Hola. I've been lurking the forums for a while but never signed up. I guess I'm one of those people.

Anyways, you can call me bimmer for now. I am 21. I am 5'10" and very overweight. I don't wanna tell right now but it's pretty high!

I have been chubby pretty much my entire life. I was 125lbs when I was in 5th grade. ...I lost alot of weight when I hit puberty, then when I was 15 I gained about 80lbs in 4months. I had a new boyfriend and he was very skinny and I am assuming had a high metabolism, so we ate alll the time and guess who ended up on the bad end of that situation!

I lost about 60lbs when we broke up and I was single for about a year.. when I was 19, I met a new boy (who I am with now) who is asian and same thing, skinny boy fast metabolism + likes food + girl who can't take all that food = boy stays same, girl gets bigger! ...So, I apparently have a problem. Since September 2007 I have gained an additional 60lbs... I have been sitting at my current area now since February.

I know I have a problem. I just need support to fix it. I don't know how to do it and don't have the personal relationships in my life to help steer me that way. ...I've read books but my biggest problem is bingeing and overeating in general. I get upset-- I get in my car and go eat.. by myself.. in my car... in a parking lot. ...I get happy.. Same thing. ...I don't eat alot in front of people, I do it when I am alone. Mary J. Blige said, "What you eat in private shows up in public", boy does it ever.

...My screen name says it all. I drove a 350Z, loved that car... but as I gained weight I found it extremely uncomfortable to drive it.. So, instead of losing weight... I traded it in for a BMW 530i.

I am tired of being fat.. I signed up for Metabolic Research Center on April 1st. I go off-plan alot. I make excuses every time. My counselor there is a different person every time... so its not as "personal" as I'd like. I am at the point where I am kind of reassessing my whole relationship with the center and moving on to something else.. but I'd lose the initial $500 I put into it.. plus the shame of "quitting"...

Anyway, this is probably kind of long but I just wanted to say hello and give you a little background info on myself. Hello.

Hey....WELCOME!!!!

I'm new to these parts too.....but it only took me a few short days to realize the support network here!!

I noticed you didn't post your start weight...don't be ashamed.....

It happens to the best of us....we are here for you!!

Hey girl! Welcome aboard... I spent many years doing the same thing as you- solitary drive-through eating, barely eating in front of people. I thought they couldn't possibly think it was my own fault that I was fat if they never saw me eat. Yeah, right. But we all have to learn our own lessons...

I don't know a thing about MRC, but I am quite fond of Weight Watchers. You can fit in "regular" food and not feel deprived. And if you attend meetings, you generally get to know your leader pretty well, so it can be a more personal experience.

Whatever way you go, good luck! And keep posting!

Thanks. I may put it up soon.. still a little shy/ashamed.

I am sad that it can be a 'normal' thing for the drive-thru eating.. I am by no means happy that you have experienced that, however, I am happy that I'm not alone in that. Lately I've been trying to find ways to get grossed out about fast-food so I will stop eating it. I watched Fast Food Nation + Supersize Me but I don't get grossed out too easy so I didn't take as much from it as I guess I should have. ....Any beating fast-food tips anyone could give would help me alot.

Thanks ladies!

I totally understand how you feel ashamed of your weight and you don't want to list it.....before I go any further I just want to say I did the same thing.....I will have to say listing it in black and white here on this message board not only feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders but I also feel more accountable...because other people are seeing it and they are watching for a change...BUT No one on this board would ever say anything negative to you about your weight...this is one of the strongest most positive support systems I have ever found....and remember....everyone here has been where you are or is where you are...and the folks who have met their goal weights are here for you to motivate you....answer questions....share their experience and what worked for them!

So I'm gonna give you a big hug Don't be ashamed anymore because you are doing something about it and that is something to be very proud of!! I'm proud of you!!!

Yeah! Don't be ashamed anymore! Like McKenziesmomma said, everyone here is or was in the same boat. It is very cool to see the numbers go down, but first ya gotta put up that original number. I never admit my weight to the people I know in real life, but here it's just different. You know that everyone's here for the same reason, and it just feels safe.

I haven't seen Fast Food Nation or Supersize Me, but I did finally have a revelation- McDonald's french fries always smell much better than they taste! Fries were always my favorite fast food fix, no matter where I went. Now I've discovered butternut squash "fries" and they are not only healthy, but shockingly delicious! Oh, and if you want to be grossed out by fast food, just think of the possibilities of food being dropped on the floor and picked up, or of the workers not washing their hands, and disgusting stuff like that. (No offense to any fast food workers, but you never really know what's going on in any particular place!)

Okay so I'm just going to give you some basic information...because you said you were unsure of where to start....you may already know this or not so...here goes

1st: Decide a realistic goal weight for yourself (key word is realistic don't shoot for what you see in a magazine..LOL) You can go to www.shape.com and use their tools. They have a tool for ideal body weight that takes into consideration your frame size.

2nd: Set a firm date that you want to achieve this goal weight (and be realistic with this too....you want to make sure you give yourself extra time for plateaus and such). I wouldn't recommend trying to lose more than 2 - 3 lbs a week max.....if you do lose more great...but remember one week you lose 6 lbs may mean the next week you don't lose at all..

3rd: Set mini goals to reach your big goal. For example I want to get to 120 lbs in one year. So I divided my one year into 4 sections of three months each....So I would have 4 mini goals...and you can even do more mini goals within your mini goals.....LOL I hope I don't confuse you!

4th: Get a set plan to help you....For example there are 3,500 calories in a lb. If you need to lose 3 lbs a week to reach your goal weight in a year then that is 10,500 calories a week you must burn (3 *3,500 = 10,500) Divide that number by 7 (because there are 7 days in a week) and that is 1,500 calories a day you must burn to lose 3lbs a week to reach your goal in a year....once you know how many calories a day to burn....decide how much will be burned through exercise and how much will be burned in reductions of food intake....I could elaborate a little more on this if I knew your weight but I will use mine as an example. I weigh 257 lbs. In order to maintain this weight I would need to eat around 3,084 calories (my weight *12 =3,084) I got that formula from a website somewhere I don't remember...anyways so lets say I want to walk or do a work out video for 30 minuetes a day at my weight I would burn 277 calories a day (per www.shape.com calories burned tool) by the way as you lose weight you need to recalculate your calories burned because the more you weigh the more energy it takes to fuel your body to do something therefore you burn more calories...so as you lose weight you will have to either workout more or eat less....ANYWAYS...LOL...so I'm burning 277 calories a day in exercise and remember I'm needing to burn 1500 calories a day...so take 277 from 1500...that leaves 1223 calories that I need to burn a day ...so I'm cutting them from my food intake...so remember I need to take in 3084 calories a day to maintain...well say 3084 - 1223 and I can eat 1861 calories a day...so I just round it off to 1800 calories a day...
so my calorie breakdown goes like this........breakfast 300 calories, snack 300 calories, lunch 400 calories, snack 300 calories, and supper 500 calories....

You would be amazed at what I eat....message me if you need some ideas or visit my blog cause I put what I eat on there everyday.

5th: Okay so you have decided what you want to weigh, and set a date to weigh it, and set goals and mini goals, and you have a plan! Now just do it.....and stick with it. Your gonna have off days and days you feel like crap and days you want to quit or that you splirge or even days that you gain weight. Thats what we are here for...support when you feel like poo poo...or suggestions when you need them

Sorry this is so long ...I hope it helps...it is working for me....I expect to post another loss tomorrow!!

I was a junk food junkie also. You already know in your head that it is gross, but now you have to tell your body. The best way to do that is to put nothing but good healthy foods into your body for one month. You really only have to commit to one month for right now.

After eating healthy for one month, fast food will tase like lard and plastic. Your body will be convinced. And when you see what happens on the scale, you won't want to go back.

Good luck and WELCOME!

Another junk food thought... I've always done Weight Watchers when I go on the wagon. This time I'm trying to behave better, but in the past I used to save all my weekly Flex points for "weigh day" and then use them for a bad food splurge. That way I didn't feel deprived at all, I knew that I could have pretty much whatever I wanted, I just had to wait for Saturday (I always weigh in on Saturday mornings since weekends tend to be a little less controllable than weekdays.)

Anyway, doing it that way, you still get to have the junk you like, you just have it once a week instead of every day.

Also, like djay said, if you go a little while without eating the junk, it just may not taste the same when you have it again. Or what I definitely noticed is that, even if it tastes good, it makes me feel like crap!

I like watching that show the biggest loser...and the personal trainers on there even said its good to once a week have a splurge day or splurge meal.....now this by no means says go and counsume three 5,000 calorie meals...LOL

But it freaks your body out and helps keep it from hitting a plateau..

So you guys are right on....I have one meal a week that I splurge on....its saturday lunch

BUT....when I do this I have my normal breakfast (300 calories) and I skip my two snacks which totals 600 calories...so those 600 calories combined with the 400 calories I already get for lunch total 1000 calories...so I can have a pretty good splurge and really not be splurging that much

I am not ignoring any of the other stuff that was said I just wanted to take this test first before I responded to any of the other juicy stuff.

So I went and took the test. I am 5'10" and I wrapped my fingers around my wrist and it said I am a large frame. I think that may be a little skewed though because I have very skinny fingers but everyone tells me I have very small, dainty hands almost like little kid hands. So, that showed large frame. Here are my results!!!!!!!

I figured that was about right. I was thinking about 150!

My sister is the same height as me and is 140 and still has a little pudge on her tummy. That is good though because she has suffered from anorexia most of her life (like our mom) so she is finally eating sensibly. I am on the opposite end of the spectrum and overeat alot. When I was younger it was always ok that I overate because my dad is the same way and I felt kind of protected by that and I was like "well, just as long as I don't ever weigh more than my dad its ok" ..My dad moved to Thailand last February and has gotten away from American food and he is now 6'1", 180lbs ... So, he is much smaller than me. I started crying when he came home to visit a couple of months ago because I felt like I disappointed him by getting so big.. he told me he just wants me to make sure I am healthy. I told him I was going to try to change and diet and he told me he was really proud of me for making that decision... It made me feel better. So, part of me is doing this to make sure I am healthy so I am around as long as I can feasibly control! I hope to one day trek Asia like my dad!

...Will respond to other stuff soon. I am going to go take a picture to show you what I look like so you understand better (clothed, don't worry!!!!!).

Welcome! I am a newbie here as well and I have found that this is an awesome place for support!! I too have struggled with my weight every since I was a child. I am the emotional eater. Food has been my "fix" with every emotion imaginable. But that is something I am working on. Just remember that this is a one-day at a time journey that we are on. We didn't put it on overnight... so we ain't gonna take it off overnight. ( wish it were that easy!!! ) keep the faith! I have faith in you so you need to have faith in you as well. No need to be ashamed. Remember.. It is just a number!!! A number that we are going smash!!

McKenziesmomma: Awesome Advice!!! Thank you for the insight! I too am trying to find my niche. This will help me ALOT! by the way, what part of TN. are you in? I am in Burns. If not too far apart, maybe we could buddy up??

Hang in there and remember... WE GOT THIS!!!

Okay, my boyfriend just took this picture for me.

.... I am ready to admit how much I weigh now!!!! I am 5'10" and 322. I wear a size 22 (i can't fit in my 20's anymore).

OK, BMW, again- do not be ashamed! You don't even have anything to be ashamed about! I'm in the same size range as you and I'm 3" shorter. I think the best thing about this site is you absolutely know that you are not alone in this battle. We're all in it together, and being able to share ideas and encourage one another is a fabulous thing. If you get a grip on this now, while you're still so young, that will be the best thing you can do for yourself ever, and we're all here to help!

Thanks. I am going to put it in my profile now.

Do you think 150 is unreasonable for my height?

You're so right. McD's fries always smell good.. but everytime I eat them I feel like they are lacking something so I usually only eat like a handful of them.

...Where do you get butternut squash fries? I bet I would like them!!!!

Yeah I guess I don't much care for cooking so having someone else preparing my food isn't a big deal to me. When I eat healthy my boyfriend always cooks.. I am only good at cooking italian. Thats another thing I need to work on! ...But I guess I will just picture someone scratching their booty then putting the pickles on my burger! Ugh, thats enough to gross me out.

You are so good! I am going to print all of that out so I can look at it while I am laying on the couch. I read all of it but I am a visual person so I like to look at things/read things. Thanks.

That is a great idea! Just as long as I don't flip out and make a midnight run to McDonalds. I am trying to have better self-control though. ...Sometimes though, you know those cravings just HIT YOU. I am going to try like I have no other option.

Good idea! ...You make a great point about the food you put in your body making you feel like crap. Someone had made a post on this board that really stuck with me. I don't remember who it was but its a pretty generalized statement so I am sure I will see it again... However, it basically was saying that you can go out and eat a big freakin meal but then afterwards you're what, gonna go home and crash? How fun is that-- it's not. It's like I am not going to spend an hr getting ready just to stuff my face then hit the pillow. I want to live my life, not stifle it and put food as priority. What kind of life is that? ... Anyway, thanks.

I've never seen the show. However! I like the concept of a once-a-week getting that ice cream or burger. ...My biggest problem right now though is trying to get myself to not WANT these things so maybe once I get more stable in what I am doing I can partake. What do you think? Do you think I shouldn't be so strict in the beginning?

Tomorrow is the day.