Hello everyone! My name is Carly and I was directed over to your board by Wyllen (thanks btw! ). I'm 24 years old and am starting this journey at 298 lbs. I've been big all my life and I finally got to the point where I was tired of being the fat girl and so I decided to do something about it. I recently saw a picture of a friend of mine who I went to high school with. She was a large girl and has lost 60+ lbs so far and looks amazing! Seeing that was my inspiration because I want to be considered hot and amazing (as well as becoming heathly in the process. I've just never been thought of as hot before.. other then by my hubby lol ) All weight loss efforts I've tried have failed.. one because I was never motivated and two I set my goals to high. Right now I'm aiming at 10 lbs by Valentine's day. I know I want to eventually get below my main goal of 190 but I'm taking it one day and one pound at a time I'm just glad there is a section for people who have as much if not more weight to lose then I do and aren't worrying about 5-10 vanity lbs Can't wait to get to know you all

Carly -- Yay! You made it here!! There's a lot of support here and we're happy to have you join us. You'll see a bunch of numbered threads "300+ and ready to try...again" This is where most of the chatter around here takes place. It can be a little intimidating at first, as we keep about 400 conversations in the air at once, but really feel free to jump in. We don't bite, and we support each other through everything!

There are a few threads stickied to the top you might want to look at, including the "newbies" info, some great links for getting started, and a place for introducing yourself if you're interested. Check them out!!!!

Also, if you're interested in starting exercise, there's an exercise thread stickied at the top of the page. We try to set goals of MINUTES of exercise per month (the exercise is up to you -- lifting cans a million times per Catherine's suggestion would work!). Then we post our exercise and also track the group minutes. Last year we got close to 200,000 minutes of exercise and I hope we go over this year!!!