Hello everyone!
Since this is our 16th thread, the girls have asked that I do sort of a "roll call"-posting a brief summary of what our group is about, and everyone starting their first post here with a little information about themselves and how far we have come together.
I started this thread almost two years ago when I first discovered this website. At the time under the general diet plans section, there were threads for just about every organized diet plan under the sun-Atkins, Slim-Fast, Sommersizing...you name it. I didn't see a thread for people like myself-who were wanting to lose weight with good old fashioned exercise and better eating habits.
Most of us here are calorie counters, but everyone doing a balanced plan, such as using food exchange plans or counting WW points are welcome. What you won't find here are fad diets such as juice fasts or anyone using gimmicky products such as diet pills. Most of our veterans here consider what we do as a lifestyle change, not a diet. We have all learned that if you go on a diet, you will gain all that you have lost when you go back to your old lifestyle. We are commited to making better choices for the rest of our lives here.
I like to also stress the importance of not relying on the scale 100% for your results, and encourage everyone to either have their body fat percentage checked periodically, or to take measurements of their bodies once a month. If you are exercising regularly, you can lose inches without losing a pound on the scale-so it is not always the best as far as showing your true progress.
My name is Amy, and I am in my late twenties. I have ALWAYS had to watch my diet and exercise regularly to keep my weight under control-even in high school. The only thing that has ever worked for me is to count calories, and to exercise. Things have always been under control until I was expecting my first child in 1998-I found that I was a gestational diabetic (diabetic when pregnant) and it causes extra weight gain in the mother, as well as larger than everage babies...among other complications. After my daughter was born, I was at 200 pounds and a size 18. When my daughter was a couple of months old, I lost my aunt to diabetes complications-this was my mother's YOUNGER sister, and she was only in her early forties. The longer my weight stayed high the more at risk I was to become a full time diabetic-and I knew I had t do something about it.
A year and a half later I was 50 pounds lighter, and was fit and felt great...then I found out I was pregnant again. I had a gorgeous son in spring of 2001, and afterwards my highest weight was 211 pounds-a size 18/20. I have since lost 32 pounds and am now at 179, and a size 16. I still have a ways to go, but I have lost a lot of body fat, and through weight training and other exercise, I have gained a significant amount of muscle.
I cross train, and my exercise regime includes a lot of weight training, yoga, Pilates, and bellydancing. I also include walking when the weather permits.
My husband is an engineer at an automotive glass plant-they make windshields and windows for major automobiles, such as GM and Dodge. He also rides a Harley. I am a licensed hairdresser/cosmetologist, but I stay home right now with the young children and devote more time to my true love-costuming. I creat costumes for lots of things, including replicas of costumes seen in movies. I am currently making costumes for my dance instructor's troupe for a show this May, and participate in lots of high scale costume contests.
I have three tattoos, I love sci-fi and fantasy films, and am a huge Seinfeld fan, and we have one cat named Gollum.
Well, that about sums me up!
Aphil