Hey there! I posted in general intros, but I wanted to post here, too. So, I am 33, married for 10 years, have a 13 year old step daughter, and a 12 year old son. I am a registered nurse. Right now I work in the emergency department - so, it's stressful work. In fact, my dentist informed me at my last visit that I am grinding my teeth. Fantastic. My husband is in the military, so that involves a certain j In the last six months I have moved to a new state, bought a house, started a new job in a new specialty, had my house burglarized, lost my dog of eight and a half years suddenly, and I have reached a new highest weight, ugh.... this sounds like a bad country song!!

So, I have restarted doing what has always worked in the past - counting calories and plenty of regular exercise. I have been tracking my calories on Fitday. I am lucky enough to have a great elliptical machine in my house and I have been purchasing some weight lifting equipment here and there. My husband and I are both counting calories this time, so that is different. I even served a salad for dinner tonight and all he said about it was how good it tasted! It could have been the entire grilled chicken breast on top of the lettuce, but I'll take it!

My biggest challenges are going to be that I am a stress eater, and when I am at work I don't always get lunch. I work 12 hour shifts, and I would really love to be able to do the whole "four to five 300 to 400 calorie meals throughout the day" thing, but there are days where I am lucky to get one meal , let alone two.

My motivation is rooted in several things, but the primary is my health. I see sick &/or dying people every day. Many of these people are suffering from preventable illness. I was a nurse on the floor before we moved and there were a few patients and families that I cared for over the course of a few weeks. One in particular I bonded with - this patient came in for something that was a illness management issue, but over the course of the stay conditions deteriorated and they passed away. This patient's illness was preventable and this patient was too young to pass away like that. I don't want to leave my family like that. I have worked with people who are constantly doped up because of the chronic pain they are in, many times exacerbated by excess weight. Excess weight can lead to so many health issues - and I just want to be healthy again. There there are the more superficial vain reasons like wanting to look good in clothes and feel sexy again.

So.... now that you know my whole life story... I look forward to getting to know the rest of you!

I am re-starting right there with you!! I signed up for a 5k in 8 weeks, plan to sign up for more to keep me exercising by training. My biggest issue is boredom eating and forgetting to count calories. Good luck on your journey, I'll be here with you

well I am a brand new nurse and have not even been exposed to working shifts, and I need to start over because of a life change--pregnancy which I gained all of the weight I had lost previously, next I got diagnosed with Hashimotos. I'm on meds and my thyroid is supposedly perfect but I gain weight really easily now. So it is an uphill battle. Nice to know you have humor despite all that sad stuff.

I've been stressed out with a lot of things such as my 13 year old, my soon to be 1 year old, job hunting, lost my cat of 10 years recently, and my best friend's 2 year old daughter died which also pretty much ended our friendship.

so here's to stress, and being able to overcome it with a better lifestyle. I'm a stress eater too. I need fatty sweets when I am under stress. Trying to do some lower carb options.

Anyways, nice to meet you.

One tip. Try and fit some small snacks somewhere in your shift. Protein bars, fruits, veggies, multi-grain crackers.

Hey ya'll - thanks for the responses.

I was off all weekend, and yesterday ate way too much when celebrating my undying love for mexican food and tequila, and then today did marginally better by not having alcohol. We went out to see a movie, but it was sold out, so we went out to dinner instead - Japanese... sushi. I was so full by the end it hurt, but it kind of snuck up on me. Anyway, back on the wagon come the next meal!

Nicole joy - a 5k, way to lock yourself in! Are you doing the couch-to-5k?

Jendiet - I am so sorry to hear about your and your friends losses. Life can be a complete crap-fest sometimes. You will get through it - and good luck with the job hunt!!

Nathan - I have stocked up on some easy to eat/drink snacks for work. Thanks for the tip!

I also just want to be "healthy". I don't gain quickly but I gain a nice solid 1 lb/week if I don't want myself. I have pregnant friends and coworkers who are eating everything in sight and craving all the things I shouldn't' be eating. I let them talk me into ice cream breaks, lunches out 2x/week, etc. And suddenly my pants are too tight! I REFUSE to buy the next size up. I've been a 12 and 14 and I want to stay in my 10s!! or be in 8s someday! So I finally said enough is enough. The two worst eaters are out on maternity leave for 3 months so I'm cramming.
I started Ideal Protein on Monday and so far I'm down almost 3 lbs. It's their food and only veggies are allowed in addition. It's easy to make their food (or drink a shake) so it's not super stressful and I'm never starving and waiting for my healthy meal to be prepped and cooked. But I'm having to purposely incorporate veggies and then plan my own dinner. It's hard but easier than most of the other extreme diets I've tried.
I don't want my kids to have my sugar and pop addictions. Or to pick up my horrible habit of 'rewarding' myself with food for the stupidest things. I need to change my frame of mind so that I don't say "You deserve that snickers, Lauren" but instead say "You deserve to be healthy and thin and that snickers is the devil!" LOL