Welcome to the Group

Welcome! We would love get to know you, so please tell us a little bit about yourself. You can choose any format you'd like, but most of us here share some or all of the following details:

1. History with weight loss:
2. Reason for joining this group:
3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests:

And now just go ahead and make that first post!

1. History with weight loss:

I lost 56 lbs with Jenny Craig before my wedding 1 year ago. Since we've been married I have gained back about 15-20 of that. I'm ready to really finish it off this time. I have a good support in my husband. :)

2. Reason for joining this group:

I'm really excited to know other people that have the same goals as I do, and are available for encouragement and accountability.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests:

I've been married for 1 year (on Friday:), going to be starting classes to become a Professional Wedding Consultant. My family lives in Colorado, that's where I'm from, but my husband and I live in Los Angeles. We have two dogs, a beagle named Chelsea and a mini-doxie named Buttercup. :) I love anything retro, vintage, historical and beautiful. :)

I'm writing a novel, currently, about espionage in the 1940s.

Good luck everyone!

Contact me if you'd like support and encouragement!

Hello! Thanks for inviting me to this group! I really need the accountability...

1. History with weight loss: Well, I've been overweight since I was a kid, and it got even worse when I was in junior high. I never weighed myself, so I don't know how much I weighed, but I was pretty miserable. When I entered High School, rather miraculously, I started losing weight like crazy. I never could figure out what happened, other than that I just stopped liking to eat fattening foods... I remember I was like "I hate cake," and I never ate it. Weird. Anyway, when I entered college I was looking the best I ever have in my life. I remember I weighed myself once and I was 135, which is the least I have ever weighed. When I met my husband, it all started going downhill. He ate (and continues to eat) very poorly, lots of fried foods, and cares very little for the effect it has on his body. I went with that and got fat again. After we were married, when we were thinking of having our first baby, I decided I had to do SOEMTHING... I did the Atkins diet for 7 months and lost 70 pounds. I got down to 185, which somehow looks very good on me. I'm an inherently curvy woman at any size, and my curves were just right at that weight. Incidentally, my husband made me promise not to lose any more than that, and I agreed that I was happy with myself at that weight. Then I got pregnant and it was all downhill from there... I weighed 246 eight days ago, and today I weigh 139. Pretty sweet.

2. Reason for joining this group: When I did the Atkins diet, the thing that kept me strong and on track was accountability to my online buddies. I could not have done it without them, and I know that because I've tried and failed so many times since then... if nobody around me cares very much whether I succeed or fail, I find myself with no motivation to keep going. I'm driven by positive reinforcement, and without it I am lost. I also love to encourage others, helping them overcome their own issues.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests: I work for USDA doing agricultural research. My husband and I are best friends, and we have 2 sons: Tayan, 4, and Zene will be 2 next week. We have a great website with millions of pictures, but had an issue last week and lost all the albums... I'm working this week on getting the pictures back up, and will let you ladies know when it's done. We have a chocolate lab, Lupin, who is our oldest child; he helped us learn what it was like to have kids before we had them. He's a great and gentle dog. I am currently working on a Masters of Public Health degree via online courses, and since obesity is the biggest problem in the US right now, and especially in WV, it has had a lot to do with my decision to start being healthy.

Looks like we're off to a good start! Jayme, should we report in under our individual plans and keep replying to our own threads?

My history with weight loss has been a roller coaster, as it often is. I've been a compulsive eater since I was a young girl. I was chubby growing up, and after high school, I've gradually put on a lot of weight. I've lost a bit here and there. My best weight in the past 10 years was 170, and that was in 2001. To be clear, I'm only 5'1". I currently weigh 223. I've successfully lost weight in two ways. One was simply watching portions, adding fruits and veggies, and exercising for an hour every day. The other was counting calories and exercising every day.

This brings me to CC. I joined in 2006 (?) and have logged in on and off, mostly off, since then. I got a stressful job, and after a year and a half there, I had major depression and gained about 20 pounds. I've since quit the job and have recovered from depression. I take medication that might make it more difficult to lose weight, but I have yet to see if that side effect will apply to me.

I really need support in my efforts, and a sense of accountability, which is the reason I joined this group. Certain friends have turned out to be too competitive for me, and I sense that they actually cheer against my efforts privately, while lightly supporting me publicly. My husband is supportive, and he is trying to lose weight also. We've both gained since being married, and I don't want to be the cliche couple who gets fat and stays fat together!

I've returned to school to study web development and plan to return to university afterward. I do a bit of work at home. I never finished my BA, so it's another goal to look forward to. I'm married, as mentioned, and have two frisky but awesome cats. I like gardening, visual/graphic arts, web design, taking road trips, reading and writing.

I guess I should fill this one out too, lol.  First though, I want to thank all of you for joining this group.  I am looking forward to getting to know you better and losing weight together.  Now, on to my story.

1. History with weight loss:  As some of you read already, most of my weight I gained because of my thyroid problem, which took so long to diagnose.  I was never very big as a child and in high school I was 123 lbs and very active.  When I was about 19 I started suffering from various symptoms, such as exhaustion, weight gain, scaling skin, etc.  The doctor at the university, was stumped and started acting like I was a hypochondriac.  It wasn't until I went back to my childhood doctor, who knows I don't make up symptoms, that I was finally diagnosed.  Unfortunately, it took 4 years and 100 lbs to get there.  Now, i am on medication which takes care of most of my symptoms but the weight is being stubborn.

2. Reason for joining this group: I formed this because some of us have expressed an interest in being part of a closer knit group so we have better accountability.  I felt the best way was to start our own group so our posts don't get lost in the shuffle.  It will be easier to find our posts and give our updates.

3. Some interesting details about yourself: I have a wonderful husband of almost 7 years.  My boys are 4 and 2.  We also have two mini schnauzers, ages 9 and 7.  I work part time as an accountant and I am a writer and artist.

Original Post by lunaria:

Looks like we're off to a good start! Jayme, should we report in under our individual plans and keep replying to our own threads?

The idea is to report in on your individual plan threads, that way it is easier for you to keep track of your progress.  Also, be sure to check in on others' progress to give advice and encouragement.  I'll add another forum for conversations outside of introducing yourself and plan progress so we have somewhere to just vent, gloat or converse.

Hi there-I was reading all of your posts and I think this would be a good fit for me to join :)  Let me tell you a little about myself

1.  History with weight loss:  Until I was 22 weight was never a issue for me, I never tipped the scale past 120.  At 22 I had a heart attack and was diagnosed with a heart anyurism.  The doctors monitored me very closely for the following 2 years and I wore this heart monitor that beeped if I walked a flight of stairs!  So I had no choice but to watch as I grew from a 2 to 4, 7, 9 and despite me giving up fast food, dairy besides cheese, red meat, fried food, and smoking.  Oh did I mention I cook everything from scratch, no preservatives, processed or heavy oils at all in my home.  Yet I am a size 14 at 186 pounds at 5'3 in height. 

2. Reason for joining this group:  I have accepted long ago that I will not be 115 ever again.  In fact, I know that even at that weight I was not healthy.  But between my heart condition and wanting to have a baby next year, I want and need to lose about 50 pounds. My wants are not for vanity anymore, but to be healthy enough for the love of my life and for our future family. I have tried curves, LA weight loss, personal trainers.  None helped long term, i know I can do this, just need some motivation from people that can understand-from a womans point of view.

3. Things about myself:  I am in the Air National Guard, I use to be Active Duty Air Force but during my last deployment I realized if you are doing a job because you are too afraid to do anything else-then its not the job for you.  So I am persuing a nursing career here in Georgia.  I was also fortunate to meet the love of my life during my last deployment.  We were dance instructors together, and has been very very supportive. Supportive even through the extra 36 pounds I have gained in the last 6 months. 

I am very excited to get to know all of you and share in our experiences twords our goals of losing wieght, being healthy, and most of all loving ourselves.

1. History with weight loss:

I've been trying to lose weight off and on since college. I hover around the 200 mark most of the time.  I first reached that mark the 2 years after graduating from college. My best effort was accomplished when I had a gym buddy and was doing Tai Chi, when I was 26 I reached 175. Then I got pregnant, and after my little girl was born I started over again.  I was at 215 when I got engaged and lost my job within a week of each other 3 years ago.  We got married and I was down to 190, but quickly gained it all back.  My husband had a heart attack in January of this year, and so I have been eating much better, but found out I was pregnant in March, and that was why I wasn't losing weight.  Then at the end of April, I miscarried at 19 weeks.  I weighed 238 pounds, the heaviest I have ever been.  I suffered a pretty serious depression through Mother's Day and my birthday, and then went on birth control. The hormones perpetuated my depression, and I stopped taking them 2 weeks ago.   The change was instant.  I felt happier, more motivated, and more determined to make a positive change in my life.  My weight has always hindered me, and I need it to not be a roadblock in my life anymore. 32 is going to be a lot better than 31.  I also want my husband to see that it CAN be done, and my daughter, who is 6, to see that she can be proud of her mama.

2. Reason for joining this group:

I always do better when I'm working with someone else.  I'm trying not to call this a diet, its really more of a life change, or a health plan.  The word "diet" has been such a negative force in my life for the past ten years, and so I'm making an effort to monitor what I'm eating and what I'm burning to create an awareness of what I'm doing to my body. That's why I joined Calorie Count to begin with.  It gives me a way to keep track of it without having to follow someone else's idea of what is best for me. :)  I need to control this process, because up until now, it has controlled me.  If I have the support of other people in the same boat to kick my butt when I start to let food take over, and someone to talk to when my emotions are in charge, I think I will be able to get through this.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests:

My family is my world.  I raised my daughter alone for the first 4 and a half years of her life, and my husband was my best friend for two years before we got romantically involved. We have 3 cats and really bad luck with dogs.  I am the only woman at my job, and the guys here are nuts, but I love them!  Its a small branch office of a family owned service company, and I do all the billing and answer their phones, and alot of other things as needed. :)  I do enjoy my job, but it can be stressful.  They're also a little hard on my new habits because they like to eat fast food for lunch everyday!  So you may be hearing from me at lunch time alot. :)  My interests... I love reading and sewing, and I like to get creative in the kitchen.  I'm a huge fan of So You Think You Can Dance, and Bones.  I can also be verbose, so I apologize for that. If I'm writing too much, please let me know.

Welcome to the group firefly and Tiana!  We look forward to hearing more from you both.

1. History with weight loss:  I didn't gain weight till teen-young adult years.  I have yo-yo'ed up and down ever since then.  Though I can happily say that when I lost weight significantly I didn't add those pounds back on.  I lost when I lived in Germany and was in the group T.O.P.S. and then I lost all the pregnancy weight when I was pregnant with both children.  I just needed to continue and didn't.

2. Reason for joining this group:  Friendship and support.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests:  Police dispatcher at a community college, two young children a girl Tamar who is 5 and a boy Grayson who is 4.  They are my life.  I am married to my husband for 7 years.  We have a dog named Inkblot.  I have many different interests such as reading, writing, movies, tv, gaming, cooking, traveling etc.

Hello ladies,

1. I have struggled with overeating my whole life, but never actually lost the battle until after college when I came down with thyroid disease.  It is under control now, and I have lost 26 pounds which I have kept off for over 2 yrs now.

2.  I am looking forward to the mutual encouragement and accountability that this group has to offer.  I usually do well with a little competition.

3.  I do some teaching (adults), but mostly I am a SAHM.  I have been married to my best friend for 6 years, and we have a 3 yr old daughter.  We have two guinea pigs - Ginger and Pepper.  I love to dance (although not so much at 226 lbs!), to sing, play guitar, read, and cook. 

Glad to see you joined the group ebondreamz, I was hoping you would. 

Welcome to our group congogirl. I have a disfunctional thyroid too so I sympathize. 

Ok, My name is Dorth, and I'm here for the same reason as everyone else, to get the support I need to lose this weight. I have a long history of weight, now how far back do you want me to go? Well I was born at over 10 lbs, my Grandmother takes one look and as she walks out the doors yells To Fat. so I guess it all started 54 years ago. But my mom says I handled it quite well through my teens. After I got married at 20 we started having our family right away, problem was I had toxemia with all 6 of my children and over the next 9 1/2 years never lost any in between them either, which put me in the  390-   400 lb range. I did loose 180 lbs of that weight and had what I called my body reduction surgery, and because of my height 5'9" and my large frame I held and still do hold my weight fairly evenly. I kept this weight off from 1986 till 2003 when my Mom was diagnosed with Renal Cancer. She had her left Kidney removed and is cancer free today. Shortly after my Mother was diagnosed my Father was having circulation problems. While checking this out they found that my Father had Renial Cancer. He then had his right kidney out. A year later he   had a heart attack, while putting in a stint and doing X-rays the found that the cancer had spread to his lungs and that there wasnot sufficient enough time to save him. My Father passed 5 years ago August 1.

 From this time until present my weight has gone from being 15 lbs from my ideal weight to 65 lbs from my ideal weight. I told myself after I had lost all that weight that never again would I be that person again, and now I find my self half way there. And I need HELP

About me.......... Well as I said above I have 6 kids,  5 boys and 1 girl, all grown and their own. I have 4 gran kids, 2 boys and 2 girls. I own some real estate, I sing in a band,I am starting to volunteer at a nursing home, and I am on the computer allot, so I guess I sound busy, but I hardly ever exercise these days. That is the main reason I am starting the volunteering, thought I would be doing allot more foot work. I have a cat. Missy, love movies and reading books.

Hi...I'm Astrid.

1. History with weight loss: I was heavy starting in my early teens, but never really dieted. I was heavy but OK up until several years ago, when a number of things happened and I wound up gaining 80 pounds very quickly. Finally, when I was at 330 and 5 ft 8, my doctors encouraged me to have gastric bypass. It was a great experience and did change my life for the better, but now the weight has started to creep back on, and I want to refocus on my goal. Along the way, unfortunately, I became bulimic.  It's put a complication into my eating, but I'm working very hard on overcoming that. I want to start losing weight again -- but the right way.

2. Reason for joining this group: Well, obviously, for accountability. I'm not married and none of my friends struggle with weight, so hopefully this will be a good place for me to find support in my weight loss. Don't get me wrong -- my friends are incredibly supportive of me, but they don't really get it.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests: I'm 39, single, never married. I am a writer by profession. I'm very extroverted and love going out and having a good time with friends and meeting new people. But I'm also an avid reader, popular culture junkie and am very close to my family. I love to travel and am looking forward to a couple of great vacations I have planned with friends. My favorite accomplishment to-date has been spending a week in Paris on my own and mastering the metro, meeting new people and seeing things I've dreamed about my whole life. Traveling alone to Europe was extremely empowering and gave me a great self-esteem boost!

Am looking forward to "meeting" all of you and building a support network for one of life's hardest accomplishments -- losing weight!

HEy People, nice to meet everyone and i'm looking forward to hearing more from you all.

1. History with weight loss: Well i'm 18 years old and didn't really notice that my weight was creeping up so fast...i guess the fast food was getting to me lol i dunno. Anyhow the highest my weight ever went was 155lbs and that was in April 2009. Since than i have lost 15lbs just by cutting out fast food and soda. I now weigh 140lbs and i'd like to lose 20lbs by the time i start my fall semester in college...so thats 20lbs in about 2 months.

2. Reason for joining this group: I found that the more i talk about my weigh loss, the more motivated i become. I hope this will keep me from totally abandoning what i'm trying to do. I often find it hard to stick to things.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests: Hmm...well i'm a student and i work part time as a make up artist. I'd like to become an interior designer but again i keep changing up lol I have a big family. We are 2 sisters and 3 brothers (i am the youngest)...so us 5 plus mom, dad, and grandma is 8 people. I like shopping, traveling, and chilling with friends...enjoying life wherever/whenever i can :)

I see we have some more newbies.  Welcome to Dorth, Astrid and senorita786.  We look forward to your contributions to the group and i hope you find it helpful in your weightloss endeavors.  Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to post your own weightloss plan in the Accountability Form section.

Hello,

History with Weight Loss:

I have been dieting since the age of 13. Crash diets to lose 5 lbs in 3 days, worked for me, spent my teenage years just not eating or eating 500 cal a day.

Lost 40 lbs doing Nutrisystem in 1988 after giving birth to twins. Moved on to OA and abstaing from suger, but still low cal, of 1000 a day, it worked!

Had 3rd son in 1991 weighing 20 lbs more than when i became pregnant, stil;l a member of OA (overeaters anonamyous) but was nursing and didn't worry too much or cound calories just stuck to 3 meals a day and a bedtime snack.

i quit smoking  at the age of 43 in 2003 was on steroids and instantly gained 40 lbs very fast!

I am now 49 and STILL overweight!

I weigh in at 236 9smae weight when i gave birth to twins!)

Hello everyone

History with weight loss: well not much of a history here;) I am able to drop like 6-10 lbs then I lose track and gain it back! Obviously it is a lot easier to gain weight:( so with that said...for the past few years I have gained 5-10 lbs each year and here I am now, determined to lose it and keep it off!

Reason for joining: well aside from being new to this site, having an online friend...group...to help me stay focused would be great!! I feel that if I can relate to people going through the same ordeal Im going through then I can stay focused.  Just knowing I'm not alone through this journey is a motivation in itself!

Interesting details: well I am an English teacher at a middle school and I love my job.  My students keep me young at heart and make every day an adventure.  I also go to school part time, for now just for fun...in the Spring I will be working towards my Masters in Library Science...yes...one day i will be a librarian!! LOL...those who know me think I'm crazy for wanting to be a librarian...but the truth is I am a total book worm and I love libraries and books!!! I am Mexican-American, gew up in California and still live in Cali, the LA area...I have no kids and I am single for now=]

Well good luck to all...and lets stay focused=]

RoSanNa

hello angelbrenda and RoSanNa.  Welcome to our little group.  I hope you will find the forums useful and the members friendly.  Please, feel free to speak up with any questions, comments or advice. 

RoSanNa-I used to live for a short time near LA in Fullerton... a lil over 10 years ago.

1. History with weight loss:  I was always very active into my early twenties so weight wasn't really an issue.  I ran 10K's, taught aerobics classes and lifted every other day.  Once I got out of school and got a full time job, then husband and children all of that exercise stopped and I never really changed my eating habits, hence gaining a huge amount of weight.  I literally became over twice the woman my husband married.

2. Reason for joining this group:  I started working on myself about 3 months ago when my back abruptly wore out.  I have been working with a great physical therapist who have been very encouraging and supportive of my exercise efforts.  I know my therapy will be ending soon as my back is feeling close to healed and I have been looking for that accountability that I have received at therapy.  I really want to lose more weight and keep it off because I never want to be in as much pain as I was 3 months ago ever again.

3. Some interesting details about yourself, such as your job, your family, your pets and your interests:  I am a high school math teacher, wife and mother of two sons.  I have 3 cats Tigre, Flyer, and Pepper and my special pet my dog Buddy who is not only a once in a lifetime kind of dog but the best exercise partner I could ever ask for.

Ok...my name is Amy....my history with weight loss is a long boring one.  Much like many others I am sure.  A little chubby as a young child....thin as a teen and young adult....and the more babies I had....the more weight I seem to have accumulated.  I did do a year and a half stint with Weight Watchers after my first daughter and before my second daughter.  I lost 60-ish pounds.  But two daughers later, I have put it almost all back on. 

I joined this group because I need help staying on track.  And also because its a small group so far where it is new.  To be honest I've checked out some chat rooms and such on other sites and they can be fairly intimitading.  I just want a group of people who are going to be encouraging and nice. 

My house is a zoo!  I have a 12 year old stepdaughter and my husband and I have 3 of our own.  They are ages 7, 2 and 1.  We own an apartment building and live in it as well.  We both work with mentally and physically challenged adults.   I feel that my biggest personal challenge is to be a positive role model for my daughters, particularly in the health and diet catagory.  So....here I go!