Hey there, it's Caroline.
 

Let's play 20 questions. Some things about me:

1. I'm 28
2. I have four children ages 1, 2, 4 & 5
3. I used to be a size 2 or 4
4. Now I can barely squeeze into a size 18 jean
5. I am a full-time photographer
6. I am also a full-time mother & business owner
7. I love to sing
8. I love fashion
9. I used to love to dress up
10. I rarely sleep
11. I am a perfectionist
12. I can barely keep up with cleaning
13. I forget easily
14. I love to travel
15. I wish I could find more time to travel
16. Zooey DesChanel is my fashion icon
17. My husband has never made me feel bad about my weight
18. I have the best husband in the world
19. Our 10 year wedding anniversary is March 10, 2012
20. I want and need to lose 70 lbs. by March 10, 2012

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I am so desperate to lose this weight. I have tried every diet, even knowing that diets aren't the answer. I would do well for a few weeks, but then I'd mess up once and then completely fail miserably afterwards. I feel like I can't stay consistent. My problem is that I eat ridiculously above average portions. Even if the actual food I'm eating is healthy. My problem is overeating. I don't like sweets too much. But salts & carbs will get me every time.

Anyhow, just wanted to introduce myself. I've never done an online weight loss tracking thingy, and I have never been in a weight loss forum before. But I'm hoping I can make friends with people struggling with the same things I am.

So anyway....

Hello!

Caroline, welcome to FitDay!

It sure sounds like you've got a full plate (no pun intended :D).

I, too, love to eat. And I must say that tracking my food intake and exercise on FitDay is the only thing that has ever really worked for me.

It's going to take a little effort to put your data in and figure out a daily calorie deficeit that will allow you to lose weight while being enough to keep you from "cheating".

I will tell you that yes, you can pretty easily lose 70 pounds in a year if you're serious about it. That's only around 2 lbs a week, which is consider a safe rate for most people (never a bad idea to check with your Doc, though).

Spend some time reading the threads in the sub forums here--there is a lot of great info and advice and many very nice people. The Women's forum has some great weekly motivational threads.

If you have any questions or need/want advice, please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
Michael

Hi! I'm new, also. A few years ago I lost over 20 pounds (which actually was unhealthy for me at the time) using an online diet tracker like this one. It works if you stick with it, which is the hardest part for most people like myself. With most things I tend to start off strong but end up either not finishing, or slacking off. I wish you luck with your weight loss. By the way, Zooey Deschanel is one of my favorite actresses.

Welcome! Since you say you have problems with portion control I suggest you get an inexpensive food scale to so you can see just how much you are eating. Eat normally for a week but measure everything and log it in Fitday. This is usually a eye opener, even for those of us that know their portions are big, you don't realize how much food you are really eating till you measure it. Good Luck!

Great point, Ron!

I still weigh/measure "dangerous" foods like meat (really easy to misjudge the weight of a nice hunk of sirloin!). And things like peanuts I count out (usually 15 or 20 in shells) and put the bag away (at 11 cals per shelled nut it's WAY to easy to over do).

Once you've got your baseline it is much easier to decide on a new calorie limit.

Regards,
Michael

Playing 20 questions with you. Some things about me:

1. I'm 42, although typically I lie and say "I'm 28".
2. I have three daughters ages 9, 7 and 4, and I take care of 3 more children ages 7, 7, and 18 months.
3. I have been overweight most of my adult life, but when I graduated from HS I weighed 118 and wore a size 6/8.
4. The largest size jeans I've ever owned and loved were a 24W.
5. I am a full-time mother and daycare provider
6. I one day hope to write a book, or six
7. I love to sing, and have an ear for the harmony.
8. I'm a fashion disaster.
9. I used to have to dress up for work and social events, but not so much anymore (Amen).
10. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, but have fewer issues with insomnia when I eat healthy and workout regularly.
11. I am a perfectionist, drives my kids NUTS, but hubby gets it.
12. I can't keep up with cleaning, although I try.
13. I forget everything.
14. I love to travel, but I only like to go a few times/year, I'm a homebody at heart. And I sort of hate camping, although DH and the kids LOVE IT.
15. I wish I could find more quiet time.
16. I like the fact that the first lady has taken an active position in the fight against childhood obesity.
17. My husband has never made me feel bad about my weight, although watching him workout all the time inspired me to get to the gym.
18. I have the best husband in the world
19. We've been married for 13 years, and I love him more today than I did when I first found myself head over heels in love.
20. I want to reach my goal weight for myself and my family, more than I want to eat another doughnut - EVER.

I have tried every diet, even knowing that diets aren't the answer. I would do well for a few weeks, but then I'd mess up once and think "I'm so tired of dieting". I think what exhausted me most was that I've been taught that "some" people are skinny "naturally" and "some" people are fat "naturally" and clearly I'm in the "fat" department, so even if I got skinny by starving myself, I would have to starve myself to stay skinny for the rest of my life. Fitday has helped me to realize that my former philosophy was BUNK.

One of my problems is that I'm a carboholic with the propensity to eat ridiculously large portions, which causes me to have huge carb crashes which sends me back into the kitchen for more (it's a vicious cycle). I also have trouble consuming enough proteins, I'm borderline allergic to eggs, dairy and beef, and I'm not a huge fan of legumes.

Fitday is the first on-line site I've ever used for calorie tracking, although I've logged my intake for various diets in the past. This is certainly the first time I'm looking at the calories I consume in terms of carbs, proteins, fats. This is also the first time I feel like I'm educating myself on food and fitness. I have much more information and data at my fingertips this time, and that is really empowering.

Don't you just love her? Loved her in 500 Days of Summer, Failure to Launch, and in the Cotton commercial :D

Thanks for the encouragement. You sound A LOT like me :p

Thanks so much for the welcome and the tips. Very helpful :)

Wow, that's a great idea! Thank you for that!

Welcome Caroline. You may want to look into this, it appears that you and almeeker are married to the same guy... not cool. :D