Shedding the PoundsThree friends on a path to lose weight!

Here are some photos Amanda took of me yesterday.  Pretty scary huh!  But we all have to start somewhere, and here is my start.

Measurements:

Neck- 18″

Bicep- 18.5″

Bust- 52″

Waist- 56″

Thigh- 56″

Hips- 60″

Weight- 317.4 pounds

My ultimate goal is to lose 150 pounds.  On a good note, I’ve gone down 5 pounds since Thursday!  And this is after I ate Taco John’s for lunch!

Side view.

Having fun on the treadmill.

Here are my measurements and some photos from today.

Bicep: 16″
Bust: 51 1/2″
Waist: 51 1/2″
Hips: 54″
Thigh: 29″
Neck: 17″

Compared to the last time I measured, I’ve lost 1/2″ in my bust, 2″ on my hips, and 1″ on my bicep. That’s awesome! I did pretty well today. Worked out at the gym and limited my portions today so I feel really good right now!

My name is Samantha, everyone calls me Sam. I am 29 and tired of being out of shape. I have been overweight my entire life, practically. I am a single mother and my daughter is heading down the same path. So I’m not only doing this for me, but for her as well. I, like the other 2 girls, have an obsession with food. I think it makes me feel better, but not in the long run. My goal is to lose 130 pounds and to be healthy. So girls, LET’S DO THIS!!!!!!!!!

My name is Amber and I am 28 years old.  I have been overweight my whole life.  I come from a line of obese people.  Most of my immediate family is overweight.  Being overweight (ok fat, let’s call an apple an apple shall we?) has had a huge impact on my life and lifestyle.  I am fairly shy, and I have horrible self-esteem.  I push people away from me because if I can’t find something to love about myself, how can anyone else?  I want to get in shape not only for emotional reasons, but for physical ones as well.  Last year, my father was diagnosed with diabetes.  We have a strong history of the disease, and I see myself heading down the same path.  I want to be healthy.  To this end, I, along with my sister and Amanda, have joined the local gym.  I have been doing pretty good on the exercise front.  I enjoy going to work out and don’t look upon it as a chore.  I too, however, sabotage myself when it comes to food.  I use food as a crutch.  I find myself thinking, “Oh I burned 350 calories on the treadmill, so this can of Dr.Pepper (150 calories) is free!“  WRONG!!!  This is the thinking that I need to change.  So my goal is to pay better attention to what I eat and STOP DRINKING POP!  Water only.  (Ok, maybe a glass of skim milk or two ! ) Baby steps, you know?  Wish me luck.

My name is Amanda and I am 29 years old. I’ve been overweight since I was around 18 years old. Over the past few years I have made some changes in my life, earned my GED and enrolled in college. Prior to that I actually had lost some weight, around 70 pounds but most of it slowly came back after I stopped exercising and monitoring my calorie intake. This year I turn 30 years old and I am determined to get on the right track of losing weight and becoming a healthier person. I have joined the local gym and for the past month have been going almost everyday. I’ve been using the elliptical, treadmill, lifting weights, and swimming. So far I feel good about the exercise I’ve been doing and look forward to going everyday. The area where I have struggled with is the eating. I’ve noticed lately I’ve been sabotaging myself by stopping and grabbing a few candy bars and or other junk food after working out. I know that I am doing well with the exercising but I don’t understand why I’m sabotaging it by eating junk food. My goal for the next two weeks is to keep track of everything I eat on sparkpeople.com and try to incorporate more healthy foods to my diet, such as fruits and vegetables. I know I can do this and I feel positive that this year I am going to make it happen.