Greetings Fellow 20-somethingser ,

I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone. This is my second post on the forum (I posted in the Getting to know you thread). Anyways, I'm 26, married (since July 05), and I'm a graduate student. I'm 5'7 and weigh around 175 pounds.

My story:
Seems as if I have always been aware of my weight and have been trying to control it. For the last 4 years my weight has always flunctutated in the 165 - 170 pound range, but then two weeks ago I was up to 180 pounds so I knew I needed to make a change. My mother is always telling me to "take care of myself" because diabetes run in the family. I've always been a little chunkier than my brother and sister so I guess she felt that it was important to stress it to me. 3 years ago I did Weight Watchers and lost about 25 pounds (got down to 148), but we all know that if you don't stick to the principles then the weight comes back. Oh, I love Weight Watchers by the way. In Jan. my husband and I did Body for Life. From WW, we had a good background on the food aspect (small portion, high fiber, whole grains), but BFL helped us really develop an exercise regimen. We stuck to the program for about 4.5-5 months (lost 12 pounds, BF went down by about 10%, and my overall fitness and endurance really improved), but Life came in the way (husband is a computer consultant and got a client out of state, and I did my proposal for my research and had no time) and well we fell off.

From BFL we felt so great though about our fitness that we decided to sign up for the Chicago Marathon. But since the time that we did BFL and the time that we signed up for the marathon, I had gained back all the weight and even more (that's when I went up to 180). So right now we are training for the marathon, and I'm focusing on trying to lose some weight. My goal is to be a size 8 (okay really a 6, but honestly I don't know if that is possible so I say a size 8). I figure I need to be around the 145 - 150 pound weight for the size 8.....

My plan: I'm just counting calories and working out....I know what I need to do, I just need to do it.

Okay, sorry for the very long post. Just wanted to say that I am here and I look forward to being on this weight loss and lifestyle change journey with you.

Rai

Welcome! I'm new to this thread although not new to this forum, I have a goal of my 25th bday (October 25th) and am trying to get down to 135 by then (although won't kick myself if I can just get under 140) -

I started out around 171 at 5'6 so we're pretty similar as far as that's concerned... I'm AMAZED though that you are doing a marathon! That's AWESOME! I did my first 10K this past year and was really proud of myself but a marathon! That is INCREDIBLE! what a great goal!

So welcome and let's see if we can't all support eachother! My goal is to log EVERYTHING that I eat and how I feel when I'm eating it. My problem is that I'll do GREAT during the week and then binge on the weekends - I'm usually pretty sedentary and party on the weekends so thinking if I incorporate some fun exercise this might help...

Hope you have a great day!

welcome! good luck on your weightloss journey!

Rai!!!!

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad that you have a good support system with you hubby! That's awesome that he will eat the same as you, and workout...you are waaaay ahead of the pack with that type of support!

You also already know what it takes to lose and get in shape, now, you just have to do it! Best wishes to you! Feel free to jump right in!

Welcome Rai, the more the merrier!

Rai -
hello and good luck
I want to warn you though - training for the marathon is a serious commitment and not a time to cheat yourself out of food! Your body will need nutrients, and especially carbohydrates as you train harder and do longer runs - remember you will be doing up to 20 mile runs, pending on your speed can take you up to 4 hours! think how many calories that is, and how depleted your body will be of nutrients.

When I trained for the NY Marathon - I lost weight without trying - I don't think I choose bad food though because I was excersizing and trying to fuel my body properly - the problem came of course after the marathon was over, because I was eating like I was training - though I was not training for anything.

Anyway - come over and join the runners thread - and if you want any advice on marathons, feel free to ask! I am currently training for a triathalon, but maybe one day I'd train for a marathon again - I just can't fathom training for it again - the marathon was a blast - 20 mile training runs were not!

B

Welcome Rai! Good luck to you!

Thanks for the warning. You are right, I know I should probably eat more calories, but it's hard. On the runner world forum so many people were like they didn't lose weight when training for the marathon (alot said they gained) and I'm like there's no way I'm running 26.2 miles and not loosing a pound. But due to your warning, I ate a slice of french apple pie from Bakers square. Can we say heaven... I'm on my way to check out the runners thread.

PS: I give you a lot of props for the triathalon. I hear the swimming part tend to be the hardest segment for most people.

I'm sending you a pm....

Hey Rai!

I'm also starting anew, and I'm the same height and weight!

Cool! We can be buddies! What is your plan?

Rai, my plan is south beach. My roomie and I are doing it together.