Hey! My name is Mandy. I have 3 daughters. My oldest is 9, my youngest will be 1 on the 23rd. I have struggled with weight off and on for about 4 years now. I need to loose about 30lbs. I'm not happy with the extra weight I'm carrying around. I hope this forum will give me the extra motivation I need!

I am the same height as you and i weigh 159.9 and i need to get the extra weight off to i feel horrible about myself although my children are 15 and 7 I should have it off by now
keep in touch
canadagirl

I am new to this, but here goes. I am also the same height as you both and I have 3 boys ages 13 years, 17 months, and 3 months. I know I am probably doing much better than I should be for having a 3 month old, but I am not at all in shape anymore and it's frustrating. My pregnancy with my 17 month got out of hand. I gained way too much weight and never was able to get back in shape before I got pregnant again. Anyway this site is my favorite and I've started visiting it almost everyday lately. It has a lot of useful information, but I'm not so sure I understand all the posting rules.

Hi there Welcome to 3FC

There really aren't a whole lot of posting rules Find an area where you feel comfortable- it's a big place, introduce yourself, and jump right in! The only real rules are that you can't use the site to promote commercial products or interests, no political or religious arguments, no nastiness to other forum members. Basic civility prevails or a mod will step in and edit/delete or close the thread. And we appreciate it if you don't POST IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

What kind of nutrional plan interests you? We have Weight Watchers, South Beach, Sonoma, Calorie Counters, Vegetarian and load of other diet forums. If you have medical problems, there is a "Dieting with obstacles" forum with groups who are dealing with diabetes, PCOS, fibromyalgia.... We have an exercise forum broken into 3 subforums- general exercise, weightlifting, and DVD's. Or if you have a small group, you can be your own little world over in "Buddy up". Be sure to drop by Maintainers for a glimpse of "life after goal". Everyone is welcome whether you are at goal weight or not.

So just join in...this place gets very addicting.

Mel

Thanks Mel for the help! I don't really like following "eating plans" because I will always fail. I just try to eat right and exercise. The amount of exercise and finding good cheap (we are a single income family) exercise DVD's, tapes or exercises is difficult and finding foods that I can eat and eat when I have a craving such as the (I don't remember what the recipe was called, but I did get it from this site from a member) jello/yogurt dessert for my sweet tooth. One obstacle I have is my 17 month old cannot have gluten, which in and of itself is actually good because he can't have many processed foods. The downside is he doesn't eat much food so most everything he does eat has a ton of calories and I should stay away from it. Anyway, I don't have a lot of weight to loose, but I am completely out of shape and all the people here are so motivating. It's nice to have a place to come to and share your success, failures and everything between.

Hello Again everyone - it is me... the lurker who was afraid to step on the scale. I have faced the facts. I AM WAY TO HEAVY (to put it nicely). Time to set some goals before the holidays arrive.
I am a 36 year old Housewife / mom of two. I am hoping to stick to my weight loss goals and be down 20 pounds before the new year. I know I can do it... and so can you! I will keep you posted.... you keep me posted! Best Wishes

ammelum- I've just discovered that I'm gluten sensitive and carry a gene for celiac's. I suspect my 16 yr old son is also, but I haven't had him tested yet....I only found out 2 days ago. I can understand your frustration! I have NO IDEA what to do if my son tests positive! I eat a pretty wheat free diet, but had no idea of all the other hidden sources of gluten

As for you, it sounds like you aren't so much overweight as really out of shape! How about an exercise plan FIRST- I posted a sticky in the Ladies who Lift forum for a whole body resistance band workout that you can do at home with minimal equipment. Bodyweight exercises, Walk away the Pounds Tapes (WATP), all should help.

Mel

Thanks Mel! Have you ever done The FIRM workout tapes? My husband said I could get another tape I was going to check those out. I actually have one of the WATP tapes. I've been looking at the thrift stores too. You can get videos there for around $2. But I don't know who is good. I measures and weighed myself this morning and not one pound, not one inch, nothing. I'm getting very discouraged. I feel like going to eat the entire bowl of halloween candy. If nothings going to go I feel like I should have a reason.

As for the Celiac and gluten thing. Don't be devistated. My husband was scared that gluten free would be gross, but was wonderfully surprised when it turned out to be okay. The hardest part is getting started and it's also the most expensive. Seperate toasters, seperate butter dishes, squeeze bottled condiments only, seperate pasta strainers, even new pots and pans. Since I assume your son eats more than mine in the end it might end up being cheaper in groceries. It can if you make a lot from scratch and it doesn't take long and isn't that hard. If I can do it you can. It becomes expensive when you buy the prepacked specialty gluten free products from the health food store. Unfortunately, because it took so long for us to find out what was wrong with my son he developed a clear dislike for food and only eats a few things. We will be hopefully starting OT soon with him so we can get him eating things like pasta, veggies, fresh fruit, etc. We learned recently that when you have Celiac's a lot of times you end up with other food problems temporarily, because the damage from the gluten doesn't allow your body to digest other foods. For my son it's fructose. Some other people it's dairy. Don't be overwhelmed. Think of the things you can have and work on making your favorites gluten free. Forget about all the things you can't have. In the end you'll probably eat better more fresh fruits and veggies.

By the way why does this thing kick me off and not let me post every five minutes?