Hi all. I'm new to your wonderful site.

Three weeks ago I finally found the strength to face what I have become. I had tried to play it down for so long but I can't do it anymore. I was so big that I had to go out and buy a new scale because my old one didn't go that high. This put me at least over 299lbs. The new scale told me that I was 313.2lbs. Not pretty. I'm tall for a gal. 5'8" and noone would believe me when I told them I weighed this much. Doesn't make me any lighter though. I was really starting to feel it too. Joints were starting to hurt more often. Ankles swelling up. Running out of clothes in the closet that still fit.

I have two friends that are also big gals. One had been secretly dieting and joined WW. She has lost about 30 lbs so far and is now under 200. Me, jealous? uh YEAH! The other friend is in the process of trying to get Lapband surgery. She weighs in at 215. I guess I never realized just how much more I weighed than they did. (they are both much shorter than me) It's funny too. These are the same women who had gotten me comfortable enough with myself to wear fashionable clothes. Not the old lady frumpy stuff I used to wear. (I'm only 41 by the way) Now these ladies who were so "comfortable" with themselves are now trying desperately to change. Left me feeling weird and left out. Well not anymore.

Three weeks ago I joined up with a group of people on another board that are trying to lose weight to gether. It was just the kick start I needed. So far I have lost 17.6 lbs. I'm so happy! I was really hoping for more contact and discussions about it all but they aren't doing that so I went looking. I found this site and thought it might be just what I need to stay on the job and get more of this off me.

This has been a very quiet journey so far. I haven't told anyone here in "real life" about any of it yet. I don't want the extra comments or added pressure I'd feel knowing they are watching me. I'm just going to keep going and see if anyone notices. So far noone has but I'm sure it's just because you'd have to lose a bunch to notice when you get this big.

Okay enough of the saga and pitty party.
I'm a married (20 yrs) mom of two (B-13, G-10). I'm a substitute teacher and I volunteer at my daughter's school A LOT! People tell me I'm funny. I've learned to be outgoing but I'm secretly shy.

I hope I learn a lot from everyone here. I hope to also gain friends while I lose pounds.

Welcome and good luck. I also don't tell everybody I am dieting. This keeps the diet police from making their comments.

Hey,

I havent told anyone I am dieting either and, like you, am waiting for someone to make a comment but it will be a while as Im so big it will take ages for anyone to notice.

Good luck to you.

Kate, Malaga, Spain.

I know I can feel the 18 pound loss but can anyone see it yet? I don't think my husband is observant enough to notice yet. I just wonder if he has noticed that I've been eating different foods than the rest of them. I've got my own shelf in the pantry for my low cal stuff. I told them all it was for my lunches when I work. Did they notice when I got my own veggie pizza last night?

I ate half that pizza by the way. It was a medium and I'd saved up my calories for the day just so I could get my pizza craving under control. Today I'm going to work on the other half. I've had one piece for breakfast already. Yum! I'll spread the rest out through the day and maybe into tomorrow.

As for people noticing.... I'll sure be happy to hear the first comments. I don't think I'll confess to dieting then. I may just say thanks and claim ignorance as to how I look so good! Why set myself up to other people's expectations?

Hi SuperSub!

Congrats on the 18 lb. loss so far You've got a great new beginning underway!

Did you find that once you actually made a concrete decision to lose the weight and actually began, that it was easier than you thought? I did! Just all the thinking time about the extra weight, worry, and procrastination was alot worse for me than the actual process of getting a healthy new eating habit and increasing my walking.

Are you on any specific program? I've read alot and decided to let www.fitday.com count calories for me. Free, easy, and the site calculates % of cals by carb/protein/fat, plus type of fat. This has helped me ALOT. Many 3FC's are on Fit Day or other online calorie counting sites.

Re: Pizza - Oh yea! I gave up my 3 x a week DiGiorno (large) pizzas *sigh*. But I save enough cal's for Lean Pockets pizzas from time to time, or buy the frozen veggie pizzas. I get the hit of pizza without the whopping fat and calories.

I'm looking for a regular chatting group here. I'm now in 40 Somethings Chat (under Support Group folder) and in the Calorie Counters Folder, in their Chat thread.

Re: People noticing. So far no one has noticed, other than my nurse pract. But I'm not telling people either.

Hope to see you around and You can do it!!!!

I did notice my attitude change. One day my brain just clicked and I felt that I could really do this. I also realized that feeling hungry is not a bad thing. Before, I nibbled so often that I rarely ever felt hungry. On the few occassions that I did I would totally pig out to get rid of that feeling. Now I know that feeling hungry is okay. I imagine that hungry feeling is a little critter running around eating the fat out of my body.

Sometimes it takes a crazy amount of time for people to notice or say anything, I don't know why, but it does. In fact I only heard my first compliment/comment last week... and I'd lost 50lbs.

But YOU will notice, your pants will fit differently, you'll feel the difference, you'll see the difference and with every little thing you notice it will fuel and inspire you to keep going