Like my title says, I'm 18 and well lets be honest I'm fat. Not phat but FAT. I'm 5'10 so my height works out to help me a little and I think I was build to become some kind of female wrestler. haha. On a serious note, I've been trying to loose weight for 10 years. I've lost it, gained it, and well and now I'm here. I basically want to loose weight to attract guys that I like. I usually attract big men which not really my type. I have even resorted to wearing body shapers. Now its time for me to ditch those and redefine my curvy figure but some support would help. I need to loose 73lbs before 2012 when I go to Japan.

Can anyone offer some tips to start me off.

Hi and welcome!
You have probably heard this but you should not lose weight for other people. Do it for yourself, it's much more rewarding.

Good luck on your weight loss journey!

Hi and welcome to 3FC.

Good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Welcome I totally know how you feel. You can do it! Don't get discouraged if you have a slipup, cut back on "bad" foods slowly so you dont miss them as much, and find an exercise you actually like to do.

so far ive pretty much got a nice gym and taking zumba as a class.

That's a great start. Do make some short term goals for yourself. Because sometimes it's easy to get set back when you think... WHOA I have how much more to lose? And people get frustrated with losing slowly.

I think your long term goal is quite manageable though, because in most cases people can lose at the rate you have planned to lose 73 lb in a year. I started about a year ago, at about your weight, though I'm a bit shorter!

Did you come up with an eating plan yet? Exercise is great, but at least for myself, it does nothing if I don't eat proper. I try to eat only nutritionally wholesome foods, and I am a calorie counter, which I would recommend, however there are lots of options and some people do fine by other means. You'll have to play around with it to suit it to you, depending on your activity level and your own physical body structure. There are different forums here for a lot of different styles people use to lose weight so check them all out if you're curious.

Oh, PS. I know you said you are 18, but come join us in the 20-somethings board if you want to get in with a community of people your age!
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/20-somethings-56/

Welcome!

We're glad to have you! Like Everlasting said, you should come join us on the 20-somethings board.

I felt I should say this, but if you disagree please toss the opinion out. Losing weight to attract guys is a good reason (It's a definite perk!), but I'd be hesitant in making it THE reason. The thing is, if you lose weight for you, you'll always appreciate it infinitely more than anyone else ever will, and so the loss is more likely to continue and less likely to gain weight back.

I've found this out kinda the hard way. While I notice the cool new stuff about my body, others might not for a long time. If I'm depending on them to validate my weight loss, I'll be disappointed and want to quit if they don't notice right away or aren't as excited as I am. But if I'm doing it for me, I can see it and that makes me super happy and want to keep going.

Just my advice.

Again, !!!

Welcome to 3FC, we are glad you are here!

hey there, and welcome! I'm a newcomer too, I'm 19, and my CW is 260 (SW was 275), so I understand the boat you're in. best of luck to you girl. feel free to message me if you'd like to be WL buddies. =)

~Curvvy~

Hi and welcome!

Welcome to 3FC! Good luck with your goals

heyy, im 19 and 250 lbs. I know exactly how you feel. Im thinking we should join forces and fight this fat together!