Hello my name is annie. I am 25 years old. I am new here and I am ready to do this! I am a mother of 2.5 year old twins and a 16 month old...I dont have a lot of time for myself but im not going to let that be an excuse anymore! I am the heaviest i have ever been..i want to be able to be more active with my babies...I am a very secretive person about my weight...its so embarrassing to me. When I met my husband i was 220 ...not the smallest but he loved me and over the 8 years we have known eachother (3 of which married) I have gained so much weight..I am now 338...I dont even like saying it. my husband says he doesnt even notice but i know he does...Please give me some feedback on how you lost the weight..Cause here I go!

Hey Annie, I'm not a 300 pounder, but I just wanted to say welcome to 3FC, good luck, and please feel free to drop in the 20-somethings forum if you like

Hi Annie and welcome I've also been very secretive about my weight so found it hard to get the support I needed but you've come to the right place I'm sure I would of given up months ago without the support of this place.

I kind of cheated my way out the 300's when I lost 28lb (actually 35 but put 7 back on) when I was ill with a very bad tooth infection ( I don't recomend it). The rest of the weight I've lost through calorie counting, making some healthier changes (cutting out fizzy drinks etc.), dealing with emmotional eating and binge eating issues and doing an exercise dvd at home. Joining in with challenges has also helped keep me motivated though I know time based goals aren't always a good idea.

DOo read ltos of the posts and information on all the forums here and look at the success stories and before and after photos - they are so inspiring. Post whenever you need support. I don't post on the 300 club much as I was under 300 lb when i found this site but there's plenty of supportive people here All the best with your journey

Hello! and

Rainbow -- Please don't let your starting weight here stop you from posting in 300+!!!

welcome, annie!! I lost weight primarily through calorie counting. After making a solid commitment, I made small baby steps to changing my habits.

Hellooooo and welcome!

I have a few thoughts, that might help. First, I used to be secretive and embarrassed about my weight too. You know when you step on a scale and it says ERROR and you know it only goes up to 330 pounds...eeks! I remember the day I had to basically come out and say it out loud, I WEIGH 340 pounds! Nothing happened to me, in fact my friends and family were very supportive and then I just went "okay then" and now I'm very open about my weight. Hey I weigh 270, well I'm dipping into the 260s with a low of 267, but currently I'm stuck at 270.0 lol.

It is okay and we all totally understand. You can totally rock this and do this, we all can. I say that a lot ,but I do mean it. We all can learn how to love ourselves and be healthy.

My journey started out differently than where I am now. I started out by doing a juice feast, which was a spiritual and enlightening experience for me. I basically drank oooooooodles of fresh veggie juices every day for a little over a month. However, my body does NOT like green juices and without those I couldn't keep going with it. So, I ended it and decided I was ready to really start to learn how to feed myself healthy foods. During that time I lost 30 pounds then I gained back about 9, which is normal when you start eating solid foods. I have continued to lost, not without a heck of a lot of struggles and bumps. I really spent the last year discovering a lot of quirks about myself and my body. I learned I have a skin disease, I have allergies, food intolerances, hormone imbalance, and most importantly I learned what works for me and what doesn't.

I guess the one thing that I found useful was giving myself the time to learn. Learn about myself, learn how to stop hiding, learn how to eat, learn how to go out into public. I'm still learning, a lot, and this year I have a new focus on coping with my emotions, learning how to get my body moving regularly, and just continuing to learn how to love myself and grow as an individual.

Whatever diet you choose, calorie counting, Weight Watchers, whatever...just give yourself the time to find what works for you. You might also want to consider asking your doctor for any advice.

Heather is one of the people I really look up to here. She is right about making a commitment and I agree with taking baby steps. That is what I ended up doing and in fact I'm doing that now. You can't change overnight, it takes time to learn how to approach this as a lifestyle change and go with it. So, give yourself the time. We are here for you!

I know that some people do shy away from the 300+ forum section, but I hope everyone knows how welcoming we are. Yeah so I was 340+ pounds and I post and read everything in this section everyday. I love the people here (in all the forums) and I hope everyone feels welcome!