Hi Everyone,
I guess I'll start by telling you a little bit about myself. I am a senior in high school. I have been struggling with weight and self image issues since freshman year (I think it all started because of issues with my parents). I used to be self conscious, and I developed bad eating habits. Whenever I felt bad though I could always lose the weight to feel confident again. However, from the middle of last summer to this January I was struggling with depression, and I gained a lot of weight. I turn to food for comfort. I gained more weight than I ever have before. I got up to 140, and I had never been above 124. I don't know if this seems like a lot, but it made me feel really bad and I saw a drop in my athletic performance with the weight gain. I also stopped exercising during these months which was really bad because I wasn't getting the endorphins I used to get from exercising. All in all I gained 25 lbs in 6 months.
I want to lose the weight and keep it off especially through my college years. I want to take back control of myself, and I don't want weight and food to rule my life. I have been having trouble getting really motivated, and deciding how I want to lose the weight. I really do enjoy exercising, so I will definitely incorporate that, but I was thinking about possibly trying Weight Watchers. Any thoughts or suggestion? I have never had to lose this much weight before, so I don't really know what I'm doing.
Also, I don't consider myself particularly internet savvy, and I have never blogged before or joined any kind of online group, so I have no idea what I'm doing. If you have any advice on how to navigate the website that'd be great too. Are threads the different conversations? Do people contact each other for support? How do you create the little weight loss tracker?
Sorry I have a lot of questions. I hope I didn't make a lot of typos because I like using correct grammar

Not sure about the tracker. WW is great. There is another group called TOPS-Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Look around the boards, you will find a few that feel comfortable for you. Good luck and God Bless.

Hi Gethealthy,

I'm new here myself but I commend you on taking the steps to get your weight under control now.

WW is a good plan if it still teaches you how to eat healthily. Making exercise a habit, also good.

When I was your age I was 25 pounds overweight. I tried a local diet group and was basically shunned because I was "only" 25 pounds overweight. Sadly I never learned good eating or exercise habits and today I am more than 100 pounds overweight.

Don't let anyone poo poo your attempts to control your weight and eating habits.
Go for it!

If we are overweight it should not matter whether it is 100, 50,25 or 10! Shame on them for shunning you.

I agree!

Hi there! welcome aboard! Here's a thread that'll help you with the ticker - http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/anno...cker-site.html

once you hit the 20 day/20 post milestone, you'll be able to get one [we've had issues with spammers].

now. congrats for taking control early, before your weight gets REALLY out of control. May i ask first, though, how your depression is? and if you've discussed weight loss plans with your doc? Most of us have gotten minimal help from our docs, but it's ALWAYS a good idea to let him/her know what you're up to. and some antidepressants can make weight loss harder than others can.

No matter which plan you choose, you have to make it work FOR YOU. People's preferences and lifestyles differ, as do their schedules and everything else. There are LOTS of great ideas around here - try some, and see if they work for you. If they don't, then try something else. Make sure to pay attention to the emotions you have - if you eat when you're tired, thirsty, angry, sad, bored, whatever. We use food to deal with EVERYTHING in addition to hunger, and unless we manage that aspect of it, we're in for a huge struggle.

As for groups - go ahead and try several. There are wonderful recipe ideas all over the place [like the vegetarian forum]. And i think that the Exercise forum has some of the best information around. You might want to join one of the challenges - some folks LOVE LOVE LOVE the competition [i'm not one of them].

So, welcome aboard!

Get Healthy, I commend you too. You're smart for getting a grip on healthy eating now, before you hit college and there's so much you'll want to participate in soon, you want to be comfortable and having fun.

You can lose the weight, and a lot faster than you gained it, I promise.

As for the tracker, I can help you with that. If you go up near the top of the page you'll see a dark purple bar and on the very left of that bar it says User CP. Click on that. It will take you to your user control panel. On the left hand side of that page one of the first links you'll see is Edit Signature. If you click that you'll be looking at a little chicken. Under the chicken it says Click Here to Get Started. Click on the words and it will walk you through creating a ticker and inserting it into your signature.

However, you'll have to post on the forum at least 25 times before you'll be able to see the ticker in your signature.

Lots of luck, and stay positive and motivated and more than anything active This really is a wonderful time in your life you deserve to enjoy it (I also have depression so I do understand how overwhelming that can be). Movement, even just walking outside, can make a huge difference in how you feel.

Wow! Thank you all for the great advice and support. I think this will be a really helpful tool for me. Especially when I am bored because I can come write instead of eat junk food.
JiffyPop: I have struggled with depression ever since my parents got divorced when I was 9. I took medicine for a little while in middle school, but I stopped because I didn't want to depend on the pills. I have gone to therapy for years, but I stopped at the end of the school year last year, which may have contributed. Also, I lost a family member, and have a stressful work load for school. I haven't talked to a physician about weight loss at all.
ReNew Me: Thank you for the support, and information about the ticker!