Hi everyone!

I'm not sure where to start but I've been coming here a lot and reading fitness/diet advice for a few days, so I decided to actually join. I want to lose about 75 pounds. I started out at 250 and came down to 170...but now I'm back to 205 which is really depressing for me. I'm a full time student and I work part time, which is a lot of why I've gained weight. I switched from an active job to one where I stand but there isn't a lot of moving so that, plus NO dieting at all made me gain. I also live in Alaska which makes it terrible to get going on things(ALWAYS dark and cold). Anyway, I look forward to losing the weight and supporting others in their weight loss!

Welcome..I am a newbie to this website myself. i have been on ideal protein since jan 2011 but had to leave for about 3 months due to surgery. Am back on it and love to hear from others on it. it is a great diet for me due to the fact in phase 1 (which i am still in) no exercise, is part of the diet. I work long hours and that is good for me even after surgery. So hopefully you are on a good plan that works for you and supports the current life style you are use to. We will get there...

A diet that you don't have to exercise with sounds great! I actually love exercise, but like I said above I used to get plenty at my job. Now I'm in shock that I have to exercise AND go to work. I've been doing mostly low carb. Lean meats, vegetables, that kind of stuff. I eat pretty healthy during the day but I add in junk and sweets later So, need to work on that.

Hi, Melons! I'm a newbie here, too. I just recently got out of school, and know how difficult it was to try to lose weight while studying. The stress of tests was at complete odds with my tendency toward stress eating! I decided to concentrate on eating healthy foods, instead of counting calories. Good luck to you!

I just graduated, so on that front I'm with sally. I am also trying to correct my vitamin imbalances to help sync my body to lose weight properly. Good luck and pm me if you need help

That's EXACTLY what my problem is. Before when I lost so much weight I wasn't doing anything besides school and dieting...now I have so much and I really do eat when I'm stressed or bored. Sometimes when I'm really stressed I will go into the kitchen and unconsciously start making cookies or something hah. It's not really eating the cookies so much as baking that's a stress reliever...but then I always eat them later. I know that I'm capable of restraint - I didn't eat sugar for almost a year - but it's just working up the motivation to give it up.

You can make them, but give them away instead. People always love great free cookies, and you'll help yourself with the stress and niceness.