Hi there, i have posted a couple times now on 3FC but thought I d intro. here too.
I've struggled with my weight/eating since a depression bout in 96 when I started gaining about 40 lbs over 1 1/2 years, then lost about 50 over 14 months of mostly sports(soccer, basketball, baseball) and eating healthily I kept it off for about 4 years.....
Now I am married and my son is almost 2 , and I put on about 30 lbs with him, and 15 more on top of that.
I started out at Curves, and now have switched to a "guy" gym
and am trying to get weights in 3-4 times a week. The cardio is coming slowly, I really enjoy just playing sports but can only do that 1 a week in the town im in now.
I am starting to see results from my weights, but need to get my healthy eating consistent and do more cardio
so thats some of my story...
glad to have found this site!!
Karla
SW 213
CW 199
GW 165-170

Hi Karla Welcome to LWL Glad you found us. Fantastic that you are starting to see results from the weight training You're right, to really see results, you need to be consistent in the kitchen, too, and do that dreaded cardio Please join us on the weekly thread.

Mel

I'm new to LWL.Ever since I ran into stumptuous.com,I've wanted to weight train.Well,as a 16 year old kid who can't afford gyms or free weights,I was at first discouraged,but then I found out some of Krista's workouts using other heavy objects.Now I'm slowly getting myself into more excercise(I'm really out of shape and don't do as much excercise as many of you here).I'm starting from zero excercise.I'm really looking forward to lifting more.

I also suffered(still am) from some kind of depression and I would do nothing but eat,lie in bed,and glue my butt to a chair.I'm getting out of that self destructive cycle.

At 170 lbs of pure fat and flab,I decided I needed to do something.

Here's some stats and info:

Age: 16
Height: 5'0.or really,5'0.5,but I guess the 0.5 doesn't count.
Weight: 159 lbs
BMI:30.5
Body shape:Short,but wide shouldered,curvy,large body type.

Aaaaand,I have scoliosis.Nope,hasn't stopped me from wanting to lift.

Also,I decided to get in shape,because in JROTC I was always coming in very badly when it came to excercise.It really angered me that wiry kids would finish a mile in 7 minutes,but I would almost faint during the second lap(out of four).That and I always wanted a muscled body.Always.I was always inspired by women bodybuilders,though my mom would discourage me.With my wide shoulders,she didn't want me to get too big.

When it comes to nutrition,I have to deal with the food my family buys,which isn't always a good thing.I eat less of it,and count cals.I know,not the ideal diet for weight lifters,but I don't really have a say in all this.I might start sneaking more protein in there though!

And that's the story of my life.

Hey Zapphire WELCOME we LUVS newbies .... Great weightloss so far keep up the hard work... Just eat smaller portions of what your mom makes and lots of the veggies...It's nice to see a teenager who doesn't want to lose the weight overnight but who is willing to make it a lifetime commitment ...

Join us on the weekly thread...

Hi everyone, many of you will have seen me floating about before. I committed to weight loss in January this year, and to my amazement I have discovered I love exercise. I was really scared about the weights thing at first, but in the past couple of weeks have committed to it, and really enjoy it. I have two great gyms that I use, one at work, which has good cardio but not a lot of weights equipment, and one near home which has good cardio, fab weights equipment and staff who are always ready to learn and find ways to help the fattest lady in the gym (except I'm not the fattest any more yay!!!!) I've gathered a little team of people around me who cheer me on from the sidelines, but yet to find an exercise buddy.

My aim is to continue to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week (but hey a half here and there is fine too) and to make this lifestyle change permanent, coz I don't every want to be faced with the challenge of having to lose 100 pounds (and in reality more - but I won't revise my goal til I'm near it) ever again! I'm also hoping to tone as I lose, I dare say I will probably need some surgical help down the line, but I want to try and avoid that if at all possible, I'd rather spend the money on clothes and travelling.

I have no kids but a gerat partner, he is English and I am Australian, we met on the net and I moved over here three years ago almost to the day!!!!

Wow, Kylie. That's such a cool story -- I didn't know you and your BF met on the 'net! I met my ex-bf and my husband over the Internet (although my husband went to the same college, so I guess it doesn't count). Do you like England so far?

Sounds like you have a great gym setup. Isn't it great when you're no longer the fattest one there? I don't mean that in a bad way... I find myself really wishing I could talk to the new bigger people to make them feel comfortable there. One of the trainers has actually introduced a few of his larger clients to me, I guess to say "see -- it can be done."

(Sorta off-topic, I think Mel and Meg have filled in a really important missing niche -- formerly overweight trainers. Sometimes I feel like the skinny minnies really have no idea the kind of physical and emotional challenges larger people face in the gym. I'd love to go back to school to do it myself!)

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Good to see you over here, too, Kylie!

I often think of Mel and Meg and wish we had someone like that at our gym. Who knows?? I am looking for a career change in the next few years.....so if I do this right, perhaps I could look into it. Our instructors are all 20 something boys, and they just don't get it some of the time, but they try!! Us fatties tend to stick together at the gym!!!! There is a little clique of us that chat when we see each other!!!

I love England, I hated it at first, the first year I was ready to go home, oh about 365 times, but then suddenly just knuckled down and got on with it. It took me a long time to feel settled and find a good job. I do love the history here, and there are so many interesting things to do. And even with the fab weather and plenty of recreational opportunities in Oz, I never felt motivated to do anything about my weight.

There seems to be a bit more fat acceptance here, and a bit more help for people who are really wanting to lose. Maybe it's just that I am more receptive now, who knows???

Mad cool idea!

I'm new here today, and here's a little bit about me:

I'm 31, a Kansas City native transplanted to Oklahoma City by way of Dallas (don't ask, it's a long story). I have 3 children, 1 boy who lives with me, age 8, and two girls who live with my parents in Kansas City, ages 13 and 11. I am a survivor of combination Eating Disorders with the wrecked metabolism to show for it, but you will no longer hear me say it makes weight loss impossible, just that it takes me a little more work. I stopped making excuses not to work out when I got the job I have now...admin in a gym...try talking your way out of a workout when the floor is 15 steps away!

My partner and I are both significantly overweight, so at the beginning of this year we decided to do something about it. When we noticed plateaus hitting more and more frequently, we bought The Body Sculpting Bible For Women and began following their program. I am now past the end of my first week, going into the second, and so far I love it! This comes from someone who was a cardio-only type not so long ago. The program is written in terms that anyone can accept and follow (by an ED survivor, too!), and has given me quite a kick into the world of metalslingers. I'm glad to be here.

When I'm not at the gym, you can usually find me creating music in some form, or playing with my pets...my partner and I share a small zoo that consists of 6 cats and 3 dogs. I am also at the beginning of a hopefully prosperous career as a plus-size model. So, as you can see, I'm rarely NOT in motion.

It's good to meet everyone...I look forward to getting to know all of you!

Hi, I'm Julia. Will be 32 in August, never married, no kids. I was a competitive gymnast for about 7 years (when I was very young) and have always had a very small build. About the time that I turned 30 I started gaining weight pretty much overnight and from July 2003-Jan. 2005 I gained about 25 lbs. Funny how after the 2nd 5 lbs I gained people stopped saying, "oh you look so much better, you were too skinny before."

I finally realized in Feb that it was making me absolutely miserable and started working out (actually I realized it about a year ago but in Feb I decided that I was miserable enough to do something about it). Lost about 4 lbs in 3 mo with almost no change in my eating habits. In mid April I drastically changed my diet - mostly by eating at home & keeping track of portions - and since then I've lost about 7 more pounds. It seems that I was not aware that one should be able to breathe comfortably after a meal.

Until early May my only workout was cardio, since then I've been lifting weights and just in the last 2-3 weeks I've started getting serious about lifting. I absolutely love it and my main problem now is stopping myself from doing UBW's every day .

I work out of town 1-2 days/wk and I'm using those as my off days. Otherwise I'm trying (and usually succeeding) in getting to the gym every day for about an hour of cardio and 1/2 hr or so of lifting.

Edit: Oh, and I celebrated this week by buying myself some new workout pants instead of congratulating myself with cheesecake.

Ain't that the truth!! I remember doing that at every meal, no wonder I wasn't losing weight .... Now eating 5-6 small meals I stay just comfortable and I can still tie my pants after a meal ..

Welcome to LWL we sure do LUVS newbies ....

HI! i have a big mouth and i'm brand new so i will just jump right in here! i'm karen, 47, have been lifting this last stint for just about 1.5 yrs. i'm the mom of 5 kids and they all live with me all day long, lol, as we homeschool.

i was introduced to your moderator, meg, thru a mutual 'friend' (i only know him via Iron Online - the Dave Draper site mentioned somewhere in this website, lol!) just this weekend as i'm struggling with some issues.

my very first one is that i was diagnosed with a ventral hernia, which is right above my belly button. i suspect i've had it a long time, but just noticed it about a year ago (baad me for forgetting to talk to doc about it then!!). and doc says i'm not to lift more than 20#. i am crying here over this! i did my box squats and good mornings today with a stinking 20# bar. blah.

anyway, i lift 4 days a week. i 'thought' i was doing an upper and lower body split, but as several, including meg, have said - it doesnt look like it, lol! but anyway!!! i do cardio (HIIT) following and now that school is officially out for us, i was walking for close to 1/2 hr after that.

this gave me concern that i might be doing too much cardio and burning up muscle just worked for..... meg has assured me that i'm ok on what i'm doing.

i am using fitday to track my meals and am committing to 30 days of eating clean!! i know what it looks like; i just fail to follow it and this continuing carrying body fat around i'd much rather not have is the result!!

i use my scales just as a reference as i am looking for a certain body composition as opposed to a certain weight. and i think my scales are off 5 lbs from the docs. mine are less, lol! but just over 1 week ago, i weighed in at 147 at docs. that would probably equal 142 on my scales (i neglected to weigh myself at home that day or anywhere around it...). i weighed myself again this weekend and am down to 138.5.

i know i have way more body fat than i care to, so to get rid of the flab is what my goal is. i loved the article written by kristen about lifting like a woman. totally rocks.

anyway, i'm just reading away, learning a few things i didnt know before, being reassured that other things i'm doing are right on, etc.

good to be here!

Welcome Karen, we LUVS newbies ... Come join us on the weekly thread...

Welcome, Karen! I'm so glad you found your way here. If you love to , you're in the right place. Admittedly we don't have as many big hunky guys as at IOL, but we try to make up for it.

I think that you'll discover that LWL - as well as all of 3FC - is one of the most supportive and informative places around. We have weekly chat threads here in LWL and in the Maintainers forum and would love to have you join in. Feel free to post away and to start new threads with any questions you might have.

thanks, meg and ilene! i'll be seeing you on the forums! i'm interested in some female input!

Hi!

I'm 22 and I've just graduated and have started my first CAREER JOB! I live with my fiance in a high rise apartment block! It's very trendy really! I'm into kickboxing and I'm going to start Lacrosse next season, so hopefully I'll be fit as a flea soon!

I've lost most of my weight and am just looking to "tone" (Mistress Krista would NOT agree!) But in thruth I'm really excited about being able to lift great big weights!

I used to do a LOT of weight machines when I was 17, then I stopped, then a few years later I did machines again, then this June I joined a gym for a month and got back into my machines, but then moved house. I thought it would be cheaper just to lift weights at home, but never really had a programme till I found Stumptuous, so now I'm doing the dumbbell routine every other day, or as time allows! I've also started "eating cleanly" which is really odd to me, cos I'd just count calories and eat all the processed "low fat" junk I could but still be within limits

I must say I'm having problems getting 30% protein and 30% fat. I'm around 20, 20 then 60% carbs. I guess I'll have to start eating eggs for breakfast!

So that's me, I guess I'll start hanging around this thread a little more. I'm abstaining from weighing myself every day! I'm going to weigh this Friday, then every month after that! Or perhaps less!