Hey all! I have been reading the boards the last week or so, and finally decided to join. You all seem like such a friendly group of people. Weight loss is so hard, I definitely need to find a place for support and camaraderie. FYI - my username is VEGGIE spelled backward. Which is apropos to me: if I see a veggie, usually I'm headed in the other direction.

I live with my hubby and two kids (8 and 11), and I'm about 50-65 pounds overweight (depending on whether you go by BMI or by my lowest adult weight, etc). I'm right this second trying to decide how I'm going to do this. I've been calorie counting with My Fitness Pal for a couple of weeks and it's going well, but I don't care for how ad-saturated the site is (this is why Spark People and I didn't do so well), and I think I need more support.

I just met with a friend, and she is glowing with joy for Weight Watchers (and is my second friend who has had WW success). So I think I might try that again? I tried it once a few years ago and didn't get very far, but back then my reasons for weight loss for idealized as thinness=happiness. I'm a lot smarter than that, normally, but that belief was very deeply entrenched.

Things are different now, I have fibromyalgia and am struggling with that, and sleep apnea and other problems related to weight, that are minor for now but I can see how getting older combined with being obese isn't a path I want for myself. So, my attitude about all this is very different. I want whatever I do to be something I can do forever, or is at least adaptable to change over time. Maybe that's WW, maybe it's something else. If anyone has any tips on that, please feel free to share!

Hi Eiggev! This is a very friendly and supportive site, so stick with us and we'll help you along! As you browse around, be sure to check out the WW forum under Diet Central. Good luck! You can do this!

Welcome to the site. Jump into one of the challenges, great way to get to know people here and get support.

Welcome! I've never done Weight Watchers myself, but alot of people have great success with it and it seems like a long-term approach that works for many people!

It is smart to have you overall health in mind, versus just skinny-ness, I think that will help you in the long run!

Good luck, I look forward to see you around on the forums!

Thanks, everyone! I'm really looking forward to being here.

Oh, and I did join WW last night, so I'll be giving that a shot. We'll see how it goes!

Also, Mrs. Snark, love your blog! Just clicked on the link in your sig, and found my way here:

Oh! And apparently I can't post a link because I haven't proved my I'm-not-a-troll-worthiness, lol. Anyway it's the one entitled: "My Mantra Revisited."

I'm putting that in my "Inspire" bookmark folder, as cheesy as that sounds. Really I think the biggest problem I have is getting two pounds down and panicking because everything feels SO HARD and I don't believe I can really change. So I loved reading what you wrote there.