be tabs called Calories, Nutrients, and Macros. Go to Macros...Beside carbs/protein/fat it will tell you how many grams of each food you have eaten. This is where you will spend a lot of time learning about what is in your food. When lifting it is very important to have a high protein diet in order to support body muscle.

https://www.grenade-fit.com/tdee-calculator/

This link will take you to a place that will work out just how many grams of each you should be aiming for. I struggled to lower my carbs for the first 2 weeks, now I am getting there and seeing results :D. GrenadeFit and Grenade.com is a great place to learn about building lean muscle and losing fat %. It is a long learning game, I will tell you what yesterdays food was for me.

My Macro Goals are: Protein 125g Carbs 110g Fat 40g and 1300cal

Breakfast: 3 medium boiled eggs, 1 sandwich thin, 6g ketchup, cup of tea

Lunch: Tin of Tuna, 100g Cottage Cheese, 100g Coldcuts (ham), 100g Broadbeans

Dinner: 120g Salmon Fillet, 180g herby baby potatoes, 87.5g Green beans

Daily Expenditure: 113g Protein, 84g Carbs, 37g Fat, 1161 calories.

I should of had a protein shake or protein bar as a snack to boost my calories, but I didn't have any in yesterday.

Go find out what your target should be, (I have to eat 500 less calories than suggested because I wont lose weight)

Hey, I already have myfitnesspal, although I'm not as dedicated to using it as I should be! I did what you said and I found out my macros. That's all very interesting, I never thought of eating in that sense. It feels like it'll take a lot of getting used to an a lot of learning involved but I like the idea of it! Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it! Gonna read more into the macros and how to incorporate that into my every day!

Welcome :) I'm a returning member also. About 5 years ago I lost 60lbs, then fell in love and was so busy being happy that I let myself fall off the wagon and then some. I've been at it for about 6 weeks and have lost 20 pounds so far. Ideally have about 50 more to go to my ultimate goal weight, but have smaller goals to help me celebrate my accomplishments along the way. Congrats on your weightloss, that's amazing :) Our stats are the nearly the same so I'm curious to follow your journey and share some progress pics - I'm always curious to see other people with my same height/weight and how the weightloss looks on them compared to me and my body type. I'm 27, 5'3, 243/224/175ish - also tattooed :)

Just_Jen Hey!! It has been quite an interesting learning time for me as well, I only started on Macros about 6 weeks ago, up until then I was on calorie control only. It has taken me a long time to be able to hit my goals every day, I really struggled at first. After reading through stuff on grenade and realising that once you understand MAcros and working out, it really is quite simple. If you keep in touch up until Christmas, I will be able to let you know how much I have lost :D

Aliisa It is great when you see people the same weight and height info, sadly when I find someone the same as me, its not a great thing for them as I hold my weight really well and I am usually in smaller clothes. But for both of you it is great! especially if you are also into doing weights.

Scotsgal - People tell me that I carry my weight well, too. But I don't know, I suppose we're always more critical of ourselves than others are of us.

Aliisa You are right, we are always more critical about ourselves. But I used to watch a lot of these biggest losers and Chris Powell's a year to change your life, some of the woman who were my weight or even lighter than me, were much bigger than me. I have such a long back which I think helps to distribute the weight in a more flattering way. I just wish I had a Butt, Its something I really want to work on when I lose more.