Hi all, my name is Jennifer. I'm 24 & from Pittsburgh, PA. I am not new to these boards, I have been on & off of them for quite some time, just like "diets". Everyday I say "I need to lose weight, I need to eat less, etc" but the next day comes and I am back to my old habits again. Let me give you a little background on my weight loss journey.
Around March of 99 i was about 178. I joined WW and lost about 25#. Around the fall of 99/Spring of 00 I basically stopped WW. Last year I got back up to about 163, joined WW online for a short time, got myself back down to about 153. This year I lost another 5, back to 147 (YES!!) but within the last few weeks, I am already back up to 153. I don't know what happened. I don't think I am eating more or exercising less than before, but I am back up to 153. I am so sick of always thinking I need to lose weight. I just want to do it!
I know I need a serious buddy or two, or 10, to guide me along & keep me on the right path. It is hard to do this on your own, as you all know, or else you wouldn't be here!
On a side note, I live w/my bf, who is wonderful, but does not care about healthy eating/exercising/etc. I exercise about 5x a week, doing cardio & weights. I think I am in good physical shape, I mean my doctor says I am healthy, but I would love to lose some of this excess fat. I am 5'7" & 1/2 but I always say 5'8"
Anyway, I hope to meet some new people and get my a$$ in gear and finally lose this weight I have been trying to lose for years. I would like to get to 125, but honestly I'd be happy to be at 135.
Jenn

Well Jennifer you sound about the same as I was before I had my baby Olivia last September. I always stayed between 135 and 150. Since I had her I have been going up and down between 160 and 170. It is pretty discouraging. I know I need to lose this weight , but it seems I can't reach the right combination of exercise and food. Smaller portions just don't seem to work after what I ate when I was pregnant. I do exercise every day, but the weight is just not coming off. Good luck this week and I guess as long as we keep trying it is better than tottally letting it go and being heavier than what we are. Have a good week!!

MJ

hi MJ, thanks for your message. It is hard to eat less when you are used to eating a certain amount. My biggest problem is eating too much at night. I can eat a small breakfast & lunch, but then at dinner I eat way more than I should, and I often snack after dinner as well. I've tried reversing it, eating a bigger breakfast & lunch, but that big dinner habit sure dies hard. I know, excuses, excuses.
What drives me crazy is I see people way skinnier than me eating WAY MORE than me! and they barely excercise! What's up with that!!!
Thanks again for your message! We can do this, if we really really really try!!!
Jenn

I hear you on the evening eating. I think that is my toughest time too. My husband usually does the bath and bed routine with the baby so I try to exercise and I usally do at that time. It is when I sit down to watch tv in the evening. I know I should not be eating but old habits die hard that is my goal for next week this week I am working on eating less sweets and that is going well. So I am pleased.

MJ

monique,
thanks for your message & advice. i noticed that you have certainly come a long way! congratulations! that is fantastic!
MJ, over lent I gave up sweets and that is when i lost my 5 pounds. not eating sweets/drinking pop really makes a big difference. all those empty calories do add up. it is tough for me sometimes because we always have kool-aid, pepsi, sprite, etc in the fridge, and I know I should be drinking the water & the diet pop! they are hard to resist, especially when you have gone all your life drinking them!

my goals for today are to:
do cardio & weights at the gym
stay under 1500 calories. Right now I'm in the 700's.
drink 8 glasses of water.

does anyone else care to share their goals?

Jenn
178 (in'99)/153/125

I think its a gret idea to share goals would we dod it daily or weekly? I did pretty good today I only cheated once and that is good for me. I also walked. I was a gym fanatic until about halfway through my pregnancy. Now I don't want to start until I at least lose 15 pounds. Yesterday was also pretty good I went walking and rollerblading. Tomorrow the weather here is not going to be great so I will do some situps and maybe try to get for a walk all depends on the rain situation.

Chat with ya tomorrow MJ

hi what's up? well it's friday thank god! wednesday i actually achieved all my goals. I had under 1500 cals, amazingly. yesterday was not so good, as thursday nights is usually "wing night" for us. i still don't think I did too bad overall.
I plan on working out saturday & sunday. I always try to make it there on the weekends in case something comes up during the week & I can't make it . On the weekends I have more time. I think I'm going to get a haircut this weekend as well. Woohoo big plans!
weekends are a tough time food wise for me. i try to keep myself busy, but the times I am not busy, i am often mindlessly eating. does anyone else have this bad habit?
well i better get going. If I don't write again today, I'll be sure to write on monday!
Later,
j

jenn,

Hi! Sounds like we are about the same height (and I too claim to be 5' 8" although its probably a bit less).. and we both seem to be on the same plan. I'm a bit further behind you.. and am dreaming of being 153
So welcome to the boards.. hopfully we can both help each other meet our goals. Keep up the good work with the exercise.. sounds great!

-Tanya

tanya,
you seem to be doing well if you are down to 172 from 188. when did you start changing your ways (to get to where you are today)?
i was reading an article in "self" magazine about heart disease/heart attacks in young women. IT kind of scared me, because I know I eat too much fatty foods & that can't be good for the heart. I also gain weight in my belly, which is related to diabetes. I don't want to sound like a hypochondriac, but I also want to start eating more healthy for those reasons, not just to lose weight & be thin!
anyone have goals for today-here are mine
do cardio @ the gym (did weights yesterday) I will probably do a step class tonight.
drink 8 glasses of water, NO POP!
eat a healthy dinner/fruits/veggies.
so far today I haven't eaten too healthy. I had a decent breakfast, but for lunch I had leftover pizza & bbq chips w/a diet pepsi.
evenings are my biggest problem eating area because:
1. i don't get home from the gym til 7-7:30, and it's a big rush to find something to eat.
2. since it's a rush, we end up eating take out a lot (chinese, fast food, etc.)
3. I snack way too much after dinner!
4. then i go to bed with a belly full of food!
can anyone else relate?
J

Jenn,

Well actually..during Christmas time I went to India for 3 weeks. I lost about 10 pounds there because I did not eat as much because its better than getting sick! Plus the climate and food are very different.

Anyways.. so I came back and felt great. My pants fit better.. a new dress I bought fit better.. it was great. But slowly I started to gain it back. So in April, my roommate (I live with 3 people, my bf and a married couple) and I went to buy exercise clothes and decided to make a deal to motivate each other to work out every day. Well.. we started out together.. but due to her flat feet and other reasons.. I ended up doing it alone. For the first time in a very very long time I started to feel good about myself. I actually thought I might be somewhat good looking (which is really hard for me). So I decided that no one was going to change my weight for me, and if I didnt change it now.. it would only get worse. So I kept it up. Most people (friends .. mostly guys) havent really noticed the change.. but the people who know me well have. And it feels great...

So.. I know that sounds kidna sappy and weird.. but its sorta just some point I reached in life where I knew I wanted to change.

My main problems with eating.. is probably my coke intake. Occasionaly I go through periods where I eat out more.. but I dont feel like I really pig out on a daily basis. So, at this point.. I think its just getting my metabolism back up there and eating low-fat and well balanced meals. I am trying to cut coke back to 1 or 2 a day. I wont ever cut it out completly.. because I like it and in moderation it is ok for me. I am a firm believer that you should enjoy life.. and not always feel guilty about eating a hot fudge sudae or drinking a coke. As long as you work out.. and not have that extra fat every day.. things should work out.

-Tanya

Monique,
how r u? i am still having trouble with the evening eating. that is when i consume the most calories. i am aiming for 1500/day but usually end up around 2000, mostly because of mindless eating at night, like eating a handful of chips or crackers, then something else, and something else, etc. i WISH i could stop myself! I KNOW i can, but why do I keep doing it? I don't know.
Next weekend (the 20th) a bunch of us are going to a nearby water park. You know what the means-bikinis. ugh. I feel I look okay in mine, but my best friend is like 100#, 5'6", thin (obviously) and next to her i look like a whale. YIKES!
I was hoping to lose a little before then, only a week and a half left. hustle hustle hustle!

Monique,
What size jeans did you wear when you were 202 and what size do you wear now being 137??? I'm 5'5 and want to be around 137. I'd like to buy a pair of jeans to show 'myself' my 'progress'.

For some reason, It encourages to lose more weight, if I have a size lower jeans to strive for.. instead of buying new ones and waiting to lose weight before I can get more.. Know what I mean? Have a great day!!

Hello Jenn! Um, are you my double? (well,no, you weigh less, but we are in the SAME situation!!) did you send me a private message once?? I had gotten one and deleted the name before i could reply. anyway, I am also 24, live with my boyfriend, and have been on a diet since i was (seriously) 7 years old. I too have been a WW drop out, yet just spoke to a friend of mine who was doing it and is up to 68 lbs gone!!!! So i am contemplating it again. I had tryed the atkins with the help of this site, but it got kind of unhealthy.....then i went on my own and lost about 10 lbs, and that is where i am now. i have been traveling to weddings all month so it's been a little stand still in loss, but......i'm kind of now following a diet plan that i dont even want to mention on this site.....might get yelled at, but i would LOVE a buddy!!! where are you at now in your goals?? ( thinnk this thread is from a while ago)