Heyyyyyy! I'm Nicole & I'm the 43 year old mom of a 10 year old boy, living on the coast of Eastern NC. I work for a major defense contractor as the HR, training, & security rep for a 500 person Navy contract, which unfortunately means that I sit at a desk all the live long day. It's been a stressful couple years, as our contract is in a recompete status and I may not have a job if we don't win. On a more positive note, I've had a wonderful, naturally thin, super active, BF since Sept of 2011. I think he, coupled with quitting my occasional smoking habit, may have had a not-so-great impact on my current weight, although both are definite positives in my life! So ANYWAY... I decided to join FatSecret on March 11th, 2013 after I woke up weighing 152, which is 17 lbs more than I weighed in September of 2011!!! That weigh-in was my shakabuku...my swift spiritual kick to the head that has altered my reality...hopefully forever :o) I've been fast-walking 3 miles as many days a week as possible (avg 4-5 days a week) & doing strength training at least 2 days a week since the beginning of 2013, but haven't seen the scale move much because I've not really been focused on my eating. I'm a pretty healthy eater overall, don't do fast food or sodas, don't keep junk in the house, eat fresh fruits & veggies every day, BUT... I do love me some butter & peanut peanutbutter, and if I bake (which I love to do "for my boys" on weekends) I have a terrible time controlling myself. I'm thinking the food journal feature on this site will really help me along. I'm not going to follow any particular diet, just going to focus on 1200 quality calories & some form of exercise every day. Hopefully I'll be well on my way back to 135 and running 3 miles a day again by the time bikini season is back in full swing in a couple months! :o) I'd love any suggestions and hope to learn a lot from other members here. Cheers to our better health!