Hi Everyone .. I'm very glad that I found this forum. I decided to start my "life style change" tomorrow (trying to stay away from the diet word), and I know myself well enough to know .. I need some form of support and outlet for my ups and downs.

I'll 26 (27 in April), married, have one child named Cody, I own a small business, and on most days I don't know if I'm coming or going. My life has become extremely hectic .

I have yo-yo'd my weight every since I was 15; been on every diet under the sun, would take the weight off for a few months then gain every bit back with an added 10 to 20 lbs.

I'm ready to give it another shot .. with every thing I got ...whoooohoooo .. poet and I didn't know it.

I want to take baby steps, and for every change I make to become a new habit and replace all the bad ones I currently have. There are two many to list .. trust me on this.

Not only do I want to "take" from the board .. but I hope to become an asset also (read many of the posts, and the people make the forum. .. amazing amount of support).

So for my first step : stop drinking a gallon and a half a day of tea. My fingers almost starting shaking when I typed that.
My real name is Debbie, and I am a tea addict ... I don't care what anyone says .. the stuff is like a drug.
I will cut my intake of tea to only 3 glasses a day for the first 2 weeks. Eventually my plan is to weed it out all together.

I'm gonna become a koolaid (sugar free) kid .. because I detest water from the bottom of my soul. Maybe I can work on that too ..

So there it is .. I typed it out. I've told myself .. one day at a time.

I'm glad I found you guys .. and I look forward to getting to know you on this journey.

Start weight: 245
Goal weight: 125

So basically .. I have a person to lose

Debbie

Yayy!! Welcome, Debbie! I'm sure that you, as I did, will find the support here overwhelming. Good luck in all that you do; change will take a lot of work, but it sounds like you have the "can-do" attitude to me! Good Luck! Peace. -Apryl

welcome, debbie!!! and congrats on deciding on a couple of manageable changes., it's sooo hard to change everything at once.

i'm not real fond of water, either, but i've been using wyler's SF raspberry or pink lemonade drink powders. i like the fact that there's extra vit C in them, since i can't drink juice or eat much fruit.

Welcome, Debbie. Don't know what to tell you about the tea thing. I gave up coffee for New Year's last year, so it can be done, but don't quit cold turkey!

Welcome Debbie. I'm new here too, but like you, find the board seems to be incredibly supportive.

Be careful on that tea ... you didn't say how big those three glasses you plan to cut back to are but ... beware of caffeine withdrawal. It can cause severe headaches and nausea. (I used to drink TONS of coffee and am down to 2 cups a day.)

Adding more water (or even sugar free Koolaid) will help. If the headache gets bad, the best bet is to take Anacin or Excederin before the nausea gets so bad you can't get the pills down. Both of these contain caffeine and aspirin. Excederin also contains another pain killer, I think it's acetemethapine (like tylenol).

I wish you the best.

Welcome Debbie! I used to detest water, too, but now usually the only thing else I drink is coffee in the morning. I would NOT have believed this before ... I don't know, I don't even remember when I started doing it now! Last Spring? Perhaps you could try having water at specific times, like with meals, or at your desk ... one glass at a time. Use a special glass or cup that you really like. And I know this is different for everyone, but with me I don't like water unless it is really cold ... lots of ice for me!

Good luck!
Pen
265/220/150ish

Thanks for all the feedback .

Step: I know what you mean about the withdrawls .. I've tried to stop drinking tea before and suffered because of it. I'm sure I'll be eating asprin like Candy the first week or so.

Well ya'll, so far so good ... I've been awake for one hour and resisted all temptations (lets see how the next 16 hours go) . If I can just drive by Bojangles today and not stop, I think I'll be okay.

Best of luck to all of you today !!

"This is the first day of the rest of your life" (without a gallon and a half of tea).

Welcome to both Debbie & Step! This is a *great* place & I wish you both the best of luck on your weight loss adventures!!!

Debbie - welcome! Great job posting your challenges. Putting them down is definately the first step on the road to success!

Just one question - what kind of tea is it that you drink? Caffenated? Iced? with Sugar? From a can? Just curious.

WTG you can do this!

Thanks for the welcome and advice everyone.

BA99TJ : I drink lipton tea (caffeinated). I use five family size tea bags per gallon and about 2 cups of sugar. Tea has been my "staple" for years .. and everyone who comes over wants some because they say it's the best. Done well so far.. just one small glass this morning.

I hope you all did well today .. so far so good.