I lost about 40 lbs between 2008 and 2009, only to hurt my knee and stop exercising at the end of summer 2009.

Fast forward, I am probably heavier than before and I do not have the nerve to get back on the scales.

I have cut back dramatically on my eating and alcoholic beverages, and I am noticing I have more energy, getting more done at home and work and am sleeping much better at night. I am trying to get my resolve up to start walking again. I am also in the throes of peri-menopause and I fight bloating and my hormones two weeks out of the month. My clothes are a bit looser and my face doesn't look as puffy. I drink a lot of water daily and gave up caffeine back in January.

I feel so badly about the way I look and my cute summer clothes do not fit! I am planning a trip for my friend's son's wedding in October and I would like to be where I was at back in 2009. I was doing low carb then and I simply do not want to do that again. Not against it, just want to do things a little less to any type of extreme.

I have been lurking this site for 2 months and now I am ready to dig in! With the courage to make this post, who knows, I may get on the scales over the weekend!

Hi there! Congrats on getting started!

For me, facing the scale was monumental, but 100% necessary. How would I know if what I was doing was working unless I saw that number? How would I know what to change if it wasn't? Yeah, it was tough, but being fat was tougher and I had to have a baseline. For me, results are what gives me confidence!

If your goal is to lose weight, then you have to suck it up and get on the scale. It will hurt, it will make you feel bad, but it was also give you power. If you get on the next week, after working hard, and see you've lost 2 lbs, how great will that feel? Then you'll know you're doing the right things!

If your goal is to just fit into smaller sizes, then it's not a big deal, you'll know that when you try your clothes on.

You can absolutely do this!

I respect the previous poster's opinion, but my experience is a bit different from hers: I did not get on the scale at all when I started back in 6/2011. I knew it would not motivate me and that it would, in fact, discourage me. So, I just focused on changing my habits (eating less, calorie counting, and moving more). I only weighed myself months later when I thought I looked pretty good and wanted to start figuring out my maintenance calories. When I did weigh myself at that time, I was already five pounds below my goal weight.

So, there's no rule that says you have to weigh yourself to get started. Just start changing your habits. Start doing things that you know you can live with and stick to. The weight will come off whether you get on the scale or not.

Thank you for your support! I did force myself to weigh today - 234.4. I am not as upset as I thought I would be, as I thought it was much more than that.

I did get a short walk in yesterday and plan to do so again today. Thank you for your posts and support!

Good luck OP. Positive changes are a great start, even without the scale.