*waves* I'm new here and have only lurked a bit, but I wanted to step up and say 'Hello!'
I'm 33 (though I'll be 34 soon enough, my birthday is in August) and about a month ago I was up late on night, unable to sleep. Thoughts turned to my weight and my health in general -- I've been lucky generally but I feel that it won't go on forever. I deal with bad heartburn, a lot, and I've had my gallbladder removed (but that was years and years ago). Still, I have been unhappy with my weight for years and hadn't tried doing anything about it since 2005 or 2006. So, in my sleepy state, I decided that come morning I was going to find out what my weight was, and then go from there.
Well I was finally able to go to sleep that night, and I didn't think about my decision the next morning, having an unhealthy breakfast and only midway through the day finding myself a scale. And boy was I ever surprised! 258.8lbs! I didn't know it had gotten that bad. And I'm only 5'2'! The first time I was wildly successful with dieting, I was 218lbs when I started. I lost a total of 33lbs that time but it was during that same period that I really started having issues with my gallbladder. After I had it removed, I was crushed by severe depression and I turned to eating to help comfort me through the really hard times. I know I'd been gaining back -- the last time I had my license renewed, I was 232 -- but I had packed on so much more than that and in such a short time, and that was seriously crushing.
It's been 27 days since I started making changes in what I eat and how much I exercise, and I have lost 12.8lbs! I keep a food diary and have cut my daily calorie intake drastically. I don't like diet soda so instead have been drinking a lot of water instead. Plus I exercise a little each day, with major workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm really sedentary otherwise, as I am currently out of work and looking for new employment. But everyone in my life (my boyfriend and his parents, my mother and her roommate) are all incredibly supportive of me and I know that I am lucky for that. My mother even shares news of my weekly weigh ins with her coworkers, and I have gotten unlikely support from there as well, and that was very surprising.
But I think being here will be good for me. I have broken my longterm major goal down into smaller sub-goals and probably even smaller mini-goals along the way, and I haven't told anyone here how much I want to lose in the longterm. If I told them "I want to lose at least 100lbs", they might think I'm crazy or something. None of them realize how bad my weight/BMI really is, even though I've tried to explain it to them. So I know that I will be able to find support here that I can't with them. My first sub-goal is reaching 212lbs, thus being just under the same weight I was when I started dieting the last time.
So! I guess that's it. It's good to be here and I look forward to interacting with you all.
This is probably a good place to start
It sounds like you are doing all the right things. You may want to check out the monthly weight loss and exercise challenges under the sub-forum Chicks Up for a Challenge. You will find lots of support there, and the August challenges should be starting soon. Good luck! Keep it up! 
