Hello everyone I just wanted to introduce myself and share my journey

I just joined a little over a week ago.Ive been really busy but I have been reading other peoples boards and decided to post finally.My names Michelle im a  35 year old happily married mom of 3 kids ages 18 and 16 and 8. I also have one granddaughter she is almost a year.I have been struggling with weight issues since childhood.My family is all overweight.My parents were the type that took us to get fast food all the time.My father ended up passing away at 40 years old from a blockage in his heart he had a double bypass and passed away during surgery I was 14 at the time and it really affected me it devastated me I was really close to him he smoked and ate really badly had been overweight all his life to.I ended up still continuing my unhealthy lifestyle and remained obese then when i was 16 I met my husband in high school and I got pregnant with our son and my weight just ballooned and kept getting worse over the years and my husband isnt overweight at all but I felt food was my comfort Mcdonalds  and Pizza were my comfort food it reminded me of childhood with my dad.I didnt do anything about I figured i could never lose weight anyway I smoked ate fast food alot i was really unhealthy .4 years ago i started to get pains in my legs i couldnt make it down the street without crying my legs hurt so badly.I was only 31 years old at the time I went to the Dr they did test at 31 years old I found out I had Pad thats blocked arterys in my legs and that if i didnt change my lifestyle I could lose my legs or get blocked arterys in my heart like my father .This was caused from smoking and eating badly and being sedentary for years plus family heredity .It woke me up I couldn't beleive at 31 I was afraid I was heading down the same path as my dad and he died at 40 if i didnt do something .I wanted to be here for my kids.So I started with stopping the smoking I havent smoked now for 4 years and intially that did help my condition right away tremendously but I still was having alot of leg problems they were talking of having to do a serious bypass surgery on my legs.I went to the Dr this past February of this year he was happy i had quit smoking now for so long but he said now we need to do something about your weight and the way u eat with your type problem this young you have to be serious my tryglicerides were skye high at 472 my cholesterol was high at 274 and i was already on medication for  cholesterol for a few years because of my Pad condition so it was the way i was eating.My blood pressure was skye high I was on meds for that.I left the Drs that day just crying I didnt wanna be like my dad I wanted to be around for my kids .So i decided that day  I was gonna be healthy I was gonna change the way I ate and thought and lose weight I quit smoking now for 3 years now I can fight my food battles this is enough no more excuses Iam taking my life back .I made drastic changes I cut out all meats except tuna and salmon.I cut out all dairy i quit all sugar and white products and switched to all wheat and whole grains and veggies and fruits and soy and nuts veggie burgers things like that.I stopped all drinks except plain water and green tea with no sugar.I stopped all fast food all junk food and at first it was extremely hard but now if I look at it i think of my arterys clogging up more and it makes me sick I dont even want it.No food is worth my life and worth not being here for my kids.After I lost some weight and was eating healthy a few  months my legs were feeling so much better I couldnt beleive it I was walking around the store again something I couldnt do that forever I had to get one of those ride things in the store now I was walking all over the stores.I was walking around my block no pain.So I started some exercise Leslie Sansone her moves were really easy for me to do I needed something I could do with my legs and because I was never active.Now Im happy to tell u Im exercising 1 hour or 2 hours a day to Leslie no leg pain .Im walking outside with my kids miles and no pain .I still have the pad it doesnt just go away but ive controlled it now so it doesnt get worse and I can walk miles and miles and now they dont have to do any surgery.Im off blood pressure meds now and my blood pressure has been great .They cut back on my cholesterol meds and my cholesterol went from 274 to 129 now and my tryglycerides were 472 they are 129 my sugras 80 my Dr was just over the hill so was I and Ive had this checked twice after its still the same my bad cholesterol is 50 .I have lost a total of 66 pounds since Feb I started at 210 im 5"1 and Im at 143 my goal weight is 120 to 116 and I cant ever remember back to when I weighed even below 150 that was years and years ago when I was a teen all my adult life ive weighed 200 or more.I feel so alive and healthy and great and Ive taken my life back.I know I can lose the rest.Ive been Dr supervised this whole time and he saysIam not losing to fast because Iam doing it the healthy way no diet fads just major healthy lifestyle chances I have 1200 to 1500 calories a day .I exercise daily .I just wanted to share my story I would love to hear all of your journeys and stories to with weight loss its hard .I started In Feb losing weight but I decided to join this site just for more inspriration and support just to meet others that have shared the same struggles with weight I have.

Welcome to CC, I am so glad that you have such improved health with your new lifestyle. You have come so far, and have done such a great job. 66 pounds in only 5 months, wow...that is nearly 13 pounds a month, over 3 pounds a week. That is a ton!! Be careful though because it is recommended that we only lose 1% of our body weight each week, so losing more than 1.5 pounds a week at your current weight could be a bit dangerous and hard to sustain!!

Congrats once again and welcome :)

Welcome to CC, I am so glad that you have such improved health with your new lifestyle. You have come so far, and have done such a great job. 66 pounds in only 5 months, wow...that is nearly 13 pounds a month, over 3 pounds a week. That is a ton!! Be careful though because it is recommended that we only lose 1% of our body weight each week, so losing more than 1.5 pounds a week at your current weight could be a bit dangerous and hard to sustain!!

Congrats once again and welcome :)

thank you yes I know its alot so fast but Ive been being followed closely by my family Dr and a specialist Dr for My Pad .They said it is a little fast but they arent worried about it because im doing it the right way.Ive been just made drastic healthy changes before i drink pop all day like crazy and ate junk food all day and ate fast food everyday and had no exercise at all i dropped all that stuff just cut all the unhealthy things out started drinking only water and green tea no sugar and exercisng and thats why they think i have dropped the weight so quickly intially .Ive made drastic lifestyle changes.