Hello

[Want2Lose]

I'm so glad I found this forum. I am a 41-year-old woman who weighs 172 pounds. I started trying to lose weight last August when I was 185. My target is 145.

I struggle with carbohydrate cravings and a sedentary lifestyle. My only exercise is brisk walking, of which I do 20 minutes per day (trying to get up to 30). My belly is huge and I am worried about all the health risks associated with excess abdominal fat.

I joined the forum because I have trouble with willpower and motivation. Reading others' struggles and triumphs is very inspiring. Thanks for having me here!

 

[Omega]

Welcome to our forum.

I can identify with much of what you say. I am in my forties myself and can assure you that weight loss is perfectly possible for those of us not quite in the first bloom of youth.

Walking is an excellent form of exercise - indeed when I was bigger it was my only form of exercise. I still do more walking than anything else.

I find a pedometer to be very useful. I found that it challenged me to build my steps up - a few more each day. Before I knew it I was able to walk quite long distances - further than I or anyone would have dreamt possible.

Get a free account on . It can be very useful for counting calories and analysing other aspects of our diet. Check out the sticky threads in the different sections of this forum - particularly nutrition and exercise.

Start a diary and visit some of the other active diaries to see what other people are doing.

Join one or more challenges.

These are both ways of making friends and building a support network - not to mention getting ideas for you to introduce into your project.

I am actually kicking off a new challenge in the next few days (the initial challenge proposal has just been posted) - so consider yourself welcome to join in with that.

 

[Want2Lose]

Thank you for the welcome and the suggestions. I just began a food journal at FitDay. It was certainly an eye-opener to get an accurate calorie count of the food I've been eating.