Welcome, Anna! Wow! You should be so proud of what you've accomplished thus far! It's incredible! I, too, grew up overweight. It was never much fun! My senior year in college, I did a crazy liquid diet for 10 months and was thinner than I had been at any other time in my adult life. I looked great in my wedding dress after I graduated, but the weight, of course, all came back - with friends! Since then, I've yo-yoed around with lots of diets, but LAWL is the first one that DH and I have both enjoyed and been happily successful with. We are doing it now so that we don't pass on our lifelong bad eating/activity habits to our children. All that to say, I am so happy that you are doing this NOW, instead of waiting like I did!

Hi all,

My name is Becky and I am from Abilene, Texas. I am married with no children..Just 2 sweet dogs and 2 horses. I have been a lifetime dieter..lol.. actually looking back I think dieting is what got me to where i am now - when I was about 14 years old I was about 5"6 and 135 - not a bad weight - but because of a lot of pressure started the dieting thing and began losing but then gaining over the years.. I look back at old pictures and think... what was I thinking!!! I was thin! LOL.. anyway - here i am - I came to LAWL for that extra support that most of us need - I have never had a problem losing the weight its just keeping it off that has always come back to bite me. I got into a health kick back in 2002-2003 and was doing real well running and exercising almost daily - I was maintaing about 175 which isn't thin but for my height wasn't too bad either - well - my fiance (now husband) was deployed to Iraq in October 2003 and it was very stressful to say the least. I did real well though - and I managed to actually lose weight while he was gone - I wanted to be looking good when he got back - well I did - and when he got back in 2004 I really felt good about myself - then within a few short months of him being back and us eating out a lot and indulging in all the things he couldn't have for the last year we both managed to gain about 30 lbs - then - as if that wasn't bad enough he got orders to go to Afghanistan for another year (he had only been home 6 months)- mind you he is in the National Guard not the Active duty army - well - we were both shocked but we both decided that this was a good opportunity to lose the weight... so we both dieted - and we both did - he came back at around 215 (he's 6"1) and I was about 170 - and in real good shape from working out - well.. being the cyclic people we are - instead of learning our lesson from before - we repeated it all over again . Now here I am the heaviest i have ever been and he is the same. Ugh! Well I made the decision to go to LAWL a couple weeks ago and am so glad I did - although I have had my moments of doubt here and there when i have gained a lb rather then lose but I feel like this is the lifestyle change that I need to lose it and keep it off. My husband is quietly supportive..LOL.. he is glad that i am doing it - but he doesn't want to do it himself - mostly due to the fact that he is such a picky eater - most of the stuff thats good for you - he doesnt' like.. he's one of those meat and potato's kind of guys... Maybe if he sees the benefits working on me he might give it a try - who knows! At any rate I have seen the way it has worked for so many others on here and at my center and I just know it will work for me. I am looking forward to meeting you all and hope that if I can be any help to anyone that you just let me know!!!!

Thank you Becky - to your husband for his service in the military and for you being a military wife. I don't think Thank You is enough, but it's what I can do.

Our stats are almost identical ! I started last year at 239, my heaviest. I dieted & exercised for 3 months hardcore and dropped to 203. I held that weight for 1 year and this June 1st I started eating better again, I fell off track for that year but was able to hold my weight - well close, I started June 1st at 205.
I'm currently at 193 - 12 lbs in just about 2 months :-) While I'm not as strict on myself as I was last year, I'm making choices and changes that I can keep up with LONG term. What I did last year was something I couldn't keep up forever (going to the gym 2x day plus doing more cardio at home).

I KNOW we can do this! If you ever need someone to chat with feel free to email or PM me.

Thank you so much Snowdogs!! I will definitely let you know - and same goes for you if you need anything let me know! I did like you last time i was going full throttle on the diet - i was working out like 3 hours a day! Yes I was one of those!! LOL.. well it sounds worse then it is - i probably only worked out like 1.5 hours - the rest was spent floating in the pool or sitting in the steam room at my fitness center - on the executive workout plan.LOL... anyway - I need to throw in some more workout time for myself but its just so hard now that i am working so much..It would mean getting up at 540 Am to make it to the gym and so far in the past 2 weeks that hasn't happened..lol.. guess i have to rely on my little trusty friends my pooches - I have a Rottweiler named Bradley and a Rat Terrier named Chico(he thinks hes a rottweiler in size..lol) to walk with me and then I have 2 horses that atleast give me some exercise everyday even when Im not riding they still have to be fed and brushed and stalls cleaned..
Let me know if there is anything you need - I know sometimes just having someone re-iterate what you say or believe is enough to keep you going.. well - lets make this work this time huh!!! Soon enough we can be identical in our current weight when we reach our goals right!!

Will do Becky!
I'm jealous that you have horses! And you're right, they're a lot of physical work - good work though. Growing up my best friend had 1 - I'd go to her house for a week at a time and I'd take care of the horse (Sommer) :-) About 7 yrs ago I was at my BF's house all the time helping her care for her 4 horses, I spent ALL my free time there, even took riding lessons with one of her mares. I loved every minute of it. My BF had enough of horses growing up so it would take some sweet talking to get one now :-)
That's alright though I'll wait- my 3 dogs keep me plenty busy with everything. 2 Alaskan Malamutes and 1 GSP. I actually adopted Timber from a Malamute rescue in TX :-) He's a Texan
My dogs are my reason for jogging & walking at home. A tired dog is a good dog :-)

Hugs to your dogs!

Hi Everyone. My name is Laurie and I live in Central Illinois. I'm a mother to a son and a daughter and grandma to 3 boys and a girl. Believe me, she is the youngest and she rules the roost!!! Number 5 will be here in February and I'm so looking forward to that. Anyway, like so many of us here on this board I have repeatedly lost and gained the same 20 - 30 pounds over the last 30 years or so. I finally decided that it was time to take care of myself and devote the time needed to get healthy no matter what. So far I really haven't had a problem with this plan but I'm sure I will plateau somewhere along the line and get frustrated and that's the scary part. Temptation to say the heck with it. Since I've found this board I'm going to be checking it often for moral support and just to have someone to commisserate with that knows the trials of diet and weight issues.

Hi all! My name is Kathy and I just finished my first week of LAWL. My DH is also doing this with me along with my good friend and her husband. Together, we are gonna do this!!!!

I am a Proud Army wife and mother of 3. We live in Ft. Worth, Texas. I gained 40 lbs. when DH was deployed. He's been home awhile now, but the weight is still here!! Dairy Queen Blizzards became my "boyfriend" while he was gone...LOL.

I have so much energy already and have had ZERO heartburn since I started the program. DH is down about 8 lbs. already also.

Best of luck to everyone!!
Kathy

Hi everyone! My name is Nanette I am 31 yrs old, married for 9 yrs ,and have a 4 yr old daughter and a 7 yr old son. I have been struggling with getting the weight off since my daughter was born. My husband and I tried the south beach diet about 2 1/2 yrs ago I lost around 30 lbs but gained it right back as soon as I started eating normal again. I just couldn't do it alone anymore I am happy about joing LAWL but I have had my ups and downs since I started! This website has been my lifesaver with all the advice, support and recipes you give each other it is just great.
Good luck everyone!
Nanette

Hi everyone. My name is Kimberly and I am 23 years old. I am a mom of a 17 month old and a wife to my husband of over 2 years. I am also a child of God. I hope to lose 113 lbs with LAWL. I hope I can get to know lots of people! And make some friends, its gonna be a looong journey!

Welcome to everyone!

Kimberly-I just turned 24 and am also in for a loooong journey! My initial goal is to get under 200 and still haven't decided what my real end goal will be. I've always been big so I'm curious to see what size I will feel comfortable at.

This site has been SO motivating.

I saw your post in another thread that you lost big at your last w/i CONGRATS and keep up the great work!

A big welcoming hug to Laurie, Nannette and Kathy!!

welcome to everyone!

I am 17 years old, and I have been doing LA weight loss since december 2006 but I haven't been fully committed to the plan. My mom has lost over 50 pounds in the same amount of time. I started LAWL at 250 pounds, and lost 20 pounds but gained 10 of it back. I just got re committed and have already lost 3.6 pounds since Monday of this week (its saturday today) So yay me. I also would like to say that I think using this site will help me this time around. Wish me luck!

Welcome DM!! Nice to see "youngsters" here as well.. It will be good to have your perspective on things...