It's been a while since I've been here. I was active a few years ago and I was quite successful with my weight loss endeavors.

But now...

I'm ballooned up to over 300 pounds, my heaviest weight yet. I look back and wonder "What the heck happened?" and I'm just tired of being fat. I could barely fit in the booth where I was having dinner with my friends. It was embarrassing and they knew I could barely fit. That was the turning point for me.

So last night, I had a "last supper" so to speak. It was a goodbye to the lifestyle of not caring enough about myself to eat right or exercise. I don't want to be that person stuck on the couch all the time. I want something more.

So..here we go.

Welcome back and good luck on your journey!!

Well you're not alone. I've been active on here even throughout my gaining. Even in my darkest hours it's been a beacon of light. Everyone here is so lovely and there's so many unique personalities. Everyone is in a different stage or their life and everyone has different goals and methods for weight loss. The best part is everyone is supportive, ultimately.

I joined at 260lbs, where I thought then that I had hit rock bottom, but I continued struggling with binge eat and had periods of time where I just stopped caring about myself.

About three months ago the scale came so very close to 300lbs. It was the kick in the pants I needed so that I could actually do what I needed to do, even though I hadn't the tools to make it happen before.

There's a paragraph in Eat, Pray, Love where the author describes that she feels everything that happens is meant to happen. She was never meant to not be where she is. Things that have happened were always meant to happen.

I kind of feel that way too. I look back and think "Oh if only I'd stayed on track then" but the fact is that I wasn't meant to at that time. Whatever I needed to work through to get where I am now still needed to be worked through. I was always going to get as big as I did and I was always going to struggle to make it right.

So I don't look back anymore unless to remember happy memories or use mistakes from the past to help me now, because "there's no point in looking back, you're not going that way."

Also, 3FC has been a blessing for me. Where I live so many people struggle with weight loss and although people are supportive they're also usually struggling, or else have never had issues with food before. My net of support really only extends to my family, who're all struggling with food themselves.

3FC shows me there's so many people who are making it work by actively continuing to work on themselves. It's really inspirational. And I know that you can do it too!

What the heck happened indeed . . . I wanted to chime in because I've totally, totally been there. After spending most of my life in the mid/upper-200's and struggling to get anywhere under 250, I was snapped back into a harsh reality when I realized exactly why I was always so winded and that nothing fit me anymore . . . I stepped on the scale at work and found that I weighed 360 pounds. It was such a complete and total shock, as had no idea I'd gone anywhere over 275! That was one of many breaking points about my weight that I've had throughout my life, and as difficult and painful as they typically are, I do my best to embrace them so I can move forward.

Just know that you can do this. Focus on the positives, on setting yourself up for success. Everyone's different of course, but I've personally found myself being the most successful when I avidly track my progress and remain brutally honest with myself; it makes any accomplishments I make all the more rewarding. When I started sliding again back in 2011, I bought myself a pretty weekly planner and vowed to track my progress for a full year. It became an amazing feeling to stay on-plan even one day, let alone when that day turned into weeks and months, and finally into my first year. I'm a little more relaxed now that I'm pregnant, but I still track and am looking forward to getting back into the weight loss game.

It can take a while to figure out what will work for you long-term, but it's so worth the effort. Do everything you can to take care of yourself, and remember that we're all here to share in both your struggles and success.

I'm rooting for you!

Welcome back! You succeeded before and you can do it again! You've already did the first few steps to restart your journey.

Well. I had this big long Post meant to inspire you typed and then my web browser decided to crash before I could hit post. Bottom line is I have been there too in fact I don't think there is one person on this forum who hasn't. I can do this, you can do this we can all do this. So let's get out there and not think about what the scale says now but rather..what it WILL say as we end this year with a BANG. Fat may have won our last battle...But it won't win the war.

So glad to have you here! It's a really difficult struggle. But it's also a lifelong struggle. You have not failed until you are not able to fight anymore. It looks like you are at "try again" mode rather than "failure" mode.

Welcome back starry! You can do this!

Welcome back! Just like most people have already said, you are definitely not alone. We are all in this together - the good and the bad. I love what the girl from Alaska wrote above about everything happening for a reason. Going off track, gaining weight, losing weight, struggling, etc...all of it happens for a reason (even if we HATE the reason)- but it teaches us very valuable lessons in humility, inner strength, perserverance, will power, yada yada. We all will make it to our goals/destination, whatever that may be. Something great is in store for all of us - we just have to ride the ride to find out what it is!!

Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone! I'm so excited about this new journey!

Welcome back Starry! I feel ya...I recently came back as well after a "how did that happen" moment. Ugh, so frustrating...but we're here! Let's kick some booty

The day I found out I was over 300lbs was a day when I was on my way into surgery and had to be weighed for the anesthesiologist to do the correct dose of drugs. THANK GOD I was knocked out soon after seeing that number on the scale.

That day I vowed I'd never be that big again and so my journey began.

If I can lose weight, anyone can do it. Just remember, one pound at a time is all it takes. Good luck!

Welcome back! You can do it! I got to well over 400 pounds before I got the memo that I had to do something.

Best of luck in this leg of your journey!

Can I just tell you how inspiring you all are?? Thanks so much for sharing your stories; I draw a lot of strength from you.

Welcome back StarryEyes - you can do this!!

We've all been there, that's for sure!!! I'm all for the "trying again" mentality as long as there's something different about it than all the other times.

That was my struggle for 20 years -- I did the EXACT same thing because, hey it worked! I lost weight! of course I conveniently forgot the fact that I ALWAYS gained it back (and a little bit more just for fun). Once I kind of went "umm wait a minute" and realized I was caught in a loop that was never ending, I stepped out of it and did some brain work - as in, WHY did it always fall apart? WHY did I always gain the weight back?? -- once I got to the root of all that, the "this time" really WAS different!