Hey there Everyone

I stumbled across this site the other day and can not stop reading about all the amazing people on here. You are all truly inspirations!

My name is Jessica and I am a 24 year old engineer living in Central Illinois. I work at a desk all day and it has not been good for me. About 4 years ago I was at my lowest weight ever at 185, and at 5'8" with a bigger frame I loved how I looked. But life has been so hectic and I went from a college campus where I was walking 10+ miles a day to living on my own and relying too much on my car. I am now back up to about 248 (My heaviest weight on record is 265 back in 2002). My weight tends to fluxuates like no other and I am ready to make the numbers go down, down, down...

I was wondering if you all had any advice for me, I live alone and only have myself to take care of, but I just can't find the drive to really get busting my butt. I think my most difficult hurdle is that I LOVE food. I know i need to find some staple recipes that are fun to make and taste great. I am also a baker by hobby, but I try to bring all my sweets to work for them to enjoy.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this. I am really looking forward to meeting lots of people and making myself the best person I can be with this sites help Throw any suggestions my way!!

Living alone is great! There's no one to see you get embarrassingly huffy and red when you excercise! You can eat what you want without someone else making a big pot of spaghetti next to you! Ugh!

Decide on an eating plan. I count calories, but maybe you might try weight watchers and points? Online there are a lot of great recipes for meals and baked goods. You might enjoy that.

I love food too . Throw out all the crap in your house and buy only healthy stuff! Start now!

Set your goals - how much weight do you want to lose? Losing 1 pound a week, for example, is a realistic goal and people often do better when they start out much heavier. What milestones are important? What kind of rewards will motivate you?

Invest in some dumbells or bands - they're really affordable and make a big difference in what you can do while at home! (In fact, maybe invest in an ipod too.)

You're engineer at 24?? Let me just say WOW! I wish I hadn't puttered around so long, or I could be too. If you can do THAT, you can definitely lose weight!!!!!!!!

souvenirdarling - Thank you so much for the great advice!!

I am new to this site too. It is really helping so far. If I feel like I am going to get off track, I come here to read what people are saying & it helps.

As souvenirdarling said you have to have goals, get a "plan" in place & most of all you have to WANT to do this.
A couple things I am trying is 1) drinking LOTS of water...as a matter of fact, ONLY water (except my one cup of black coffee in the morning & a cup of Ideal sweetened Iced Green Tea in the afternoon)
2) pushing the excersise- Like you I sit at a desk all day. My evenings consist of watching my sons football practice or sitting at the computer doing school work. I have made myself get up early the past 2 days & ride the stationary bike. Then I walk on the treadmill during my lunch hour at work. I have only been at this since Tues night, but I already feel so much better.
3) substituting foods. instead of stopping and getting bfast on the way to work, I bought oatmeal & yogurt to have here at work. I also have frozen blueberries, which are great frozen or you can let them sit at your desk a little while to thaw. I am also eating lean cuisines for lunch (which saves money too) and if I am really hungry but want to save calories, I eat chicken broth. To me, it taste good & b/c I eat it with a spoon, I feel like I am eating something.

You have to come up with your own ways to make it work. Make sure you plan ahead! That is one of the most important for me. It's too easy to swing through that drive thru, so have your meals & snacks planned. Get excited about them. And get excited about your excersise time.

Good luck to you!!!!!!!!

Hi Essa. I'm a 28 yo engineer from Texas. I started doing the biggest loser and Jillian Michael's DVDs for my exercise in the beginning, and i've had amazing results. I'm also doing weight watchers as well as sparkpeople so i can track my calories. i've lost 17 lbs and a lot of inches! I'm also doing the C25K plan.

If i can do it you can do. Good luck on your journey!

scgirl1080 - great tips. I like your breakfast idea. Good luck with your journey, I'll be right there doing it as well

Daisy - I heard the Jillian Michaels workouts are good, I'll have to invest in some. Oh I like the idea of the C25K plan. I might have to adopt that. I used to be a runner but havent in a long time.

Try out this recipe:

Blueberry Banana Muffins

They are a bit moist but are extremely delicious!

Sweet Scrumptious - Those sound so yummy. I'll have to make those this weekend! Thanks.

Welcome! I cant say much since its all been said by the other ladies. All I can really add is DONT giveup there is always times when you think you just cant go on but trust in yourself and you will be fine. As far as recipes goes just GOOGLE it.. I GOOGLE EVERYTHING! The internet is endless with all the possibilites for new recipes and new workouts. I do alot of diffrent workout dvds since its almost too hot to do anything outside so you can try looking into those just rent some from Netflix till you find something you really enjoy. Find something thats fun for you. If its boring and you dont like you probably wont stick to it. Venture around and find YOUR thing.

Hi Essa and welcome...

Well let me tell that all of us are on this forum in the first place because we LOVE food so you are not alone.

Few tips for you...
1. Open your cupboards, throw out the chips, sodas, chocolates and biscuits.
2. Never skip breakfast
3. Go on an eating plan that you can stick to
4. Drink 8 cups of water (I mean water not diet soda)
5. Start walking 30 minutes 5 days a week
6. Set short-term goals and reward yourself(not with a Big Mac) when you meet them

And come to 3FC for motivation, encouragment and support...