Hello all my name's Amanda and I'm a 26 year old mother with a very hyper soon to be 4 year old son. I also have his soon to be 4 year old cousin and 1 year old cousin around a lot since I babysit them while my son's uncle is at work. I currently live in North Carolina but I'm actually from Pennsylvania, I moved down here around 7 years ago to live with my boyfriend who is the father to my son. So I left all my friends and family and now live here and unfortunately it is just not that easy to make friends. It also doesn't help that all the friends that I am around are mostly guys and most of those are all skinny or they can just eat a lot and never gain a thing. It also doesn't help that they are all my boyfriends friends and none really stick around with me, I tried the whole gym subscription before cause one of the guys were nice enough to go with me but it just doesn't work when he will be off building muscle and I'm on the Tredmill. I'm currently around 250 and I'd love to lose about 100 of that, we took my son to Thomas Day last year around May and it just was horrible that I really couldn't keep up, on top of having asthma the weight just isn't nice anymore. I tried walking around to lose it and the whole diet thing but my boyfriend sees it as "she's loosing weight to look sexy for ME" when I'm losing it so I feel better and so I can actually keep up with my son, so there isn't much support at all in my house. It jsut also doesn't help to be so stressed out all the time, so I'm just kind of trying to figure out or see if anyone has any input for something to try seeing as I tried the calories counting and failed, have pondered starting up a gym again if I can talk myself into it. I tried the walking thing also but I have arthitis in my knees so it kills me to walk alot, plus the weight is just killing my knees so this weight has to go. I just honestly don't know where to start I'm at a loss, with Asthma, a very bad metabolism cause at times I have my thyroid mess up so I gain weight fast but my doctor never catches it to put me on medication I'm fighting a up hill battle and just loosing bad. So if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears and up for anything, I even just got the Zumba DvD's to try in my home since I'm really too shy anymore with how large I've gotten to want to go out around trying to do the zumba classes. So I'm open for any ideas!

Welcome to the forum! So glad that you joined us. You will get a ton of support here.
I want you to know that losing weight CAN be done. Believe in yourself and come to this forum daily to remind yourself that you CAN be successful!
If calorie counting did not work for you, try WW or WW online. I have a coworker who has been very successful with WW online and many members of this site have also used this program successfully.
Be sure to spend time browsing the site, there is a ton of information about many different food plans, choose one that fits into your lifestyle and you can follow long term. This is a LIFESTYLE change NOT a DIET.
Give up the sugary drinks and drink lots and lots of water.
Incorporate some exercise into your weekly routine. As the weight comes off, you will feel better and it will be easier to exercise. 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!

P.S. I lost weight for ME first but I have to tell ya, after 16 years of marriage, it is so nice to hear my hubby call me his hot sexy wife.

AMANDA ~ just start with small things like 1) cut out the junkies 2) cut out fast food 3) cut out sugary pop & juices. Just eat normal meals and snacks (if you want them ie fruit) for now and go ahead and do that rumba, baby!!! You WILL lose weight just from that. Later on, you can tweak it a bit more: add in a salad a day + 2 veggies with dinner + 2 fruit a day; 1-2 glasses of low-fat milk, etc.

You CAN do it! This is a great place for support; look around and jump in wherever you want, and enjoy yourself ...

Amanda, welcome, glad to have you join us. 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 diet plans, themes, or age groups, so find one that inspires you and just post to join. Be sure to check out the 20-somethings