Hi, I am Tess, a 36 yo,sahm, happily married mother to 4 kids.
I have been technically obese for a few years now, it has progressed since my last child was born 7 years ago, and I am now at a weight that scares me. I am looking for some good information and support for weight loss, eating right, and exercise. I came across this site doing a search for those things.
I am altering my lifestyle slowly, hoping that the slowly but surely idea works for me. I am not a good one at maintaining one thing for very long, I get bored and wander off from a plan, so I am crossing my fingers that my mind don't get to me this time.
Sorry for dragging on, I have lingered around here for a few days and it looks awesome, so I wanted to introduce myself.
Thanks for letting me be here!!!

Hello Tessiepoo and

You hit the nail on the head, it's one thing to lose the weight and another to maintain. It's really smart to start planning now for changes you can stick with long-term. I'd suggest doing some research, checking out different plans. Find something that really fits you and will fit your family.

Some important things to consider are: do you like to cook or are convenience foods for you? How do you feel about eating vegetables? Can you log all your foods every day? What exercise do you enjoy (that may sound crazy if you aren't getting much now but what about dancing, riding a bike, roller skating, kayaking....)? Exercise doesn't have to be something you do at a gym. Take the time to create a plan that works for you. You might change it along the way (if you're like a lot of us you probably will) but have something now that works and that you can look forward to really living with.

I'm a big fan of the book Thin for Life and wish I'd read it early on. It helps see the variety of things successful maintainers do. Speaking of maintainers reading the Maintainers Forum here on 3FC really helped me a lot in the early days (and still does!).

Congratulations on your start to better health for you and your children

Thank You!!!
I do cook most our food, we don't eat out much or do wasy to make things...I am introducing more vegetables slowly also. I am also trying to log my foods lately, I tried an online log and cant seem to do it, so I keep a spiral and log foods there. I also walk...some weeks more than others, I am in need of "kicking it up" though...since the weather is nicer I am walking otudoors more, which increases inclines, etc...
I have my closest friend here and she is on WW. She is helping me with some recipes and advice also...
Thank you SO much for the welcome and advice! There is so much here I dont know where to start!!

If you like to cook you have more choices. It really sounds like you are in a great place to make changes and are already making some. Congratulations!

I follow South Beach and use calorie counting as a back-up. I love to cook and already ate a lot of whole foods and veggies so it was a good fit for me, and one I knew I could live with. Some people love the flexibility of calorie counting. While others do really well with the structure and flexibility Weight Watchers provides and there's lots of other choices too. Check out some of the Forums here at 3FC. There are stickies that often provide basic information about the plan. There's always someone around willing to answer questions about the plan too, so don't be afraid to ask.