Hello all and happy 2011! Enough lurking around, time to introduce myself.
Me: I'm 40+ years young, raised 2 amazing boys, work full-time and have been blessed with a wonderful, supportive and loving husband.
I came to 3FC for motivation and inspiration to help get back to a healthy lifestyle again.
I also hope to help motivate others as well by sharing what I've learned over the many years of diet trial and error.
My story: I've always been overweight but active, and have reached my goal several times, only to have a major change in my life set me back. That's my biggest hurdle, unexpected change. I'm not talking about a snowstorm keeping me from the gym, but major life changes.
Next hurdle is food, oh how I LOVE food. I sometimes think I am missing the "shut-off" switch in my brain that tells me I'm full, like a genetic malfunction, lol. Growing up my whole family ate huge amounts of food and it seemed normal until I started eating socially and noticed how small everyone's portions were.
Anyway, over the 2010 holidays I hit my all time high of 210 lbs. I was of course in shock

since I hadn't been on the scale in months. Deep down, I knew I was getting bigger, but kept telling myself 1 more night of stuffing my face and will go back to eating right "tomorrow". Yeah, right!
So, seeing that dreadful number on the scale made me wake up and say "Enough!, time to crack down!" (That and the fact that I can't breath when I tie my shoes, lol)
So after scouring the internet for diet plans and ideas, I found 3FC

and started reading, reading and reading. I decided this will be my new "health home" and changed my browser's home page to 3FC.
It's sad, because last year this time I actually lost weight over the holidays and was making progress(I was around 184) toward my goal but I just got lazy or something, still trying to figure that one out...
I'm at 206 as of this morning so loosing 4 lbs so far is a great start.
My Goals:
Goal #1) Weight-
Like some of you, I would like to be under 200lbs, so my 1st mini-goal is to get to the blessed "onderland".
Next, I was thinking the remaining min-goals will be 5-10 lbs each. In the past, I've been able to loose 5 lbs/month so I'll start there.
Goal #2) Add weights/muscle toning/yoga back in my exercise routine.
Goal #3) A1c below 5.6
I'm type 2 diabetic, so I really need to get back on track because I really don't want to start taking meds to control my BS. So my next stop will be the diabetic posts.
Goal #4) BMI less than 25(normal)
When I first heard the word "obese" to describe my BMI(I was over 30 at the time), I was like "huh?" you're kidding right? I thought only couch potatoes were obese. Not me, I walked 30-40 mins/day and was always busy doing something, 1-2 hr hikes on the weekends..I just love food too much and need to cut back, WAY back!
My Plan:
1st thing to tackle is my carb cravings in the evening. NO CARBS AFTER DINNER!!! Eat veggies and or protein. That will guarantee 1/2 lb loss/week right there.
All snacks must be fruit or veggie.
Whole grain foods instead of whites(bread, cracker/cereals, etc) - The exception is pasta, my biggest weakness, but luckily I found dreamfields. It doesn't raise my BS like regular or wheat pasta.
Water, water, water and more water.
I'm still walking 30 mins at lunch 5 days/week, that hasn't changed, but will add 20 mins biking, weights and yoga 2 days/week either before or after work.
I hope to make many friends here and add to my arsenal of health knowledge in the process.
-Kathy