[blackdawn33]

Hi folks,
I hope you guys are enjoying the long weekend. I am new here and am looking for help. I have been battling with weight for the past few years and am here looking to put all the pieces to get it off for good together. I have tried starving myself...that didn't work. Adjusting my diet...that didn't work. Working out a lot recently and while I am addicted to it and seeing slight changes in my body, I feel like I have been busting my *** and I need a consistent plan.

I am looking for support in general as well as menu planning and thoughts on what the **** I am doing. I know I have tiny little pieces but I need to learn to put them together to get to where I need to be!

I can't wait to learn from y'all!

[Ferumbras]

First off, hello and welcome!

Secondly, I think the first thing I'd recommend is that you journal what you eat every day for about a week. Count the calories. Record the portion sizes. See how much it is you are actually eating. Then slowly start taking stuff out: soda, refined carbs, sugar, etc.

Ultimately weight loss comes down to calories in vs calories used/out; working out alone won't get you very far if you don't change your eating habits. It takes a monstrous amount of calories to burn a pound of fat, and it's a lot easier to do this by simply increasing your calorie deficit than by working out. Look around online for some free calorie calculators. You can input your current weight, height, age, etc. and it'll tell you how many calories you should be eating per day to lose 1 lb a week, 2 lbs, etc.

Other than that, my best recommendation is to keep coming to this forum, posting on threads and asking questions. You'll learn a lot here and find a great support system.

Good luck!

[Thalia Grace]

Hello, darling. As you can see I'm brand new to this forum too and also looking for the kind of help that you are.

In the last 5 years I've gone from being obese to dangerously thin and have ballooned again. I'm currently on the old Weight Watchers system - when I originally lost all the weight I found that exercise did play a massive role so your working out sounds good but if you're at the point where you think you *need* pain I would suggest that you give yourself a little breather. I once felt exactly as you did and worked out so hard that I damaged my knee to the point where I couldn't do any proper exercise for two years... I am sure that played a role in my subsequent weight gain.

So I just wanted to say hi, good luck and look after yourself.

Love
xxx