Hi everybody!

I just joined today but have been poking around reading all the threads for a couple days now. I LOVE it here! There's so much information, so much support, a little butt kicking when it's necessary... I just LOVE it!

A little bit about me... I'm 22 from Texas. I don't have it rough, I'm not so far up on the scale that I don't see how I'll ever come down... I guess you could say I'm pretty average. But I do have my little struggles. I have 2 children under 5 and work from home while staying with them. I have had problems with my weight, exercise, and healthy eating since I got pregnant the first time. My highest weight has been 170 (non-prego) but it hovered around 155 FOREVER and I just got to the point where I would ignore it. Eat like crap, cook like crap, not exercise... and ultimately I was out of shape and FELT like crap. I'm 5'5 and was never tiny but was pretty comfortable around 135-140.

Fast forward to now... I've done diets. If done calorie counting, atkins, slim quick and an array of other diet pills plus some methods I alsmost can't admit to, to help me slim down. I wouldn't evercise so I would drop 5lbs or so, get lazy or not see enough results and quit. Then I woke up one morning and decided it was time to change. Not diet, but change the way I think and feel about how I live. Since that change about 3 months ago I am happy to say that I am in a very good place! I currently weigh 136 which I thought would NEVER happen again and a lot of other things have changed as well. I'm still not a fan of exercise but it's something I'm working on. But the way I eat has changed DRAMATICALLY. I don't put anything into my body that I'm not going to be happy about (which doesn't exclude anything, just not so much I feel horrible!) and my general mood is so great. My tastes have changed so I don't crave the same junk I used to and even though I'm not lean and firm like I would like- I can SEE the changes in my body and I know I'm headed in the right direction.

So those are the good things! But I didn't join here to brag... I'm still in the middle of my journey to change my lifestyle and what I crave more than french fries or giant chocolate cakes or swimming pools filled with margaritas is PEOPLE TO TALK TO!!! I love to talk... a LOT. And my new lifestlye is a big part of me but I don't have a lot of people to share it with. (aside from close family/friends, and you know how they can be) I still need a hand! Still need motivation! And still need that much needed butt kicking one in a while I was talking about earlier. Plus people to talk to about everything else. I'm such a social butterfly- I just love having friends!

So I know this is a ginormous post but I just wanted to say hello to everyone and want you all to know that I'm very inspired by all of the things I've been reading (good and bad!) and I hope this forum will be a better fit for me than all the other ones I have tried and ultimately left. Nice to meet you all!!

Nice to meet you too! Sounds like your motivation will rub off nicely here. Know what you mean about needing friends to talk to. Family & friends always mean well but don't really know what the best things to say are. It's nice to know others who are going exactly what you're going thru. Welcome!

Hey there!

Two areas you might be interested in...the "Featherweights" forum is for those starting out really close to goal (you're only 6 lbs off! ), as that group has some unique challenges (like not getting instant scale feedback, etc).

You might also want to check out the 20-somethings forum, for those in that age range.

We also have forums by eating plan...maybe you might want to check out the Whole Foods Lifestyle forum?

Wherever you settle, jump on in and get to posting. Can't wait to get to know you better!

thanks for pointing me in the right direction! i've been reading and reading but didn't even realize there was 'featherweights' and '20 somethings' hahaha looks like i have a lot more reading to do! and it's also looking like you'll be hearing a lot more from me!

thanks again for the kind words! i feel HOT!

well, i knew there were a lot of people going through the same things as me... but some of them aren't very fun to talk to! you all seem like a really great group! thanks!

Looks like you have the right outlook on how to obtain and MAINTAIN your goal. Like you and so many other people, I have tried various methods to lose weight, and while some worked, there is no way I could have carried on those methods for life. I am interested to hear what you did... just cut back. Cut out certain foods, calorie count, fat count?

honestly it was a little bit of everything... first and foremost i set a calorie limit so i cal count. then i gradually started either taking things out of my diet that i knew wouldn't do anything positive for my body (i ate a LOT of junk food! i could finish and entire bag of Ruffles and ranch dip in one day) and replacing it with more and more fresh food. i had to learn how to COOK veggies so that i would eat more of them (without burying them in buter/oil/whatnot) and once i got past that it wasn't so bad.

i also learned TONS of tiny tips on what things are better to eat than others so i never felt deprived or like i couldn't have anything (swapping one fat laden cracker for another, using low fat versions of the things i already ate) and once my body got used to eating more and more fresh foods i wasn't craving the empty calories of junk food anymore.

the hardest thing has been getting MOVING! i've never been a fan of exercise and even now i don't do it on a regular basis but when i DO i feel GREAT so it's been making me motivated to do it more often...

i know it sounds pretty basic and like the same old but it was all something i really had to change in my brain- aquiring a taste for healthy food, learning when to STOP and not binge, and exercise. it hasn't been easy but it has been totally worth it.

plus now i have this huge arsenal of healthy foods that replace my junk food so i still eat junk but it's not junk. if anything, my whole wheat organic pizzas taste MUCH better than digorno! hehe

Welcome and congrats on your loss so far!! I'm glad you're here!!