[Katz3]

This is my first post, and I hope it works. I'm not sure how to start. I'm in need of support from people who can identify with me. I am surrounded by over weights who don't care, and married to a muscle head. I feel like I can't win. I wasn't always fat, but I can never get past 10 lbs. I am always over stressed, and obsessed with my weight. I need more positives to achieve my goal. Does anyone know what I mean?

[reddress]

It works! Have you got a plan in mind? Is your main goal losing weight, or did you want to build muscle, or tone, or a little of everything? What have you tried in the past for weight loss? And take a stab at why it didn't work in the long run...

There are a bunch of support boards on here, including ones that deal with stress, and how we react to it. Check out the menu at the very bottom of the screen that says "Forum Jump". You can scroll through there and find all the boards, and see what you think might work for you.

Good luck!

[JayEll]

Hey Katz3,

Sorry to hear you have overweight people around you who don't care--that can make it harder for you. But remember, it's about you, not about them. You need to do whatever it is you decide, regardless of what they choose to do. This is true whether you're surrounded by heavy people, thin people, whatever.

There are lots of different forums to choose from, so browse around a bit. Looks like you want to lose about 40 pounds, and that will take some time. It may be that in the past you were being really restrictive, and finally it just wore you out. Easy to do that. The trick is finding something you can follow long term, not just a few weeks.

Anyway, glad to see you here!

Jay

[MicheleKC]

I recently put on about 8 lbs and was able to lose it, about one pound per week by eating better, cutting out fast food, and exercising. I am working out with weights to build strength. My goal is mostly to lose body fat% so I'm using a BF% scale and my measurements along with my weight. Ideally, I might get down to 106 lbs, but my goal for now is 115.

I started keeping a journal of my daily calories, and have kept mine at 1200. I make sure I get 5 servings of fruit (2) and veggies (3) a day, and eat a whole grain and serving of protein at each meal and snack.

I do cardio for 30 minutes 5x a week and workout with weights 3x a week. Although now that I can see I'm losing the fat, I'm focusing more on strength training and using heavier weights.

[Cheryl14]

Hi Katz!

Welcome! I'm with Jay...This is FOR YOU!!! We have to realize that getting the weight off is tough but doable. This site has many people who have done amazing things, so it IS possible. First, you have to believe that YOU ARE WORTH IT. You have to put aside being someone's wife or daughter, or mom or aunt and even put aside all of the voices of the past that tell you that status quo is OK. Think about YOU. Think about what YOU want. You will then have the focus that will allow you to come up with the plan that works FOR YOU!

Good Luck! Come back here often. There's TONS of encouragement here even if there's not much coming from your home or your friends. Here, we KNOW how you feel and are on the weight loss journey right along WITH you!

Cheryl