Figured I'd say "Hello!" to start.

I'm a 47-year-old mom of 2 college-aged kids. I've needed to lose weight for my entire adult life.

I'd love to lose 80 pounds, but would be thrilled if I could lose 120.

Such big numbers are daunting, which is why I'm here - for support.

I think I've tried every diet on the planet. Low fat, in the 90s, actually caused me to gain weight. Now, after doing a ton of nutritional research, I understand why.

I've tried Keto and after 3 months of being miserable - I had only lost 5 pounds and realized it wasn't worth it for me.

After my husband visited the doctor for some routine bloodwork and found his good cholesterol low and bad cholesterol a little high, the doctor suggested he give up all grains (although oats on occasion are OK), potatoes and all refined carbs. I call it a quasi-Paleo diet, because he can have cheese and other dairy, within moderation.

Then, I read Wheat Belly and am happy we gave up grain - specifically wheat.

I just started ******** last Friday. A neighbor has been on for a couple of months and has lost 20 pounds-ish. It's going well, but involves relatively small - 400- to 600-calorie dinners - and with the restrictions of no grains, potatoes, etc. I'm finding it sometimes hard to not just run to Jimmy John's and buy a "day old" loaf of bread for lunch. LOL

Plus, today is my first "Cleanse" day, which is actually going pretty well - I thought I'd be chewing my own arm off. LOL But, I have a meeting tonight, for a village committee I sit on, and some of the committee members bring their dinners to the meeting... so, we'll see how that goes! :-)

I chose my username - FitFatGirl - because that's kind of how I've always seen myself. Despite being very overweight, I do love to jog (albeit slowly), swim and cycle. I'm the big girl that comes into a spin class and all the skinny girls roll their eyes at, then are amazed when I hold my own all class long. I've also done numerous 5Ks and actually did Disney's last Tower of Terror 10-Miler, before they stopped that race. I've done a couple of sprint distance tris. Although I never finish near the top, I always finish. I'm basically proof that anyone of any size can get out and do these kinds of things.

But, with that being said - for me - exercise isn't the answer. For my first triathlon, I was at the gym 1 to 2 hours a day. I'd either jog for an hour or catch a spin class - then jump in the pool and swim laps. Yet, never lost weight.

Extreme calorie counting doesn't work for me either. Last spring, I hired a personal trainer - to make sure I was working out effectively and staying under 1,400 calories a day. At my size, I should be able to sit on the couch and lose weight at that calorie level, according to "experts." Nope.

So, like I said, I started this new program, and it's going well - Day 5 and down 4.6 pounds - but, who knows, that could just be water weight, so time will tell. With the cravings for carbs, it's not that I'm hungry really - just would love to sink my teeth into a nice warm piece of bread. LOL

Just feeling a little overwhelmed. So, I apologize for the rambling.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and helping support everyone. I'm a great cheerleader. I've done a ton of research on nutrition, trying to figure out what will work. And, I can definitely give advice to anyone who's interested in starting to run.

If you made it this far in my epic tome of a post - thank you for reading!

Welcome, FitFatGirl!!!

Your journey sounds a bit like mine. I follow a kind of Whole30/Paleo/Primal style of eating. Probably more "Primal Blueprint" than anything, since it allows for things like legumes or potatoes if they work for you. I try to eat lower carb than the average American, but really my target of keeping carbs under 150g per day is pretty easy to attain. And definitely NOT keto. I try to not go over 100g but sometimes that is harder for me.

I wasn't able to see what program you use, it got ******** out by 3FC probably because they've had a problem with that program being promoted here for money. But whatever it is, if it's working for you, GREAT!

Welcome to 3FC!

Hi and welcome FitFatGirl!!!!! I too, have tried every diet out there and have been overweight pretty much all my life. You will find support here!!

Thanks, EagleRiverDee & Fathippie!

Yeah, I see those asterisks in my post. Sorry, mods! I saw other product names, so didn't know there were certain ones that weren't allowed.

Today is day 2 of the 2-day cleanse part of the program. It's cleanse drinks, and small "snacks" - each taken every hour. Total calorie count for the day yesterday was 405 calories. So, I'm pretty much calling that a fast. Heck, I've eaten more than double that in one meal, at times!

I thought for sure I was going to be starving. Weirdly, I wasn't.

A couple of people had told me, "Day 2 is easier." and I thought - "Yeah, right!" I mean, how could it be? Wouldn't I be extra-starving? LOL

Again, weirdly, they're right. Today has been surprisingly simple. For instance, I just looked at the clock and saw it was 3:23... 23 minutes after I was supposed to have one of my drinks.

I was the managing editor for a book, The Truth About Aging a long time ago. Gerontologist, Dr. Roth, had studied the positive effects of aging on health benefits and longevity. But, I was never brave enough to even give it a try. Heck, I had a hard time trying intermittent fasting. LOL

Anyway, weighed in this morning and was now down a total of 7.2 pounds, since my first weigh in last Friday.

Now, I know some of this is water weight. But, I don't think it's all water weight. At least, I hope not! :-D I guess only time will really tell. Thankfully, there's a 30-day money-back guarantee, on "The-Program-That-Must-Not-Be-Named" LOL - and I fully intend to use that, if I don't have real, sustainable results, come Day 29.

ERD - We also occasionally have legumes. That and oats are what my husband's doctor said was OK to have, every once in awhile.

LOL! There's a few things that aren't allowed to be named here. There's a popular shake, for example, that you can't say the name to. No big. I'm glad your program is working for you! And yeah, sounds like at nearly 8 lbs down it's not all water.

Totally makes sense re: some product names not being allowed. You don't want a bunch of people just hear to sell to people. I think that's been the hardest part of my journey -- all of the snake oil salesmen out there! Even some of the stuff I've tried because of recommendations from Dr. Oz (who, I thought was kind of reliable) turned out to not work. So disheartening!

I made it through the cleanse... isn't that the name of a horror movie, LOL?... and my total weight loss for Week 1 -- 8.6 pounds! I'll take it! I don't expect next week to be as dramatic, because I do think some of that is water weight. But, this week, I'll be honest, I didn't work out at all - other than a couple of leisurely strolls with my dog.

This coming week is going to be the start of a pretty hard month though. My husband has a pretty heavy travel schedule - so, I'll be alone... which I know often leads to boredom and bad snacking. Plus, I travel twice this coming month - so, the whole eating out thing is going to be a challenge - especially because one trip is NYC... and there's SO MUCH GOOD FOOD in NYC! LOL

ERD - Congrats on being 3 lbs to your goal!!

I need to set up my signature. :-)

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8.6 pounds down - 71.4 pounds to go!

Hi FitFatGirl welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing your stories to us.