New member introduction
 

Hi, I'm a newbie here saying Hello. Maybe it's a little odd to join a weight-loss forum *after* losing the weight, but sometimes I feel like I just want to talk to other people who went through the same thing I did, and get support maintaining all the changes...so here I am.

My story in a nutshell: I was a chubby kid, an overweight teenager and a fat young adult. Most of my family is also heavy so I always sort of felt "doomed" to be fat, that my own body was out of my control. I remember from being a little kid watching my mother go through the same "crash-diet/exercise/lose a little weight/fall off the wagon and end up heavier than ever" cycle. From that, I pretty much developed the conviction that weight loss efforts were pointless...and so I stopped trying completely.

A year and a half ago, I went through a horrible breakup. Being alone for the first time in years made me rethink a lot of things. I realized that I was the one in control of my life and therefore I had to take charge -- if my goal was to not be fat anymore, then dammit, I was a smart, capable college graduate and I could surely outsmart a bag of Doritos. I read up on the basics of weight loss, and over a year or so, lost 60 pounds by counting calories in vs. calories burned. I also went from BMI of 33 to 21.5.

In a lot of ways, losing weight was the easy part. While I was losing it was almost like a game, after the first couple months, watching the numbers on the scale drop every week was so rewarding that eating right wasn't that hard. Now I'm not trying to lose anymore pounds, it's harder to keep motivated. One of the things I was thinking about is that I need to give myself a new goal -- not just to stay at this point, but to get stronger, more active, more fit, whatever. I've always walked and moved around a lot even at my high weight, but I've never been a member of a gym or done really intense workouts. So that's the next phase I guess!

I wanted to post before-and-after pics, because I love looking at everyone else's, but I couldn't for the life of me dig up a "before" that showed my body at all. I was so camera phobic at that time, I would never let anyone take one, now I wish I had so I could compare. So instead I have a middle-and-after picture. The first is after I'd already lost about 30 pounds, and the second shows me at my current size, 115 pounds.

http://img50.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img15...dleafter5n.jpg

I hope it's ok that these are just body shots, I didn't really feel comfortable posting my face on the internet.

Hi Halley :wave:... Inspiring story and great pics, very motivating...Welcome to the maintainers forum... Don't be shy in no time you'll feel very comfortable with this group of ladies...

Hi Halley and welcome! Thanks so much for sharing your story. Big congrats on losing the weight. :bravo:

Now, for the hard part, right? I think what you said about setting new goals is super important. For me, coming up with new things to work toward is what keeps me motivated.

So! Stick around and post often. I think you'll find the support here to be very valuable in your weight maintenance efforts. :)