Can we do a roll call?

I thought since I was new to the group, we could do a roll call so that I
could get to know everyone a little better. I'll start it off by telling
you a little about myself.

My name is Dana, I live in Myrtle Beach SC, I'm a hairstylist for a show
called Legends In Concert (celebrity impersonators). My husband Whit, is
the music director of the same show, he came from Branson where he played
with the Osmond brothers for 10 years. He's a bit overweight himself but
doesn't stress about it the way that I do. We have 2 boys 7 and 9, his from
a previous marriage. We have custody. My heaviest weight has been 238. I
managed to lose 94 pounds back in the mid 90's and keep it off for 6 years.
I let myself get back up to 216.5 for some dumb reason, and now I'm back at
it again after I swore I would never let myself go once I got the weight off
the first time. I'm an open book, ask anything you like. I have enjoyed
the group and been inspired here. Seems like a great supportive bunch!

Starting weight as of August 20, 2005 = 216
Today= 194
Goal= 150

--
DisneyDana

I pop in and out of here. I'm 49, a project manager and professional
forester, work for a big utility company running environmental
programs, mom of three (14, 11 and 7). I'm 5' 6" and got up to 196
about a year ago as the aftermath of three kids, a sedentary lifestyle,
Zoloft and being middle aged and a PIG (pass the cheese cake, Joe!).

Down to 130ish by last Feb, and maintaining since then (as low as 126,
as high as 134). Down from a 16-18 to a size 5-7. Still not used to
being teeny and trim instead of zaftig (do a double take every time I
see myself).

Finding I have to eat low carb/ low fat to maintain. Alas, can't do
pasta, rice, bread AT ALL. Also find eating those can set off a binge
so better just to stay away from them entirely as a routine lifestyle
for me (i.e. plan my menu around tons of veg, fruit, lean meats). I'm
like an alcoholic - I just can't start or I'll pig out (I wish I could
say I could have a small serving of pasta, but if I start, I'll hoover
up the entire pan).

Mary G.

"DisneyDana" wrote in message
m...
I thought since I was new to the group, we could do a roll call so that I
could get to know everyone a little better. I'll start it off by telling
you a little about myself.


OK, its been a while.

jayjay here - mid 30's female from south Florida. I'm 5'3" and current
weight is 128. My goal is health and fitness and to stay in size 4 to 6
clothing so I don't have to buy bigger clothes. I'm married, 1 child,
and work in IT. (computers and ****).

I've been around ASD for - oh, 6yrs or 7yrs now I guess. I can't remember.
Back in those days I was a single mom to a preschool aged child, working
full time and going to school full time to finish my degree. My DH and I
were together as SO's, so I was juggling alot.

My weight history is:
I was a thin child and teen, staying right around the 100 - 105 mark. I
got married at 19, and pregnant at 23 where I went from 110lbs to 170lbs.
After baby was born I only lost 10lbs, so I started weight loss (or you
could say my alltime high) was 160lbs. (size 14 womans). In my son's
first couple years I lost down to 150lbs without doing alot.

At 26 I divorced and subsiquently lost alot of my weight due to the "divorce
stress diet". Great diet, but the way you lose weight is not very healthy
and will bite you in the ass in the long run. So, I dropped into the low
120's range but did not own a scale so i dont' have an accurate account,
although size 4 jeans were baggy.

I eventually met my husband, and then had a few health issues and I gained
weight. When I first came to ASD I was in the 140's. I ate alot of fast
food, drank alot of regular soda and did not exercise at all. Boy did I
have a rude awakening coming in here at the time with the active members
then. I was not going to exercise, did not have the money for a gym
membership nor the time between work, school, child and a new relationship.

My initial goals were to change my eating habits. I did eventually lose
the weight and also eventually found exercise. My lows here in ASD was
about 124, but then my goals changed to building muscle and working out so I
gained back to the upper 120's where I'm comfortable.

I have had a rocky road, and had one setback last year, but I have recovered
from that. I know what to do and how to do it when it comes to losing
weight.

Now adays, I'm married, my son is in middle school, I now have a gym
membership, and school has been done for a few years, so life has certainly
settled down for me, and that made a huge difference in my weight
maintenance efforts. Overall, life is good!

I don't frequent the group nearly as often as I once did - just because I am
in maintenance and sometimes I get tired of saying the same advice over and
over again. I tend to be known around here as being a bit blunt at time,
I certainly do not suger coat things, and when people come here looking for
the magic solution (you know, the
you-don't-have-to-change-your-eating-habits-or-exercise diet seakers) I
don't like to deal with them. Also, there are a few that frequent this
group that ruin it for all the others and I got sick and tired of their
crap.

But I do still lurk and post occasionally when I have the time - but most
times I'd rather be out doing something active.

Okay, I'm somewhat of an old-timer here, but there are lots of new
folks I'd like to get to know better.

My name is Chris (as in short for Christine -- I'm female :-) ). I
live in Haymarket, Virginia -- a rather distant suburb of Washington,
DC. I work as a systems engineer, though I'm planning to retire next
July. (I have a financial incentive that makes it hard to pass up.)
At that time, my current thought is to consult part time for my
current employer and work part time as a personal trainer. We shall
see... (By the way, I'm 57 years old.)

I'm married to a man I met in college, though we didn't marry until 20
years later (whole long story of its own :-) ). No kids, 7 cats. My
main interests apart from work (and family, friends, and cats, of
course) are exercise -- weight lifting, running, walking -- wine, fine
dining, and reading. I've done some competitive weight lifting.

My lifetime high weight was around 275, though when I started a
serious attempt to lose weight (in July 2002) I weighed 262. I'd
already gotten seriously into weight lifting -- finally decided to get
serious about fitness overall. I reached my goal weight -- the 130s
-- in June 2004 and have been successfully maintaining since then.

This is a good group -- stick around :-).


Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

In article , DisneyDana
wrote:

I thought since I was new to the group, we could do a roll call so that I
could get to know everyone a little better. I'll start it off by telling
you a little about myself.

My story is here.

http://www.angelfire.com/on4/diva_dog/

I am nearing the start of my sixth year of maintenance and have been on
the group here since 1996.

--
Diva
*****
The Best Man For The Job Is A Woman

Hi Dana, thanks for asking.

I'm a 41 year old mother of three (14, 12 & 6) with my own home-based
business and a supportive husband. I got fat mostly because I didn't
care that I was fat and my priorities were elsewhere.

Three years ago I went in to quit my gym membership because I never
went. The front desk person said, "are you sure you want to do that?
It looks like staying away hasn't been good for you." Huh? Is she
saying I'm fat?

About the same time I went to my son's pediatrician to ask him if a nine
year old ought to be packing on visceral fat like he was. The doctor
looked me in the eye and said, "I see it all the time..." [unsaid:
"...when the parents are obese."]

I also got some vacation pictures and found myself wondering why my
mother kept jumping in our pictures where I ought to be.

These three things came together and I realized I didn't want to do this
(be fat), and decided to change.

I was a tight size 22, about 44% fat, and weighed in at 244 when I
decided to NOT cut out the gym membership but to start their "Personal
Fitness Program" instead. I also started a fat loss program they were
beta testing at the Y. It was pretty much a failure, only two of the
100 or so who signed up actually lost and kept off weight. I came here
ranting about skinny weight loss instructors and I think *here* is what
helped me, not that program.

A few months later I started the Body for Life program and it really
pulled it all together: cardio, weightlifting, eating clean, eating
small portions, being goal-focused, having support, having a refeed
day... I loved that program. I did seven Body for Life challenges.

Today I'm down 80 pounds with a 24% body fat. I've done two triathlons
(short course versions) and I ran 6 road races this season. I'm on the
cusp between a 12 and a 14 (which is very irritating) but slender and
fit as a size 14. I'd like to drop ten pounds off my thighs and butt
because I want to go faster up hills in my bike races.

My family is very active now - it's sort of a rule that we have to do
some activity each week-end - and we learned a lot about how to fuel a
human body. My husband lost about 20 pounds and became an athlete as well.

All successes, and all because I decided to do it. I've got lots of
tips on how to implement the basic formula, which is:

0. Fix your head (figure out why you chose to be fat to begin with)

1. Eat less (find a way to fuel your body on less calories without being
hungry or lacking energy)

2. Exercise more (solve the problems that are keeping you from doing this)

3. Repeat

4. Forever.

Good luck!

Dally
244/164/155

"DisneyDana" wrote in message
m...
I thought since I was new to the group, we could do a roll call so that I
could get to know everyone a little better. I'll start it off by telling
you a little about myself.

My name is Beverly. I'm 62, live in Englewood, Ohio and have been happily
divorced for years. I have 4 children, 9 grandchildren (age 1-22) and one
great-granddaugher (age 1). I'm a senior engineer/account manager for a
large on-line information provider.

I never had a weight problem until I hit my mid 40's and menopause when I
gained 25 pounds. I joined WW and became a lifetime member when I reached
my goal weight in 1984. I stayed around goal until 1995 when I quit
smoking. I reached my life time high of 177 and returned to WW. In 1996 I
again reached goal and have stayed within 10-15 pounds since that time.
I've been around ASD since 1999 and have found it very useful in maintaining
my weight.

My favorite form of exercise is biking. I'm a volunteer bike patrolman for
the Five Rivers MetroParks. We have a weekly program called "Bike for the
Health of It", programs to teach bike safety to children and patrol the
local trails to assist riders. Many of the children and grandchildren have
been included in bike trips I've taken - Katy Trail in Missouri, Erie Canal
in NY, Tour de Georgia to see Lance ride, Allegheny Passage in Pa, etc. I
finally completed a metric century (62 miles) this summer and I'm still
thinking about doing a regular century (100 miles) before the weather turns
cold.

I have a tendency to ignore exercise unless it involves biking so I try
different things to keep it interesting during the winter months. I have a
gym membership but never use it during the biking months

Stick around. It's a great place for support and information.

Beverly

Welcome Dana.

I posted an intro here last year:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.s...d6df6a80d16b?h
l=en&

Updating from there, I now weigh about 170lbs (77kg) but have become
stronger through a regular program of strength training. I no longer
follow rec.running, and run very rarely but I do enjoy following that
sport along with several others.

Matthew

I'm jmk. I live in central North Carolina. I started here just over
two years ago, when I was in the midst of weight loss mode. I reached
goal at about Halloween two years ago.

Since starting my new lifestyle, I have really gotten into bicycling. I
rode for about a year before starting this life change and I have gotten
more and more into it each year. Last fall, I replaced my "starter"
road bike with a nicer one and about three weeks ago I completed my
first MS150 (Breakaway to the Beach, finish at North Myrtle Beach Middle
School). If they had sign up sheets for next year at the finish line,
I'd have put my name down in a heart beat. I had a blast.

DH has gotten into flat water kayaking and we plan to get me a boat
sometime this fall. We also enjoy hiking and camping.

My "kids" are Hannah, an 11 yo chocolate lab and retired agility
champion, and Emma, a 3 yo golden retriever -- turns out that there is a
reason that labs are often pictures with as a hunting companion in
paintings and goldens are often pictured laying in front of a fireplace
VBG. Emma is agile but, well, we'll just say non-competitive :-)

I don't know what my heaviest weight is. It was over 210 but I was kind
of in denial at that point and tried not to pay much attention until I
was under 200. I just say that I "lost over 80 pounds." That works for me.


--
jmk in NC

jayjay wrote:

and work in IT. (computers and ****).

That made me laugh! I, too, work in IT. ;-)


--
jmk in NC