[lesel]

Hey! My name is Lesley and I'm 21. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah and I've always wanted to slim down. My goal was always to be as thin as I could be, but now I really want to lose weight, build muscle, eat better, and be as healthy and active as I can be. I'm completely out of shape and lazy, so it'll definitely be an uphill battle with myself, but I'm really motivated.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. However, after seeing the pictures of the ceremony (and breaking up with the best man), I'm really inspired to take control of my weight and health and do everything I can to be a better person. I would love it if I could get some support here along the way, maybe even a weight loss and workout buddy. I'm online a lot (office job ) and I'd like to support others too. Hopefully we can all reach our goals!

Right now, I'm at about 145 and 5'3 and I'd like to be around 115 with much more muscle. I'm not a slave to the scale though, I just want to look and feel better - and not be so self conscious about my weight. For more motivation, I'm putting pictures from the wedding up. It certainly doesnt help that the bride and her two bridesmaids are 00s, but that's definitely not an excuse!



I'm the brunette at the far right.





Well, I hope that I can find some weight loss buddies and I hope you all keep working towards your own goals. Thanks!

[Misti in Seattle]

Hi! Just wanted to say

Beautiful pictures!

[lesel]

Thank you!

[LeighHop]

Hey Lesley -

Welcome! First off, you look gorgeous and just from the first picture I was thinking "Which one is she because they all look like skinny minnies to me." But I know what's most important is how you FEEL and not what other people THINK. So I think you've found a great place to get some support and have some fun.

If you're looking for a place to start, you may want to check out the Fitness and Featherweight boards. You'll find a good fit for yourself, but those are just a couple of suggestions. I also love the general Support board.

Good luck on your journey to fitness! (I work from home so I'm online A LOT. I hope to see you and hear about your progress.)

[lesel]

Thanks LeighHop! I definitely understand what you mean... when I was looking at the pictures, what struck me wasn't that I looked bad (some of them I was even surprised how cute they came out). I could just see how uncomfortable I was, especially in the group shots. It was quite sad, considering it should have been one of the happiest days of my life. I had a good time but I can only imagine how fun it would have been if I had been uninhibited by my weight. Hopefully that realization will be enough to get my butt into gear! Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely check those boards out I hope everything goes great for you, keep me updated and PM me whenever you want!

[LeighHop]

I hate that uncomfortable feeling! I actually got down to my goal about 5 years ago, stayed there for 2 years and then suddenly always seemed to have this 10-15 pounds I an battling with. I just don't feel like "me" with the extra pounds.

You've done great so far. What type of program are you following? What kind of exercise do you like?