Im not sure how I ended up here. I Have been reading this blog for a few days trying to deciding what I should do. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that I need to make a change. I am 24 years old... 24.... and recently had to have my fiance rush me to the hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack. I was having an anxiety attack, which we have discovered is brought on by my worrying about my health.... at 24! This episode happened in September. Here we are in December and I have still not made any changes in my life. How? is? this? possible?

I am getting married in September 2012, to the most wonderful man that god ever put on this earth. I thank god every day that I get to wake up and see him. I did not want him to ask me to marry him, I continually told him if he asked I would say no, because I was too ashamed to get married looking and FEELING the way I do. He asked anyway, I said yes (totally going against my work). When you get married you are supposed to buy a wedding dress.... I just absolutely cant bring myself to do it. I found myself in a dressing room at a bridal boutique in tears as the woman helping me told me that they had nothing in the store even close to my size. I am pretty sure this is supposed ot be the best time of my life and I sobbed to the point I wasnt sure I could get up and walk out of hte salon. I have to make a change. I am marrying this wonderful (extremely fit) man and I am cheating us both out of healthy life full of happy moments and children. I am starting my journey at 327 pounds. I would be happy to just be below 300 and not have a feeling like I could die any second.

I dont know how to start. I dont know where to start. What diet do you choose? What exercise plan do you start? I dont even know where to look. Please, anyone who can give me any advise I would really appreciate it. Bless everyone of you on this site who has had the strength to put your story on this site to help the millions of people out there who are in my shoes. You all should be so proud of yourselves.

aww hunny, im in the same place as you.. Im 25 and engaged to a wonderful man. We were supposed to get married this May but i couldnt bring myself to get married because when i went to try on dresses at the wedding store, i couldnt bare being in a wedding store not finding a dress i can fit in..We are not that far off in weight.. I know how you feel...

For me..i chose to enlist myself in OA because i have issues with eating.. i binge eat which defit, nitly makes me gain weight and instead of trying to just lose weight, i need to learn to deal with my issues too..but..i would say a higher protein, lower carb diet worked best for me..

I am also in a somewhat similar position - I have a great man, also super fit and cute, he wants to marry me, but I keep postponing it..... I cringe whenever I think about the wedding photos. In fact, I cringe enough that it makes me not want to get married at all. How superficial is that? Sounds silly, doesn't it?

I think we all do silly things that we don't quite think are reasonable. I mean, the most amazing man you've ever met wants to create a life-long bond with you and you can't stop crying over going in one wedding boutique where they didn't have your size.

I suppose we should both be rejoicing, and instead we are both sad and a bit traumatized over the little things.

This website has helped me gain perspective on moderate dieting, the healthy way. I think you have to stick around, start reading more and discussing issues with us.

I found that I was carrying around extra weight despite eating a mostly whole foods diet and jogging mutliple times a week. How does that happen? I thought I was doing everything right and I probably had a thyroid issue. I don't have a thyroid issue.

I set my calorie goal for 1700 to start. This made me reflect on why I was heavier than I felt comfortable with: I ate out of boredom, constantly snacking, and I ate too large of portions in the evening. Also, those simple beers or glasses of wine with dinner really added up. I was consistently eating too many calories, even though they were healthy calories.

If I were you, I would set an achievable goal for a couple days - in that time I would journal and reflect on what you feel in specific is making you gain weight. Don't just write "I eat too much" , make it more explicit "I eat too much when we order pizza in the evening", for example.

We can't change unhealthy behaviors that we don't consciously acknowledge.

I really do look forward to reading more of your comments!

welcome and please feel free to join us on the 300lb thread. Everyone is great and you can choose which string you feel most comfortable with. You will get lots of support and make friends with people who are dealing with the same weight issues you are. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to 3FC and congrats on your engagement!

What has worked for me is reading the Dr. Judith Beck's books (there's a Beck forum here also [my user name came before I found the Beck Solution; it's my nickname]). It's a step-by-step program to help rewire your brain towards a path of healthy eating and living. I was skeptical, but it worked, and it continues to work for me. Maybe it will for you, too. It's not a diet plan per se; instead it gets to the heart of eating problems, and it made me take a long, hard look at to why I was eating, what I was eating, and how much I was eating.

I chose to use calorie counting with a very heavily plant-based food plan to get to my goal. I eat in the range of 1100-1400 calories a day and exercise a couple times a week (only walked in the beginning of this journey, now I can run for an hour at a time).

You have it within yourself to do this! I'm wishing you strength, determination, and success on your weight loss journey, and beyond that I wish you joy as you plan your wedding day.

First of all congrats on your engagement!

I was in a similar position too. I'm 23 and engaged to a tall, fit and handsome guy. We haven't set a date on the wedding yet, but I know how you feel being with someone ad it feels like you don't know why they're with you and what you did to deserve some wonderful guy.

Start small. Really small. It's how I got where I am today. It took me years, but because I changed my habits over a period of years it made the whole weight loss part pretty simple.

Pick something to do first. Exercise or eating right. Do not focus on portions just yet, but pick one of those to do and get used to doing it. I started with exercise, but you might want to start with eating healthier foods. You will FEEL better when you are used to one of these two things in your life and then adding the other will not be so hard.

If you start with eating right, just focus on eating more healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins. Learn to cook healthy meals and how to make them tasty so you want to eat them.

If you start with exercise, start small! Go for a walk to a certain point outside and walk back. The next day try and go a little further, and then keep challenging yourself. Make this a regular routine and soon you will crave more physical activity.

Once again don't try to change everything at once. Start small and you'll be successful. Focus on health first and weight loss second.

Good luck on your journey. We are all here to support you