Good morning, everyone. Like so many around the world, I view the new year with fresh eyes and renewed ambition. The most challenging thing is maintaining that enthusiasm, but hopefully by reaching out to a community of like-minded people my motivation will be stronger. What I have done recently is try to evaluate myself with absolute honesty.

Here are some hard truths: I am 32 years old. That, in itself, is not a problem. What is problematic, however, is that I am 32 years old and can barely even get simple housework done because of my weight and lack of endurance. At 32, I can reflect on the past six years of my life and see that I have done little outside of sitting and eating. Today I am currently the heaviest I've ever been in my life at 313 pounds. I live across the country from my mother and used to fly to see her. Now I find excuses to avoid this because airplane seats are too small for me. Perhaps a more honest way to word this would be to say that I am too large for airplane seats. These truths are unhealthy for anyone. But I am still a fairly young woman with a lot of life to live. I do not want to spend the remainder of my 30s (or the rest of my life) feeling so uncomfortable in my own skin.

I have been doing the exact same thing now for six years: nothing. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps it does, in some ways. Am I worthless? No. I refuse to think so. In my opinion, laziness and worthlessness do not necessarily have to be linked nor do they have to entirely define a person. What I need to do is continue this kind of brutal honesty with myself, make myself be accountable for my life decisions, and find the necessary motivation to get off this chair and get moving. I need to stop finding little excuses to avoid doing the things that would allow me to enjoy life. I deserve happiness. But happiness is earned through self-discipline and positive life choices.

In about four months my fiance and I are relocating to my home town in Washington State. Between now and then I WILL lose a substantial amount of weight. When we arrive there, I WILL continue my efforts to not only lose weight, but change my lifestyle. Long ago, I enjoyed hiking, walking, going to the gym, and I was extremely passionate about showing horses. I WILL rediscover my love of doing these physical things and let them be my motivation to succeed. It simply doesn't work to say "I would like to do these things." We all want things. Rather than sitting and lamenting about what I want, I need to get up and do what is required to make things happen. Saying "I wish I could change" is weak. It leaves too much room for excuses. Instead, I am choosing to say "I will change my life."

Hi and welcome to 3FC! I know you can do this and reach your goals! I'm looking forward to seeing you succeed!

I know exactly what you mean by reflecting on what you've done in the past up to now. I'm 34 years of age, and I'm in the 190's range. I've been in this range since childhood, although at times I've been over 200. I haven't done much with myself either, and I know if I want children, I better get busy doing some work. Take baby steps, and don't get discouraged!

Welcome Silver Snow, you are in the right place for motivation and sharing your thoughts.

For me - I had to learn to forgive myself. I have had 2 big slips in the last few months, but life happened and unfortunately I reverted back into bad behaviours. But I forgave myself again and have gotten back on the wagon. I have plenty of lessons still to learn but I am enjoying the journey.

I am nearly 40 (12 and a half more months) and know that I want a healthy active lifestyle for at least another 40 more years.

Looking forward to sharing all your successes with you.

Welcome! You will find knowledgeable, non-judgmental support for just about any choice of diet here.

Do you have any idea what plan you might like to follow? IMO when you are just starting out it is better to have a plan. There are a lot of choices: eating whole foods, going vegetarian, going low-carb, calorie counting, pre-planned "packet" diets, etc.

Whatever plan you choose, a log is most helpful. For my diet/exercise log I use FitDay and it has helped me tremendously. A lot of people like the website-based version because you can update it on-the-go with a smartphone app. Another popular one is MyFitnessPal. I use the FitDay PC software because it has more features I need.

I also highly recommend a FitBit or other activity monitor. You can compete against yourself to up your activity from one day to the next.

Welcome. At 34 I was 340 lbs. I could barely walk for long at all. Now at 48 I am in the best shape of my life. I am going to complete a 5K soon. I didn't start getting healthy until last May at 47.

Here is a wonderful truth: our bodies want to be healthy. No matter what you did, if you change your body will respond.

I am not a big fan of time goals. I personally think it is better to have 5 and 10 LB goals and change goals. Like I will no longer eat fast food. Then maybe in 2 weeks I will no longer have candy. And on and on.

You can do it. For me I relate my issue with food much like a substance problem. Why it is harder to be eat healthy than give up substances is we must eat to be alive. Learning to eat properly for me has been a very hard thing. Taken years to get things in order. Still learning. Still losing. Still on a mission.

I wast thinking the exact same thing earlier myself, what have I spent the last x number of years doing? Oh yeah, eating! Welcome to the forum

Some great thoughts here. For those who say you have done 'nothing', you are being harsh on yourself. I know you probably work, volunteer, etc. So, don't sell yourself short! The person who equated "eating" to substance abuse is right on, it is an addiction that you can't totally give up or you would die, so like someone else said, "get a plan" I won't eat at any Fast Food restaurants, etc. Take your weight loss 10 lbs at a time, that way it won't overwhelm you. My husband just got me FITBIT for Christmas and it is synced up with myfitnesspal, I am liking it. Love yourself and the past is the past, ONLY look forward. Good Luck to you and all who "struggle" with weight loss, including myself. You GO GIRL!

Thank you all for the warm welcomes and enthusiastic encouragement! I will definitely check out some of the recommendations people have left here for me. This will be a long journey, as I'm sure so many here already know. I remember when I was younger, losing weight was all about looking better and buying cute clothes. Now I see the appearance improvement as just a bonus. Now that I've entered my 30s, I have started considering a much more important thing: my health. Now that I am more mature, I can realistically comprehend just how dangerous obesity is.

I'm going to start slow rather than shocking my body with a huge abrupt change. I will begin by making better food choices. This includes more fresh foods, higher amounts of protein, and far (FAR) less empty filler calories. One of my biggest vices is sweets. I love cake and any other kinds of pastries. It's high time for those to be eliminated from my diet. That is not to say that I can't have a small piece of cake at a party or something. But I don't need it for a sweet treat after dinner each night.

In my experience, choosing a specific marketed diet to follow simply doesn't work. The reason for this is that I know, realistically, that I will not follow it for the rest of my life. Weight loss has to be a change of lifestyle. Granted, I could stock up on Weight Watchers frozen meals and eat them every day and lose weight. But I will not eat those meals every day for the rest of my life. I need to do something that will allow me to have a successful transition into the weight management phase later.

Instead of following Atkins or Weight Watchers or South Beach (all of which I've tried and failed), I need to become self-disciplined enough to grocery shop smartly and manage my own portions. I can start this by measuring out portions and once I have an idea of what a single portion looks like, hopefully this will develop into a positive habit. I will read labels to determine the fat and calorie contents of foods, but I don't plan to obsessively count every calorie that enters my body. This only makes me think about food way too much. Instead, I plan to redirect my attention to physical or mental activities so that I don't dwell on food all the time. I will, however, keep a journal that tracks my weight loss and serves as an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. A family friend of mine once said, "I eat to live. I don't live to eat." I cannot let food rule my life. Eating cannot continue to be such a major focal point of my days. Emotions and state of mind are closely linked to eating habits and weight management.

Smart chickie! The best plan to follow is the one you WILL follow. And you can make huge progress with the steps you have planned. Here's to a new healthy lifestyle!

Welcome - I am also new to the group. Everyone has different goals and needs support in different ways. It can be hard being away from family as well. Just by joining and knowing that you want to change is a excellent start. Welcome, and looking forward to getting to know you throughout your journey!

Hi Silver_Snow! You are not a bad person or worthless! You're just human and we're not perfect. It sounds like you are ready for a change concerning weight loss though and that's the key. That's what will drive you. I'm glad you've joined us here. You'll get lots of support. Good luck!