After much discussion on other threads about this, here I am making a new thread. I originally lost 55lbs, maintained (with some bumps) for seven years, then got pregnant with twins and gained 65lbs. Doctor told me not to go on a diet until I was done breastfeeding, and I finished that up when the girls were 14 months. I lost 10lbs since then, but my twins are almost 21 months old and I have about 25lbs of baby weight still hanging around. I've been "exercising" for a while but not very focused, and I'm so out of shape that I can barely do the easiest setting on some machines in the gym. I'm having trouble being motivated to focus on my diet, and my life is crazy with two toddlers and a lot of responsibility at work.

I spend a lot of time thinking about how fit I was before having kids and mourning the fact that I didn't really appreciate it at the time, and that I didn't appreciate how easy it was to fit exercise into my schedule at the time.

Well! Enough of that! It's time to buckle down and get to work and get rid of these 25lbs, get rid of the enormous saggy belly that makes me still look pregnant, and get back into shape so that it's not a big deal to carry my two toddlers up and down the stairs. Also, get back into the lovely wardrobe I have that is currently three sizes too small for me.

I'm planning to use this thread to talk about my challenges and progress and maybe to log some food and exercise. Anyone is welcome to join me! I would like to keep the focus on losing larger amounts of weight (10+lbs) if possible.

Starting things off with my current status.

Current weight: 158
Goal weight: <=135, preferably 130.

Current eating plan: I realized I was having way too much trouble being motivated to count calories, so instead I'm trying to do the following:
* no desserts on weekdays
* no seconds for any meals (if I am still hungry I can eat something different later)
* try to follow the sort of MyPlate.gov approach of having half of my meal be vegetables/fruit, 1/4 protein, 1/4 starch/grains, combined with "eat the rainbow" for lunch and dinner
* breakfast for the winter is always the same -- oatmeal with fruit and some nuts
* don't buy anything from the vending machine at work!!
* don't keep any dessert in the house
* one cheat meal per week where I can eat whatever I want

Current exercise plan: At work they were doing this thing where a personal trainer would do an evaluation and give us suggested exercises. My evaluation came out that I am severely lacking in muscle, so the plan she gave me is pretty much all weights.
Monday: lower body + cardio
Wednesday: upper body + cardio
Friday: total body + cardio

and if I can manage it, T/Th just cardio. All my workouts happen on my lunch breaks at work and sometimes work is too busy and I have to skip lunch.

Biggest challenge: food. Especially on workout days, sometimes I feel like I need more food, and I've been in a mode of eating as much as I want for so long that it's hard to go back to restricting.

Hey, Jessica. I'm looking at 20lbs to get back to redline, no idea what my goal is at this point. I'll chat with you. I'm about to be in the car for work, but will pop in when I get back and settled.

I'll join. I like to keep in touch.

Current weight 157.4
Goal weight under 150, preferably 145 (which used to be my red line)

I'm not following any particular diet, but I do eat more vegetables than anything else and limit my starch as much as possible. No second helpings. Dessert only once per week.

Here's my biggest hurdle at the moment--the office candy dish. I must stay away!

Oh, I'm sure I meet the criterion to post here.

paperclippy, who is going to start the new other-thread when it's time?

Jay, you mean the followup to the "staying on target" thread? I don't know, probably whoever started it last time.

Thanks for joining me, guys! I am happy to report I made it to the gym today and did my workout. First time doing the "total body" one that I got from the personal trainer. I managed higher weights than I expected for some things (10# dumbbells for squat w/shoulder press, 15# dumbbells for chest press), but kind of sucked it up on step ups. I did two sets of 15, but skipped the third because stepping back down seemed like it was going to start irritating my plantar fasciitis. I might have to pick a different exercise there, any suggestions?

Followed up with 15 min walking uphill on the treadmill with a couple intervals of higher speed/incline, now eating lunch.

I'd like to join. I'm definitely a maintainer, and I feel I need to "shift" alot. The last 10 pounds I lost were not really the right 10, they were due to stress making my appetite plummet. I feel "flabby thin". I need to put on muscle mass while shifting off body fat, particularly stubborn belly flab. I can't imagine the effort this will take. Perhaps I will be working on this forever, but whatever, that's the focus.

I realized this morning that I really need to start strength training with focus if I want this to happen. Strength training does not inspire me, I need to figure out a way to make it interesting to me!

That's me in a nutshell.

Welcome Michelle (Mrs Snark)!

I was reading in the weekly thread where saef (I think) said she feels "entitled" to three meals and two snacks. I wonder about that entitled feeling. I sometimes have that feeling myself and wonder if it is that which causes a setback (gain in weight).

I've been trying to eat "better" snacks the past few weeks. I still can't get far enough away from bad snacks, but I'm eating them less and less.

I learned from one program about the concept of "no snacks." Basically, you eat three meals a day, and they are good-sized meals, but you don't eat in between. It makes a certain amount of sense.

My current approach is that I don't eat snacks unless I'm really hungry. If not, then I wait until mealtime. I don't just eat because I've gotten used to the habit of a snack every X hours.

I do the same as JayEll. Only 3 meals a day, and sometimes only 2 (generally in summer). I think it helped me when I got out of the habit of snacking.

I will grab a fruit if I actually feel really hungry between meals, and I occasionally do have those days -- I don't fight hunger, but now that is rare.

I'd like to join in! I don't know my actual weight at this point (stopped weighing b/c I get too neurotic) but I do know a lot of my clothes don't fit anymore or are uncomfortably tight.

Right now I need to work on pre-planning my meals so I don't end up in a pinch and finding a place where I can have a steady workout routine.

Can I join? The 'losing a lot' applies a lot more than the 'maintainers' part, though....

Midwife! Yes, you can, of course.

Oh, I've just remembered that I haven't joined this thread yet! Can I join? I'd like to lose something like 4 x 5lbs.

Mrs Snark, I find weights quite meditative. The slow movement, the focus on breathing, the concentration on counting the reps, the awareness of good form and the body overall. I'm often surprised when I get so tired from weight training because I had all that in mind rather than heaving large lumps of iron about.

I'd like to sign up too. I've got *at least* 10# to tackle, just to "get back to where you belong". 10, possibly double - I don't know at the moment.

I've done some good things - picked up a Fitbit and it definitely has inspired me to get off my butt, and I am more cognizant of what I'm eating, even if I haven't made the best of all possible choices all the time. I'm making better choices more often. And yes, weightlifters, I have learned from you that this is something I absolutely must add in order to get where I want to go.