Hello everyone! My name is CJ, I'm 28 years old and live on the very rainy Washington State Coast. I found 3FC while researching different diets in an effort to choose the one that I think will work best for me.

I weigh 320 pounds and am the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I'm absolutely miserable and I know that my weight is contributing to every other health problem I have. I have to do something now or I'm going to be wheelchair bound and/or dead in 10 years. I've tried South Beach Diet before, but I found it so restrictive during the first 2 weeks that I would cheat and then just gave up after I cheated. This time around, I'm trying a pescetarian diet, which is vegetarian with the inclusion of fish, dairy and eggs. One of my big problems is that I snack while watching tv. I'll probably still snack but instead of my go to of a pop and sugary candy, I'm going to try to have my pop (my crutch right now) and some fruit or fresh veggies instead.

My goal is to lose 100 pounds in a year and to ultimately lose 180 pounds for a goal weight of 140.

Hi and welcome CJ! I'm cutting out the sugary sodas too. I've challenged myself to go 100 days drinking only water. No soda, no fruit juice, and no tea. My tea is my big weakness. Of course, I make my tea so sweet that it would put a diabetic into a sugar coma. But that's gotta go.

Good luck to you! I look forward to seeing you reach your goals!

Hi CJ! I'm glad you found us! You'll find lots of support here! I am so happy that you realize you MUST get your weight under control for your health. I've come to that realization too. I think it's true of most of us here. I mean, everyone wants to look nice as they become thinner, but for almost everyone here, it's really is about health. So now browse around and jump right in! Good luck!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Hi, CJ! I'm from Washington, too, it's nice to see someone here from your own neck of the woods!

I have a snacking problem, too, and soda is one of my favorite things in the world. I think the key to that will be finding ways to reduce it before you try to cut it out all together. But if you ever need someone to empathize with that struggle, I am here!

I personally have been making goals about how much soda I will drink per day (like only 1 12 oz can each day, except Saturday when I can have a little more) and maybe next week I'll reduce it to a certain amount every other day and go from there.

I've also found that making yummy drinks in a pitcher, liked Crystal Light and other iced tea and juice mixes have helped. They're cold and right there, and while they're not as good as water, they're still better than soda.

I hope this journey works out well for you

Hi! Yeah it is nice to see someone from WA on here!

Since my original post, I've rented a water machine and have significantly cut down on my soda consumption, going from 3-4 cans a day to 1 a day. I'm going to give soda up completely for Lent and hope I can kick the habit completely. I truly believe caffeine is just as addictive as cigarettes or alcohol.

Good luck with your weight loss journey!

That is awesome! I'm down to one right now, but it gets really hard. I think you'll totally be able to do it, and waiting until Lent seems like a realistic progression of time for such an addictive thing.

Good luck to you, too!

Hi CJ! I just wanted to say that you mentioned South Beach in your OP and I agree that most of those diets (SB, Atkins or Dukan) are just too restrictive for me in the first few weeks, too. Instead of following the Induction or Intro phases of any plan, I just changed the way I eat to be more in line with a lower carb/higher protein/good fats diet. I get most of my carbs as fruit or veggies during the day and usually only have carbs with dinner (and I have to measure them or I'll eat 3 or 4 servings).

Good luck in cutting out soda. I did it a few years back for no reason other than I was too lazy to go to the store and buy a new case and I don't really like them much now at all. I do like flavored seltzer (no sugar or sugar substitute, just essence). That might be an alternative if you find yourself craving the fizz.

A belated , and congratulations on your progress!

Welcome 2 The Forum, I love soda too, The only soda's I drink are Cherry Coke Zero to help me wake up in the morning and Cherry Diet Rite when I want the taste of cola without all of the other stuff that is bad for you and of course I drink 2 tall glasses of water every day as well.