Hi everyone -- I'm new enough here that i hope i am not stepping on any toes by starting a new thread. I weighed in this morning at a long-fought 179.

That 1-pound loss took me 2-plus weeks of calorie counting, kickboxing and crying.

That said, if my last 2 weeks are any indication, I am going to have to claw my way out of these 170s so I thought I would settle in and host the thread for a bit.

Any joiners?

About me, I am 38 years old, a mother of 3 daughters and a lifelong size 12. I am okay with the size 12, although I prefer a 10. I have NEVER been an 8 so that would be sort of amazing...but one step at a time. Recently, I hit the 14s and I'm not okay with it. i look terrible and I saw a picture of myself on Feb. 10 that made me gasp audibly. So here I am.

So far, 3FC has been a lifesaver and I would love to have active daily chats with anyone willing to link up

Hi I'm in the 170s... Yesterday I weighed in at 173.9.. I workout 3-4 times a week for 1.5-2 hours a session.. I use to count calories now I just watch my portions n passively log it into my Fitness Pal..I'm hoping to b out of the 170s in a week or two..

COME ON! There have to be some lurkers out there who want to join up. Register yourselves and come straight here! This is no fun alone and it looks like qtee will be gone soon anyways

Alright , I have accepted that this might be a lonely place for awhile That;s ok.

I have come to a really frightening realization, after a lifetime feeling totally confused that I ate so little but kept gaining weight, I have realized that I am a chronic dieter and I have done so much damage to my metabolism by constantly starving myself.

This has been hard to digest (haha) after going down this checklist in my mind....do I binge? NO. Do I overeat? NO. Am I an emotional eater? NO. Then WTF is my problem?

I get it now. So that;s half the battle. Now I need to figure out what to do about it.

One thing I have accepted is that it is going to take a long time to fix the damage I've done so I may as well get comfortable and settle into the journey.

176.4 this morning.

6 weeks after kicking this new life into gear, the weight came off in a solid chunk. I wasn't going to give up but I was seriously starting to wonder if I was broken.

i AM NOT BROKEN!!!! I work just fine :-)

I will continue to weigh in weekly but ,pay mostly attention to the lowest monthly weight. I am a chronic fluxuater

Anyone ready to join me? I would love some buddies.

I do my own thread. But i am just popping in to say i've read your thread and wish you all the best.

You can use your thread as a sort of record of what you are doing. I do that on mine. I food diaries and talk about anything else and like you only list my weigh then its reaches a new low. Because i feel i have to justify it if its goes up which i think stupid and don't want to do.

Anyway its good you realised you haven't got a metabolism problem. I found a website recently called nutrition world which has some good articles about the interplay of certain hormones and weightless. As a yo yo dieter you might find it helpful. Leptin, seratonin and insulin as well as fibre are all interesting articles i found there under the UNDERSTAND YOUR BODY section. I need to read them again actually. There's a lot of info in them to try to absorb.

OH bugger i keep saying nutrition world but its nutrition wonderland! clearly no one else is bothering to try to read these articles since no one has reported a problem finding it.

Thanks Pattience -- I checked out nutrition wonderland briefly -- this week has been crazy busy and I haven't had much time for web surfing but I find reading about weight loss and reading about others peoples' successes helps keep me focused.

I *think* I have finally figured out my formula for weight loss ,which has taken me 6 weeks of trial and error!!! I was bound and determined to find the combination of things that would not only "work" but would also be sustainable. No crash diets, ever again.

Whatever I have going on now -- from eating to exercise to supplements -- seems to be doing the trick so now I have to stay the course until I hit my first plateau! I am very very hopeful today.

One of the most important things, I think, has been to really realize how unhealthy my weight it (the doc said I am officially OBESE. Anyone who knows me would probably beg to differ, thanks to how I carry my weight, but it doesn't change the cold hard facts) and that my motivation is to not become skinny, but to get to a healthy body weight and eliminate unnecessary risks.

I have three pre-teen daughters and I have always been so careful to avoid obsessing about my weight in front of them, but this is all very matter of fact in my house right now. I weigh too much ,and to live a long life, I need to get to a healthier weight. Simple. I am okay with having them involved in my goals, even though it hasn't become a focal point of my life, as far as they are concerned.

So it's good. I am in probably the best place i have been yet on this journey -- resolved, positive and content with this new lifestyle.

Oh, and the doctor suggested that perhaps I am peri-menopausal. So that's always awesome to hear. :smh

I would love to join! So happy I found this thread. Let's do it!

My sister has had a hard time with peri-menopausal in the last few years. I haven't had it yet. I don't know whether its because my turn is just being delayed (apparently its a trend) or because i am taking antidepressants. I suspect and hope its the latter. One of the reasons why i say that is i know how they can have a positive impact on people's hormone cycles because it was listening to a radio program about them many years ago now, when the woman and her doctor were speaking about how they help with pms. I of course only went on them for depression but it was at a time when i was still reluctant to take meds and i had started therapy. On hearing that woman talk about her experience i said, ok, i'll do it. So i'm hoping my reaonsing is right and i will go into menopause with no symptoms when the time comes.

Meanwhile good luck to you with that.

You remind me also about my mother and her weight when i was young. I was at boarding school most of the time but my mother was rather focused on her weight and used to do all sorts of odd things. I remember these plastic sweat pants she used to wear. Obviously very memorable. I was only about 6 or 7.

And then later she opened the first gym in our city and would exercise her self half to death to keep her weight down.

She is quite a "healthy fanatic" as we used to say. And now she's just crazy.

I think there were some good effects of her focus. She always tried to eat healthy and prepared healthy meals for us. Unforunately i wasn't always at home and learnt binging skills at boarding school where it was a sort of game.

So anyway what is your formula? I promise not to pick. I'm just curious.

Well, my formula is a like a combination lock, apparently, where everything has to be lined up perfectly in order for progress. I don't think I did so well this week since i am up a couple pounds, although it's my TOM and that probably has something to do with it.

So here's the layout:

EATING: I tried calorie counting and preferred it to WW in terms of lifestyle, but counting points seems to work better right now. I tend to make better choices on WW because it feels more restrictive and I need to maximize my food :-) When I get to my goal, I will prob have to calorie-count forever to maintain. I have always been a healthy eater but I tend to pick a bite her, a bite there, from my kids' plates and yummy things -- I think they tend to add up!

EXERCISE: 3x a week at my kickboxing gym, which I love and it feels like working out with a personal trainer; walking/hiking/whatever else at my leisure -- I have always loved to exercise.

SUPPLEMENTS: iodine, and a hormonal balancing tincture called Vitex. I also take a multi, vit. c, and Biotin for hair/nails.

MENTALLY: still working on how to adopt changes in my lifestyle without being obsessive. Right now I am always reading weight loss memoirs, and while I love to read them, I can't say it's the healthiest thing. Being fat is kind of at the forefront of my mind throughout my waking day and this is new, and it sucks. I haven't been this down on myself in a long time. I am writing a memoir of my own and this might also have something to do with the obsession.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES: I have given up my evening glass of wine and I miss it terribly. I am now having wine only on the weekends and an occasional; weekday, but this sucks and in 6 months' time, if I find it had no impact, it's the first thing I am going back to!

Hey.. Just came by this thread.. All the best with the weight loss!! I wish I could join you as early as possible but have been in between 182-184 for several weeks now

Well you have already lost a good chunk of weight and if you have been at a standstill for a bit I am sure it will roll off swiftly. I would love to have someone to "talk" to

Hi Final Fifteen!

So, I need your advice - I was sitting at 179, but my TOM brought me back up to 182 (in the evenings). Usually I'm 179 in the morning. Does that mean I can join the 170's club with ya?

You sound lonely in this thread, and I could use some motivation because I just made a goal to be 175 by April 28th!

I have some great recipes and exercises to share Let me know!