Well I'll give my background a little bit. I'm a 15 year old girl, I will be 16 in a little over a month. My starting weight was 251, and I got down to 198 (maybe 194 at one point, but I don't know if the scale that said that was accurate) I did this all in under a year. I was happy for myself, and I could finally look at myself in the mirror for once. Anyway, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, everything started to change. The cold winter stopped me from walking to the gym, along with school. I ate a lot due to the holidays. Eventually this all started to backfire. I saw that I was gaining weight, but I still ate a lot. I now weight 214 pounds. I realized this weight may have been mostly gained during Easter. Today I realized while shopping online, I need to get back on trap. I'm ready to lose this weight. I just need a little motivation, and some tips. Can you guys help me?

Hey girl. I am 17 (will be 18 in 6 months) and I gained 70 pounds in 1 year. I am losing the weight so I can be happy. So I can face that mirror with pride. So I can wear a bikini and go to the beach and the pool. I am getting rid of my stretch marks for the same reason. I want to be able to wear XL stretchy childrens skirts again lol. I want to to be healty. And I want to be ME. I am a calorie counter. Eating healthier and losing half a pound a day. Though people lose weight on all sorts of diets. I drink 8oz 8 times a day of water and a little soda (not part of the 8oz 8 times). Ummmm... I walk an hour a day every day. And that's all I've got lol Sorry. Wish i could be more helpful. BIGGEST TIP IS STAY DEDICATED!

I'm assuming that you are living at home with your parents (based on your age). What is their approach to healthy eating? What type of meals do you eat together? What sort of snacks are available in the house? Are your parents overweight too?

I ask these things because it's important to have the support of those around you, especially those you live with. Who does the cooking? Are the meals slathered in butter and cheese and high calorie items? Or do you frequently snack on sugary treats on your own? If someone else is doing your cooking for you, then I think an important first step would be to talk to that person about your health and weight loss goals. If you prepare most of your own food, then it's time to take charge.

Coming here is a step in the right direction and if you read through the posts and ask good questions you'll get good answers.

Oh your totally right. I completely forgot about that. I guess it's easy for me because my mom is doing WW.

For motivation I recommend going to this section of the forum and look through some of those threads. Seriously it gives me huge motivation. Before I started losing weight I looked at some of those threads and wanted to start exercising right away! I slacked off a bit and ended up taking a break for a month, i'm very lucky I didn't gain any weight but I knew I needed to start exercising again in order to get to my goal, and by looking at those threads again I ended up exercising again. Also looking at quotes is a great way to get motivated. Hope this helps you a bit.

Also you could join a challenge? The 4th of July Challenge has just started if you want to join that?

Well my parents do not make healthy food, I am forced to either measure out what they make or figure out something I can make. My mom is overweight and diabetic and enjoys a lot of sweets. I have to ask for her to buy healthy snacks and stuff. But she buys stuff like chips, ice cream, cookies, cake, etc.

Thank you, it really does help!