Hi,

I've lurked here for ages but finally decided to post. Perhaps this will keep me accountable. I'm 45 years old and have decided to give it another try. I'm at the end of my rope with my weight. Today I weighed in at a chunky 186. I'm 5'4". My goal is 135. That was my weight three years ago when I met my husband. You know the story--dating, eating out all the time, letting healthy eating and exercise slide. Yep, I've gained 50 lbs in three years. Yikes!

I've yo-yo'd for the past three years. I have clothing sizes from 6 to 16 in my closet right now. And the 16s are few and far between because I keep refusing to go out and purchase more clothes for work. So I wear the same 3 pairs of black pants and various too tight blouses to work each day. I'm sure many of you know where I'm coming from.

I have a plan to eat approximately 1500 calories a day and do some type of exercise (cardio/weights) 5 days per week. My biggest challenge will be emotional eating. I can easily put away a box of donuts or a couple pints of ice cream in no time. I recently purchased the Beck Diet solution which uses cognitive behavioral therapy to control emotional eating. Hoping it will work for me.

Wish me luck. I look forward to coming back and reading the posts and reporting on my progress.

By the way, how do I post a ticker for weight loss progress?

Thanks everyone!

Welcome! Your stats are very close to mine when I started in February. I am 44. I weighed in at 190lbs and am 5'3". 4 months later I am 136 lbs and still 5"3", LOL. Like you I've went from a 6 to a 16 in a relatively short timespan.

Your plan sounds good. I follow a low carb approach and completely have sworn off sugar and white bread, flour, pasta, potatoes, etc. I do not do any organized type of exercise though ( bad busy mom here).

I think in order to post a ticker you may have to have a certain amount of posts?

Can wait to here your progress reports!! Good luck, you can do this...

Hello, GingerLu and welcome! Sounds like you have a great plan. How 'bout coming up with something yummy and calorie-free to redirect yourself if you are getting ready for an emotional eating episode? For me, if I feel emotional eating coming on, I try to remember to make myself a pot of tea instead. Just the whole process of making the tea is soothing, and I have a variety of teas to choose from... In fact, during the kids' school year, I'm known to preempt emotional eating by brewing a pot of tea right as the boys come home from school...

Good luck, and keep up the posting!

ETA: Oh, and re: the signature. You need something like 20 posts and 20 days of membership. So... depending on when you joined in May, you may be close to meeting the membership requirement. Join us over on the chat thread; I'm sure your post count will jump quickly!

Your telling my story gingerlu. I started in December at 186 and at 5'3" I would like to be @125. I've yo yo'd since I was in high school but this last weight gain started in 2001. In September 2001 I was 128 and by the time I moved to California in June 2002 I was 153. I've continued to go up with a couple efforts to lose weight but like most put it all back on and then some; at one point I was VERY close to hitting 200 lbs.

I too am a calorie counter and recently reduced to 1350 from 1500. Although I have excluded nothing from my diet I do know that not all calories are created equal; I feel and do my best when I eat more protein than carbs. My mix when I am being strict is 30c/30f/40p. I also try to do the treadmill six days a week and bowflex three days.

I believe that this time IS different and that I am finding a way of life I can live with, the weight loss was my original goal but has become so much more.

The ladies here are great support; come here and post instead of diving into that pint of ice cream. Come join us in the monthly chat thread.

Welcome! Come and join us on the 40's monthly chat thread. It's a great group with lots of support and inspiration! Sounds like you are on the right track and have a plan in place. You CAN do it!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I'll definitely check out the chat section when I get a chance.

You guys have all been so successful--what an inspiration!

I was completely on plan yesterday! I don't think I quite hit 1500 cals, but I got close. My exercise was the Leslie Sansone Walk and Jog dvd (30 min) and then I switched to 15 minutes of stationary biking while watching TV--so 45 minutes total. I was worn out. But I'll bet in a couple of weeks I'll be able to dust off my old exercise dvds that are more advanced. I have loads of them: the Firm, Jillian Michaels, Karen Voight, etc...

Gingerlu

Sounds great, Gingerlu -- You are definitely on the right track!! As long as you keep linking these successful days together, while forgiving yourself of an occasional slip-up, you will drop the weight...

Welcome Ginger.

We can all relate! We all know the struggle here. You have found a great place to be--full of all the answers and support you need.

Welcome! Welcome!

Welcome, Gingerlu!! Looking forward to hearing more from you!

Welcome GingerLu.....I am also 5'4" with a goal weight of 135#. I have a little more to lose though.

Try to make sure that you don't have those kinds of treats in your house--I can't resist them either so I don't buy them. Keep us posted on teh Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Hi and welcome, gingerlu! I LOVED the original Firm video with Susan Harris on the cover in the yellow leotard - brutal! You've got an awesome start!

Hi, I am new to the forum as well. I am 5' 2" and weighed in at 203 this morning. I quit smoking a month ago and packed on 10 pounds in like a week. I've read all the horror stories about people gaining a ton of weight when they quit. I refuse to become one of them. I can't afford to gain anymore weight. Right now 186 sounds good to me LOL. Actually I'm setting small goals because one big goal is to much for me. How are you trying to lose the weight? I am going to stick with weight watchers.

I belong to another healthy lifestyle board and several of the ladies there had major breakthroughs after reading Beck. Good luck and keep posting!

Peg

NewLeaf, could you give us the names of your favorite teas? I use to do this, never have been a tea drinker (though I try, it's always decaff coffee now)... but I'd love to know what works for you !

GingerLu, me too, almost exactly. (I'm 184, and want to be about 130). I have gained over 60 in the time I've known him (I met him right after dropping 25, back in my hardcore cycling days, in '94, when he called me his IronWoman ) I can almost feel him wanting to just roll his eyes at the change... or is that me rolling my eyes? Either way, it's totally humiliating.