I am all belly and breast. I believe my main problem is sugar. I drink a lot of soda. I know I dont eat right. I also dont know what excercises to do. Can anyone suggest a diet and workout plan? I really am ready to lose this wait. I just need some help, advise and support

The best plan for you is a plan you can stick with...for life! See, anyone can go on any diet and lose weight...and then go immediately back to how they were eating before, thereby gaining all the weight back. If you make LIFESTYLE changes, even small ones, they stick with you for good.

So what do you need from a plan you're going to stick with for good? We're all different. I needed fairly big portions, to be pretty full all the time, and the ability to have treats every once in a while without feeling like I had "cheated". You might need other things. Once you know what you need, you can start looking for -YOUR- plan, the one you can stick to forever. Most likely you're going to have to tweak something existing anyway, simply so it works for YOU. None of us are machines - we are all different.

In terms of exercise, again, just start moving and keep moving. You can formalize more goals later...for now, just move. Start making small changes and worry less about the "big picture"...you can always adjust as you go along.

- keep posting and asking questions!

Definitely begin immediately to remove sugary soda from your life.

In my experience of 20 years of failed dieting (I could always LOSE weight, I could never keep the weight OFF) you have to make some permanent changes you can stick to for the rest of your life. So, the best diet for YOU is one that only YOU can devise.

Personally, I found it was really easy to completely give up fast food, all packaged baked goods and sugary soda. I lost weight with a combination of concentrating on eating as many "whole" foods as possible and calorie counting. I made a bunch of little changes and a bunch of big changes, but everything was based on me: what I liked, what I would miss, what I could live without. It's been 3 years and I eat almost exactly the way I did when I was losing weight - the habits/changes stuck because they were habits and changes which weren't so hard for me.

Only you can decide what is doable for you.

As far as what to eat - it's not a bad idea to concentrate on eating 5+ servings of fruit and vegetables everyday, eat a lot of lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish, low fat dairy), whole grains (if you make pasta, measure your serving and make it whole grain, whole wheat tortilla, real oatmeal, etc) and healthy fats (2 oz of nuts, nut butters, olive oil, 1/4 of an avocado).

You can also picture your plate divided into 4 equal sections. For every meal, make 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 healthy whole grain/starch (like brown rice, a sweet potato, 2 oz of pasta - measured uncooked) and 1/4 lean protein. Eat healthy fats sparingly but don't avoid them completely (you need them!).

Make sure you eat plenty throughout the day - don't get so hungry you make crazy food decisions. Plan for you - do you LIKE an after dinner snack? Leave some room in your calories to have a little healthy snack after dinner.

Make sure you have healthy foods at your fingertips - it's nearly impossible to eat healthy by accident. Plan to be on plan!!

Mandalinn and Glory are right. I was searching for the right plan for me. I tried the low carb diet and my cholesterol numbers went up. I absolutely hated a low fat diet. I like to eat cheese. It's funny, now I don't eat much cheese. However, if you tell me I can't have something, I want it.

I finally settled on plain ole calorie counting. Because of the lovely "losers" on here, I discovered Fitday.com. It has been a God send. I log my food daily. I can track my weight there as well as enter my exercise.

As far as exercise, you will need it. I don't think there is a person on here who is at goal that doesn't continue to exercise.

What exercise should you do? That is totally up to you. You can join a gym, but you've got to make the promise to yourself to do it. I went to the library and rented all sorts of different exercise videos. I finally found Walk Away The Pounds (WATP). Now I have a library of them. I just didn't want to spend the money on them until I found something I liked.

You don't need to join a prepared meal program (Jenny Craig, etc) unless you want to do so. Since my DH, boobalah, & I enjoy cooking, I decided to "lighten up" our normal foods. It took boobalah about 6 months to come on board with that idea. Now he seeks ways to make food taste as full of that wonderful fatty flavor without all the fat.

You can do it. You just have to make the decision for yourself as to what will work for you. Good luck and welcome to one of the most supportive sites I've ever found.

Great advice above me. I'll just add this.... read read read. Learn what you can to figure out what's important to YOU in a program and also to get some tips on how to make changes you can live with. So, read here at 3fc and also "out there". There's a lot to learn. The really good news is you don't have to be an expert to start. You've got some great advice to get you going!

Oh yes. It's sooo important to find something you can do for LIFE. Not some diet with a start - and then a stop. We need to find something that continues. We need to incorporate good eating habits that will indeed last a lifetime.

And without a doubt the best "diet" is one that you customize for yourself. Switch around what you're eating now and tweak it to make it healthier. Try baking, grilling, roasting or pan sauteeing instead of frying. Load up on vegetables. Experiment with different cooking methods, spices and new vegetables. Become an avid label reader. Check out calorie counts on everything before you bring it home. And it will evolve as you go on.

I'd have to agree that giving up that soda is essential to a healthy lifestyle. It might be difficult for a week or perhaps 2, but then it WILL get much easier and you will be feeling sooo much better that you won't even miss it. Really.

As far as exercise goes, nothing beats good ole' walking to start off with. A resistance band is a great way to add in some much needed strength training.

I'm glad you've found 3FC. It's a great place to be. Good luck.

You have gotten some great advice from some of the best!

The only thing I have to add, is that if you have a problem withdrawing from the caffeine in sodas, drink something else with caffeine, but no sugar. Tea or coffee, maybe. In my opinion, you can address the caffeine issue later.