OK, I just did 15 mins on the elliptical, so that felt great - it's been a loooooong time since I've hopped on that thing!

Rana - You are so close to your goal, it is sooo inspiring! What kind of weightloss "method" are you following? Counting calories?

Laura78 Good job on using the elliptical! Being active helps immeasurably with my food choices. I think because I just "feel" better when I'm active. Keep at it!

Terra1984 That sounds like a good goal.

NjPants Wow, nice walk. I hope the scale moves soon; keep it up and it will

Rana Your decluttering is inspiring me. I've been putting things off because I'm so busy but I need to set some time aside to get organized. Good luck selling stuff.

I had a great Sunday. I got some work done and then ended up shopping with friends. Then I ran some errands and ended the day working-- with wine

Today I'm headed to an MLK march and then going to a coffeeshop (to work...) and then to a show. Busy busy.

I had the same breakfast today as yesterday-- cheese on toast with carrot juice. Because I'll be out and about today, I'm not 100% on what I'll be eating. I think I'm going to pack something easy for lunch-- I preportioned trail mix into little baggies last night so I'll take one of those and maybe a banana. Then... I don't know. I'll definitely be having coffee but past that, I guess I'll fly fast and loose for dinner.

scout - Thanks - it does feel great to exercise....I'm ready for my endorphins to kick in! Great idea with portioning out trail mix! I go to a lot of kids meets/activities so I am often having to eat on the run. I think I'll try that with the trail mix. Sounds like you are great about eating on the go.

Scout ~ Thanks and back at you

Rana ~ Thanks, I'll take your advice and see how I feel at 150, I have a long way to go until I'm there though.

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Its a beautiful day here in Wichita, Kansas so I about to go walk for an hour or so, I'm glad to see so many new members posting in this thread.

Laura, good job on the elliptical! When I first started going to the gym, I remember how rough just five minutes on the elliptical felt.

Scout, I definitely agree with you said to Laura about how exercise helps you with food choices. After a good workout, I look at something kind of junky and think "I just spent 45 minutes working off your friends. I'll not be getting involved with you thanks."

Terra, I can relate to choosing a weight goal that feels more comfortable. I chose 180 because I dare not hope I can be smaller. According to the awed BMI scale, for my height I should weigh between 105 and 115. Those numbers seem so foreign to me. But, I'll start with one goal and once I've gotten there I'll see how I feel and make a decision to continue on.

Rana, I recently added a pedometer app on my phone because I was curious about how much I was walking these days. I've been challenging myself each day to try and get a certain number of steps in.

The bloating has gone down and I feel a thousand times better tonight!

NjPants ~ Yeah I'm glad we can be relate to choosing a goal that feels more comfortable

Good Morning everyone!! I had a decent eating day yesterday, I stayed at around 1400 cals plus I had that workout so that was a successful day for me. I'm not fussing too much with macros/nutrition at this point, just making sure my calories are okay. In the next couple of weeks I'll ease into increasing protein and decreasing carbs.....a little bit!

I definitely agree about setting realistic goals. To be honest, I know I feel "fine" at 180, which is still considered overweight for sure!!! I also know that this time I don't want to just feel "fine", but I want to fee great which is why I'm actually aiming to get into a normal BMI. I have not been that low since high school so who knows if I can even do it.....but I'll never do it until I try

Good morning, all!

I'm so glad to see this thread is taking off.

I hate messes, too. DH says I declutter too much and throw too much away. It drives me crazy when I have a messy house. I believe less is more and if I haven't used it in 6 months (and DH hasn't either) it should go in the trash. We had WW3 when we were moving into our house a couple of years ago and I wanted to trash most crap. But SERIOUSLY - WHO NEEDS CHEMISTRY NOTEBOOKS FROM HS?!?!?!?!?

I'm weighing daily (to fuel my insanity), but my actual weigh in day for Weight Watchers is Saturday. I was down 2.8lbs this week! Woot!

Hi ladies! Can I join?

I'm Anna, 37, and also in Atlanta.

I was thin, underweight even, throughout childhood and my early teen years. On my 17th birthday I was put on medication that made me jump from a size 4 to a 12 in about 3 months. That started a chain of yo-yo dieting and unhealthy choices. In 2004 I had hit 245 lbs and was in a terrible relationship. I started making plans to get out and reconnected with the guy I'd been crushing on for the past ten years (since I was 16). That guy was deployed overseas, so I made it my mission to get healthy. In the six months that followed, I dropped 65lbs, going down to 180.. It wasn't exactly where I wanted to be, but I was comfortably in 12s so I felt ok seeing my crush (even though he remembered me 45lbs thinner.)

Long story short, we married. He's my best friend and we have a GORGEOUS son together, but I didn't maintain my weight loss so it crept back and after pregnancy and a multitude of health problems, here I sit at 263.6 as of this morning.

Right now I'm dealing with kidney stones. I'm actually at the urologist's office as I type, waiting for pre-op for lithotropsy (had surgery last week but the darn stone was too high for them to reach!) It's been a pita trying to exercise with kidney stones and now a stent. I'm looking forward to getting these out of me so I can start exercising. Right now I'm just calorie counting on MFP and doing very light walking.

Hope to really get involved here and find the community of support that I've been missing. I'm sick of dealing with chronic illness (hives, fibromyalgia, recurrent stones, PCOS, anxiety). Let's do this!

Welcome Anthropist! Where abouts in Atlanta? I'm in Johns Creek/Alpharetta (About 45 minutes from the city)

Good luck at the Drs today!

I'm actually in the city, in Inman Park. Are you familiar with area? It's by L5P.

They just stuck me for blood. I always hate being stuck. Feel like my fat prevents them finding my veins efficiently.

Yay! Day 2 and I got my 15 mins in on the elliptical! I watch Kelly and Michael while I'm working out, it seems to help

Danielle - LOL, you have my philosophy, except I think I wait maybe a year or so. If I haven't used something - let's get rid of it! I drive my family (especially the kids) crazy though. They hide things on me now. I weigh-in about 2-3 times a week, with my official day being Fridays. I do try to hold off, though, because then I tend to get too caught up with the number.

Anna - Glad you came - welcome! I am so happy you ended up with your dream guy, I love that I am counting cals on MFP as well....it worked for me, I lost almost 40lbs in 2012, but then travelled to Chicago for almost a year on business (on and off) and put most of it back on. Hopefully you get those kidney stones dealt with! The light walking I'm sure works fine for now....I know a lot of people who have lost weight without exercising at all.

Yup! We used to live near North Druid Hills. We played trivia at the Brewhouse.

Laura78 – I started back in 2009 just eating whole foods, “clean” eating, and almost vegan. That got me down about 20 lbs but I wasn’t treating my PCOS right with that diet. So, I started to go low-carb with proteins and eventually found Paleo/Primal (I was tracking macros by then too). I had to remove dairy from my diet because it just doesn’t sit well in my stomach. And all my doctors for my PCOS were recommending low-carb (better than some other doctors I had). At the time, they also wanted me to control through calories, so at the beginning, I also started counting calories to understand portions and hunger. I’ve been as low as 160 (lower when I had stomach virus!) but I’ve stayed comfortably around 163-165 lbs for a while. And now, the goal is to get back down under 160 and stay there (no stomach virus involved). I really do believe in eating a lot of vegetables and fruits with protein. I get my carbs from vegetables (apples, carrots, other root vegetables) and I splurge once in a while on rice or wheat products. But I don’t drink sodas or do a lot of baking and I do eat a lot of dark chocolate. I think half of my grocery store budget is on expensive European dark chocolate.

Scout83 – I was incredibly busy too and I wasn’t finding the time. Now that I’m doing it, I wish I had done it sooner. My mantra for 2015 is that whole simplicity thing, I need to have stuff that makes me happy around me. Not my 6th grade art project that makes me cringe…

NJPants – I should do the same thing, but I don’t always carry my phone (I leave it on a desk or table) so I get annoyed those steps weren’t counted. My mother had one of those that clips onto your pants, and if I find that again, I might try it to see where I am.

SoMuchFattitude – Chemistry notebooks, 6th grade art projects, photocopies of articles that professors handed out in college, stuff I got at conferences, the list could go on. I am finally able to let all that stuff go… I don’t need it and it’s taking up valuable space in my house!!!!!

MsAnthropist – Welcome to the group. I also have PCOS, so I sympathize with your situation.

Yesterday was a great success clearing stuff out. During the evenings this week, I am going to go through my kitchen and start clearing that out, although it shouldn't be too bad. It's a small kitchen, so the clutter is kept to a minimum, usually. I'll see if I can tackle the bathrooms too. That might be a taller order.

I ate pretty well yesterday (I was surprised!) and no snacks between meals. I am drinking a ton of water today because I'm incredibly dehydrated and I think I just didn't drink enough yesterday. I'm also thinking of moving furniture around. This morning, BF was reassessing space and we got some good ideas.

Danielle and Laura, I have the same mindset. It makes it easier for me because I move so much, and I only brought one suitcase to France with me, but it's amazing how quickly junk piles up. Even when you live out of a suitcase!

Rana, funny you mention setting your phone down and being disappointed in not counting those steps. I had put my phone on the charger today and went about my business. When I checked my steps for the day I was confused at only having around 2,000. Oh right, the pedometer only works when I carry it...

MsAnthropist, welcome! Fellow PCOSer as well. I've read so many things about PCOS and I still haven't been able to determine " am I fat because I have PCOS or do I have PCOS because I'm fat?"

So two things; when my employer arrived home last night she said "maybe it's time we went shopping? You're clothes do not fit anymore." I hadn't even noticed really, I'd just thrown on a pair of jeans and a sweater that I'd brought with me. I looked down after her comment and realized I looked like a bag lady. My clothes were hanging off my body!

Then today while picking the boys up from school, the little one decided to take off running. I had to sprint to catch him and in the process my pants slid down my waist. Luckily my jacket was long enough, but they got nearly to my knees. I'll not be leaving without a belt from now on. It was embarrassing, but really awesome as well. I don't even care that the scales weren't going my way yesterday.