Hey folks! My name is Emily and I'm a few days shy of my 27th birthday. I have always been overweight. I started an exercise program when I was 19 and had lost 30 lbs but shortly after, found out I was extremely sick and I got depressed and stopped working out and gained it all back and then some. I got married and had a son when I was 24 and had kept a bit of the baby weight. Fast forward a year, I got my first full time job, a desk job, and put on even more weight. The end of July '10 I had finally realized I was out of control. My weight was nearing what I delivered my son at and it was completely unacceptable. My start weight was 270, I'm currently down to 241, and would LOVE to be 160. I have dreams to be able to be a cop or even join the military (officer) but I need to lose quite a few pounds. I stumbled upon this site and hope it can help me reach my goal.

Thanks for reading

Emily, welcome, glad to have you join us. Congratulations on the weight you have already lost! I suggest you look for a Challenge or Support group to join; small check-in groups make it easier to connect, get involved, and be accountable. We have groups centering around specific diets, themes, or age groups, find one that inspires you and just post to join! Be sure to check out the 20-somethings

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your weight loss success to date!
What food plan are you following? There is a ton of information about many different food plans on this site. Pick a plan that fits in your lifestyle and you can follow long term. I chose calorie counting because it is free and flexible. It allows me to eat almost anything I wanted as long as it fits within my calorie range for the day and there are ton of free apps out there to help you track your food.
Give up the sugary drinks and drink lots and lots of water.
Incorporate some exercise into your weekly routine. You do not have to join an expensive gym try to walk more, use the stairs more, download videos off of YouTube or Hulu.com to work out to. There are a lot of things you can to do with spending a ton of money.
Lastly, if you have a bad meal, a bad day, heck, a bad food week. Do NOT let this be a reason to throw in the towel. Get back on track at the next meal. You can do this!!!
Best of luck to you!