Hi All

Im Sam
Im 34 years old and live in South Wales, UK
I am currently sat at 17st (238lbs) and beginning to feel the weight since I am 5ft 5.5 so am starting to resemble a weeble!

i have procrastinated for far too long.
Its OK to eat a chocolate bar if Im doing the school run later,
Its OK to eat biscuits because I skipped lunch so its offset calories........WRONG!

Now here I am - 17st, depressed, miserable, hurting and starting to get weird niggles when I never did before.

I also suffer with Menieres disease and think I have used this for far too long as a cop out. It gives me dizziness, nausea and tinnitus. I am not meant to have caffeine, takeaways, chocolate, too much salt, alcohol, or cheese........but I do.
I am now back on medication 3 times a day for it to keep a maintenance level in my system but even if I have a bad flare up and Im dizzy - I should still be able to stay on track with diet.
Throw in an unhealthy dose of anxiety and depression and it sounds like the cards are stacked against me, but getting some sort of life for me and my kids is what Im focused on.

I dont feel like I have a quality of life at the minute. Id rather lock myself away and eat snacks watching a boxset. Which would be fine if it was just me, but I have two kids to think about and I dont want them following my lead.

I have manged to lose weight before down to 12st and I was happy at that weight.
I was 10-st before my first pregnancy but I think I would look ill at that weight.
But lets start with small steps, small changes and manageable targets and goals with the obvious end goal in sight.

Anyway I hope to meet lots more of you on this journey.
I would love a diet buddy - whether through email / messages / texts / letters etc - someone to hold me accountable and share tips etc with.
Lets do this together!
Good luck guys and nice to meet you!

Welcome, Sam!
I can sure relate to the destructive eating. Using food as a sedative and to calm anxiety has been something I've done for years. I hope that at last I'm taking control of it but like you, it was hard to start.

You're on the right track with small steps. Cut out one thing - add a bit of walking...that sort of thing. I really enjoy David-Dorian Ross's Tai Chi Fit Over 50 dvd. I know your not over 50 like I am, but if you have a lot of weight to lose and you're unfit, then it's a nice thing to start with. I'm not sure if the dvds are available in the UK but I really recommend this one. It's only about 35 minutes long and is a gentle way to get things moving without stressing joints.

That sounds like a great start!

Hi Sam, I relate to many of your struggles! I'm hitting the reset button on my excuses today. I would love to go on this journey with you. This seems like a really supportive group.

Hello. I only just fall into the 30's group - I'm 39. But I'm hoping to lose 30 pounds (14 kgs - we do kilograms here) before I turn 40. Wouldn't it be nice to be a bit fitter before then?! Ah....a girl can dream. And then get her bum off the couch and do something! Which I'm happy to report I did tonight. Okay, I can only manage about 15 to 20 minutes of cardio at this stage and then I'm sopping wet and completly out of breath.

So, I'm happy to offer support. Because I need it often!

Good luck!