I'm Renee. I'm 53 and I weigh almost 400 pounds. I would like to say I have no idea how that happened but I do. The past 5 years I haven't taken care of myself. We had 12 deaths in our family. My beautiful mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and we went through **** with her. If I wasn't tending to family I was sleeping in depression. My mother was released from her prison this April and I am beginning to venture out into life again. I saw what I had become. If I don't fix it now I am afraid I will leave my family too soon. So I started slow movement exercises. I cut out diet sodas. I am trying to be kinder to myself. And now I've signed up here and I'm asking for your support and help.

I have an amazing hunkahubby who treats me like I'm the prettiest girl in the room.We have three incredible strong daughters, one is a special Ed teacher, one is an adult Hyperlexic finding her way, currently writing a film score, and one is an actress/writer and director.

I am a writer, a script editor, a marketing director and CCD teacher.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all! Your stories inspire me!

Sounds like you are taking some great steps towards health. Glad to have you here!

Welcome to the forum, RMK!

I highly rec joining some of the active threads. There is a daily check in thread in the general "weight loss support" folder, and you can also find busy challenge threads in the "chicks up for a challenge" folder. I find those spots get the most traffic.

There are also some busy threads devoted to particular diet styles.

I hope you find a thread you'd like to regularly check into! It's a great habit for staying on track.

Thank you both for the welcome and advice. I'll check those out.

You're already doing fantastic just by starting! And I can already tell that you have a great attitude and that always leads to success. Just keep that healthy mentality going! It's not an easy journey, but it can be done.