Lindy's intro

Hi girls,
I'm very happy to be starting this journey with you all! Carrie and I have been friends since high school and she has always inspired me with her resolve and discipline to get in shape!

I currently live in Georgia with my husband and my two boys ages 4 and 1 1/2. My husband and I both teach at Augusta State University. He is an English prof. and I teach basic composition part-time. What else? Hmmm, I really like to eat, read, take pictures, and blog here: Righteous Lou.

As my dad likes to say, "I come from a long line of fat a****!" If you knew my dad, you would know how funny that is. Anyway, as he so eloquently puts it, I do, indeed, have lots of heavy people in my family and I've struggled with my weight since I was in like 4th grade. I know that it will be lifetime challenge for me and I've come to terms with that (kind of). My weight has fluctuated between 150-160 since high school. But then I had two kids and like most of you gained a ton of weight with both pregnancies. I literally would gain like 2 lbs overnight even though I was vomiting 3x a day. I seriously was defying all the laws of physics. Anyway, I weighed over 200lbs with my second pregnancy but now (just a short 20 months later!) am down to 165lbs. My goal weight is 150lbs. I just started back at the gym a couple of weeks ago and I feel so much better when I exercise consistently (for me that's 4-5x a week). My biggest downfall is good food. A life without desserts is a life without living in my opinion! So, I'm just trying to eat really healthy and then save up 200-300 calories for a little dessert at the end of the day.
My stats:
height: 5"8
weight: 165
--Lindy

Woops Stacy!

Welcome Stacey! Great to have you!

Oh good gravy ladies. I have had a crazy few days. I had a good day Monday, got my exercise in and ate pretty well. THen TUesday, it was like everything in the universe was conspiring against me getting on the treadmill. Lets just say that we came was too close to oweing 33,000 in medcial bills. Luckily we dont...long long story. So my exercise consisted of powerwalking around wal-mart while enduring funny looks from the likes of Wal-mart patrons. (we had no milk, no bread, no fruit, no eggs,) I had to go last night because I vow never to take my 4 children under 5 anywhere together by myself. (exception: going to county health dept to get a birth certificate that would add youngest child to the insurance plan in the nick of time )Also I ate way too much, I was insanely stressed, and I really felt like I couldn't help. Had a great day today. Ran 4.5 miles. Well I should say I walked 4.5 miles in one hour and I ran 1.5 miles of it. I burned 750 calories. Yippee!!!! only 75000 cals to go. Just kidding. How is everyone doing? I am pretty much a prisoer in my own home these days so I find this pursuit invigorating!---Carrie

Stacy's Story

Hi my name is Stacy and I live in Southern California. I heard about his blog from my aunt Melona and thought it sounded great. I have struggled with weight my entire life but haven't really had major problems until after I had my children. I have two girls and before I got pregnant I was 170 and now I am 237. It is the highest weight I have ever been at. I went through a lot of emotional ups and downs with my relationship with their father and depression and other things has caused my weight to seen uncontrollable. I have left all those problems behind and am now started my journey to recovery. I have been going to the gym 6 or 7 days a week for the past month unfortunately I still havent lost any weight altering my diet more is my next step.

The only stats I have as of now are
Height 5'7'
Weight 237

My goals are to drink more water.
Not eat after 7.
Not eat my kids leftovers.
Stick to my workout regimen

Konnichiwa!

I'm Shelley. I grew up in southern Indiana, spent long enough living in Los Angeles to feel like a true California girl, and for the past 2 years I've called Tokyo, Japan home. I have a 4 year old, a 20-month old, and a 2-month old. Now I'm a bit squishy.

My goal is to get back into shape (I want to run a 10k this year) and back into my size 8 jeans. That means I have about 25 pounds to lose. I have had great success with Weight Watchers in the past-- both with losing weight and with keeping it off. I love the focus they put on eating fruits and vegetables as well as the flexibility of having no "forbidden" foods. It's all about moderation. So that's the program I'll be following. If anyone wants more info on that diet program, let me know. I've been doing it long enough, I consider myself a mini-expert:)

I love food! (That is probably self-evident by the fact that I'm a bit squishy.) I love finding recipes and cooking and then finding more recipes and cooking some more. I know from the past that a big part of my success has to do with not feeling deprived. For me that involves still being able to create and eat. I will be on the lookout for new recipes that fit into a more healthy eating plan. So please pass on any good, healthy recipes that you find and I'll do the same.

I definitely need to work out more; but honestly, I cannot even image working out 6 or 12 hours a week. How do you do it? How do you juggle your lives and your kids so that you can do that? I feel like if I get 30 minutes every other day, I'm lucky. I would like to improve that-- I actually really enjoy working out, but I just never seem to have the time. My saving grace is that I live in Tokyo-- which means I have to walk just about everywhere. But walking does not really get my heart a-pumpin' or leave me with that "I just worked out" feeling. This is definitely the area that I need the most improvement.

My stats this week:

Weight 155

Waist 38"

My goals:

No eating after 7pm

Stick to the Weight Watchers plan

Record everything I eat

Exercise 30 minutes 5x this week (babysteps)

I'm excited to be part of this group. It's really good for me to be accountable to someone other than myself.

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved." -- C.S. Lewis

For me the first 2 weeks are always the hardest.

Melona's story

So, here's my story: Like most women, my weight has fluctuated up and down by 10 lbs or so since high school, but I never really had a problem losing it when I wanted or keeping it off when I wanted. That is, until I had children.

Before I had my oldest son almost 7 years ago, I was in the best physical shape of my life. I was 138 lbs a size 8, and looking and feeling fabulous! Then I got pregnant and my weight struggles really began. I gained 60 lbs! And I wasn't just sitting on the couch eating bon-bons. I was simply so sick all the time, all I could was work and sleep. I tried to keep up the exercise, but it just never worked out for me. Afterward I struggled with postpartum depression and never really felt motivated to get the weight off entirely. All my pregnancies have been pretty much the same (with different starting weights, gains and losses in between each) and I have accumulated 15 extra lbs from each of my 4 children.

SO, if you are doing the math, I am currently topped out at 200 lbs (on a 5' 5" frame). Mostly, I want to lose weight now so that I can really play with my kids. I want to be a healthy, fun mom, and right now, I'm not.

I have found that I do the best at weight loss when I have someone to do it with. Since we recently moved to AZ and the only person I know here is my pregnant sister-in-law, I am excited to have a forum to come and report my progress and get support. I am very excited about this blog and hopefully it will be what I need to really push me into losing weight. Best of luck to us all!

The stats I will be reporting on are thus:
Weight: 200 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches (YIKES!)
Thigh: 25 inches

My goals for now:
Eat smaller, healthier meals (and nothing after 7 pm).
Keep hydrated (lots of water)
Exercise 6 days a week... at least 2x a week w/ my kids.

-Melona
PS- Hopefully this makes sense, it's 2 am & I am drugged w/ nyquil :)