Hey everybody! My name's Tiffany and I'm from AZ. I'm currently a size 22-24 and I really do love who I am and how I look. However, given my confidence and zest for plumpness, the doctor called this morning. Apparently, if I want to see my kids graduate, I have to start getting healthy and changing habits. And after 1/2 of day 1- I'm ready to sulk in a giant tub of chocolate chip cookie dough. I'm scared, defeated and generally hating life right now and I'm only 7 hours in!

I had my egg beaters eggwhites on a tortilla with turkey bacon this morning followed by 10 grueling minutes of Yoga for beginners and I'm supposed to go walking with my kids later. JOY. I don't even know how the freak I'm supposed to do this.

I'm going at this without support from anybody right now and my husband loves the fluff. Oh and to make everything that much better, I comitted to quit smoking last Thursday. So I'm already whiny as it is.


Anyway! SO! On the flip side, I have 4 wonderful and amazing children. Ages 8,7, 4 about to be 5 and 4 as in just turned 4 I'm a stay at home mom and when I'm not at home, I'm usually advocating for child and family rights for children with Autism. My son has Autism as well as many other fun diagnosies that keep us super busy. Let me tell you though, up until the phone call this morning, I am sincerely so happy with life. I am blessed abundantly and trying ever SO hard to see the phone call as a blessing that it was a call and not a heart attack.


So that's me! I look forward to getting to know you all! Good luck in your weight loss challenge.

It will get easier!! Hang in there!! You might just find that you will love your new body, just as much as the old! Good Luck! About the eggs.... instead of egg beaters, which are nasty, try one large egg with two egg whites beaten together for scrambled eggs. That what I do, and it tastes much better. :P

hey love (:

keep your head up! i know how hard it is, and have battled with losing weight ALL of my life. DEDICATION is truly key. Yeah, I know. Easier said than done, but atleast your family is supportive!

HEY TIFFANY ~ take small steps, even baby steps at first ... then you won't feel so overwhelmed. Start with just cutting out all the junk; you can lose weight for the first few months just by doing that. Then add in some good stuff like more veggies, salads, and fruit of your choice. You can follow a specific plan or create one that fits you & your family. Try to choose one that isn't too drastic -- something you can live with for the long-term.

There's nothing wrong with loving yourself now; AND while you improve your health for YOU and your family too ...

DH & I both quit smoking too -- we did a slow cessation first, then cut off when we had got down to less than 5-10 a day. Had to for DH's health; he couldn't breath, developed asthma, was on pumpers, etc -- soon as we quit, all that disappeared like his doctor said it would. You'll be surprised how much $$$ you save too; you can use that to buy more veggies, lean meats, etc.; and some rewards for yourself as you go along.

Thanks a bunch for the encouragement you guys! Today's challenge was eating enough. I only cleared 578 calories today. And according to well EVERYBODY that's not enough. So back to the drawing board. I was thinking oatmeal tomorrow with a turkey wrap and a salad for lunch and then baked tilapia and brown rice tomorrow with steamed asparagus. We'll see if that works!

You sound like a wonderfully upbeat, positive person! That will serve you well in the weight-loss process

You should be able to enjoy the foods you love (just smaller quantities of it). You also should be able to find exercises you like that you look forward to. Even going on a walk, playing with your kids counts as activities. If yoga was too much, do fewer minutes next time, or do a gentler yoga. Or find another activity.

Find food that's healthy for you that you love to eat, and exercise that's good for you that you enjoy doing. This will be key to sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

You also will NOT lose your curves! It's awesome you love curves (I do too! and I got 'em!). The great thing is your body should remain a similar shape after you lose weight, just a smaller shape. And it's not like you get stick thin overnight- if you feel like you're becoming too small for your comfort you could always talk with your doctor before continuing to drop pounds.

Good luck!!

It really doesn't have to be miserable. Pick up a couple HungryGirl cookbooks, see what kind of exercise interests you. Walking with your kids is nice, but if you want to look into other things you might like more, do it!

This can be a really great thing, you just have to want to do it. If you're eating things you don't like and doing activities you dread... there is a great chance you won't stick with this. Make it something you want to do.

Hey, welcome! I just joined here a few days ago, and I already love it! I'm glad you're doing this because you love yourself, not because you hate yourself. That's a great start! And like the others said, this doesn't have to be miserable. I had French fries the other day, and I'm doing great!

Try not to throw your self in at deep end gradually ease your self in. Change the way you cook your foods etc.

Have you tried weightwatchers? im not trying tio sway you in to doing any plan but i do weightwatchers as i to love food , and with weight watchers nothing is forbidden so you could still have some of that choc chip cookie dough

Or even slimming world my friends swear by. As soon as you start to deprive yourself thats when it becomes difficult. Everything in moderation is the key and im sure youl get there good luck hun

Hey, Tiffany -

You sure aren't alone here. I quit smoking quite a few years ago when my youngest was just a baby. Yes, I smoked while I was pregnant and it was when my mom died from cancer. Who does that right? Then that was when the weight really started to creep up. I was all smug when I was a kid even though I always viewed myself as "fat" (in high school I was a whopping 120-130 lbs). But I was smug b/c my mom said she had to diet to get into a size 18 wedding dress and I thought well I'm not going to have to do that. I thought I had more of my dad's genes. Well smug sure did bite me in the butt.

I also always say how much I've gained with being married and with each pregnancy (like it's funny), but then with smoking it was one huge child b/c then I gained the mother lode. Then through the years I have gone up and down during various stages of me getting healthy.

But, I'll tell you I have 2 friends who have been doing quite well and I really think it's b/c they found a new focus .. they decided to train for the "3 day" and I'll be darned if they aren't pummeling the pounds.

But, what I really wanted to share with you is what someone shared with me recently -- expecting different results when we're doing somehting the same way is just insanity. I think I paraphrased it, but it's the general gist. How true is that?

Anyway, I just joined today and I'm really excited. This sure is a journey. And I sure do hope this sugar gets out of my system soon. Working nights causes such a sugar rush as you end up craving it to stay awake. My legs are so crampy right now that I cannot sleep.

Good luck!! And have a fabulous day!! Kiss those children of yours and then go for a walk.....

Hey, Tiffany -

You sure aren't alone here. I quit smoking quite a few years ago when my youngest was just a baby. Yes, I smoked while I was pregnant and it was when my mom died from cancer. Who does that right? Then that was when the weight really started to creep up. I was all smug when I was a kid even though I always viewed myself as "fat" (in high school I was a whopping 120-130 lbs). But I was smug b/c my mom said she had to diet to get into a size 18 wedding dress and I thought well I'm not going to have to do that. I thought I had more of my dad's genes. Well smug sure did bite me in the butt.

I also always say how much I've gained with being married and with each pregnancy (like it's funny), but then with smoking it was one huge child b/c then I gained the mother lode. Then through the years I have gone up and down during various stages of me getting healthy.

But, I'll tell you I have 2 friends who have been doing quite well and I really think it's b/c they found a new focus .. they decided to train for the "3 day" and I'll be darned if they aren't pummeling the pounds.

But, what I really wanted to share with you is what someone shared with me recently -- expecting different results when we're doing somehting the same way is just insanity. I think I paraphrased it, but it's the general gist. How true is that?

Anyway, I just joined today and I'm really excited. This sure is a journey. And I sure do hope this sugar gets out of my system soon. Working nights causes such a sugar rush as you end up craving it to stay awake. My legs are so crampy right now that I cannot sleep.

Good luck!! And have a fabulous day!! Kiss those children of yours and then go for a walk.....

Hey girl.

Yeah I have to agree with some of the other posts, start small so you get use to it cause it is a lifestyle change. I started off with just healthy foods, and trying to be more aware of what I was eating, then started with slim fast, I tinkled around with this for about 2 months with no shift in my weight, not up and not down then I was ready to try something new....exercise! HAH! Started with 15mins low impact, took as many breaks as I could and just kept adding on with what I could handle. Baby steps. And gosh you are truly ambitious, there is no way I could quit smoking right now! I love having a smoke after I work out, yes I know that sounds crazy but honestly it's so hard to just do it all at once forcing yourself to do something you really don't want to....by doing it bit by bit you will learn to love the little things and the big difference in how you feel in small steps. Loving that feeling will push you to WANT to do more and really it's that wanting that will carry you down the road to successful lifestyle changes. Good luck! And hey I totally understand, my girlfriend (partner) loves me big too.....but I think it's a good thing that you already feel sexy and loved, that means you'll feel that way no matter what size you are! I'm hoping anyways! HAHA

I'm feeling you with the leg cramps. I've seriously got to think about my water intake. For now though, I started a blog and I'm just going to make this as entertaining as possible so that I'll stick with it.

Otherwise, I did okay yesterday. I woke up last night FAMISHED. I wanted to eat my whole pantry. I settled on a glass of skim milk and a packet of oatmeal. Now it's time for day 2. *sigh* Have a great day ladies! And good luck!

Hi, Tiffany! Welcome to the site.

I know exactly what you mean about loving how you look more than how you look loves you. My own wake-up moment came from going to a Saints game and having so much trouble walking to my seat that I thought I was going to faint.

I thought I was going to hate the process of losing weight a LOT more than I have. I've actually been enjoying it, in fact. It's fun to try new fruits and vegetables, to enjoy yoga and swimming, to get creative in the kitchen. It's an additive process--putting more vegetables on the plate, scheduling more activity, doing more of my own home cooking. That "more, more, more" philosophy has really counterbalanced the "less, less, less" deprivation that I used to think a diet had to be.

I'm still plenty curvy and will be even at my goal weight. According to BMI charts, I will still technically be overweight at my goal. I plan to keep losing until I reach the point at which I naturally stop (at 1500 calories a day for my age and height, I have no fear of withering away ), and according to charts that should be around 150ish. But the beautiful thing is, we can stop where we choose. It isn't an all-or-nothing proposition.

No wonder you're famished, girl! You need more food than a few bites of Egg Beaters for breakfast. My breakfast today was a blueberry pancake and a three-egg-white omelet with spinach and onion that I cooked in a little butter. Filling, tasty, full of a full serving of fruit and one of vegetables, and HUGE. You can eat astonishingly well and still lose weight. If anything, I eat better now than I did when I was gaining the weight.