Hi everyone, I just signed up. Let's see, a little about myself. My name is Melanie, I'm from Central Illinois. I'm 39 yrs old, 5'4" and 190 pounds.
I was fit and active (and skinny!) for most of my life. A few things happened that changed it all. I got out of the army and was so happy not to be forced to work-out that I stopped all excercise. I hit that mid 30's age range and I stopped smoking. The combination meant I gained about 50 pounds in a few short years. I didn't sweat it for awhile, I'd try to do something now and than but knew it would take a real committment to lose the weight and was never at that point.
Last year I had my gall bladder out and the recovery was slow. I knew it was because I was overweight and out of shape. This past spring I came down with that killer flu that swept the nation. It knocked me out for a full week and I could hardly manage to take care of myself. Again I knew it was because of my weight/health. I've developed asthma, hypoglcemia and my knees started hurting when I squatted. Knowing full well I had no-one to blame but myself, I was finally ready to do something.
In late april I started going for walks. It started out slow, 1/2 hour or 45 minutes around town. I started feeling great immediately and it made a huge difference with my stress level. Than I upped it to an hour, still sort of rambling about town. Eventually I mapped out a set route in the country. 4 miles to start with and they were the longest 4 miles ever!
I'm now up to five miles a day 3-4 days a week with an hour workout at Curves about once a week. I can't believe how much better I feel. I try not to weigh in on a regular basis since my goal has been more about health than numbers. I do get weighed/measured at Curves once a month.
The frustrating thing is the weight hasn't budged. I dropped a few inches and 1% of my body mass, but for the amount of excercise I've been doing I don't feel like I've made much progress. I did two things because of this.
I made an appointment with my doctor. My mom and my aunt both have thyroid problems so I want to rule this out for myself. I also started keeping a food diary. I love writing down what I eat every day. At first I only wrote down what I ate without counting the calories. I was amazed at how healthy I was eating, so I started keeping track of calories also. I was doubly amazed to see I was only eating between 1,500-2,000 calories a day. (It's what motivated me to call my doctor). I also like writing everything down because when I want to binge or 'cheat' or whatever, I think about writing down whatever it is I want to eat and I tend to change my mind.
I do have 'treats' but they are big time in moderation. I started looking for information on how many calories I should be taking in, how much I'm burning with excercise, etc. And I started getting frustrated that I haven't lost any weight. Which is why I went in search of some boards to find a community of people who are working towards the same goal I am.
Sorry for the novel. This is a big part of my life right now and I think I've already bored family and friends talking about it!
Yet another newbie!
. . . glad you found us, Chickie . . . sounds like you are on the right track and hopefully your doctor can help clear up your mystery. You should definitely be losing at around 1500 to 1600 calories with your exercise level.
Melanie
Melanie 
day !
