Hi all, I'm new too, having joined about 6 weeks ago or so. I'm a lurker, but stop by every once in a while with my opinion. I'm 25, 5'8" and currently 225lbs. I can't even believe I got to that weight, seem like only yesterday I was 170.

I have the most trouble with diet, I can exercise my tush off but want that cheeseburger.

Got the wakeup call about a month ago when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Medication has gotten it down, but NP said yesterday if I could lose 50lbs, I wouldn't need the medication.

I'm a new graduate, got my BA in Criminal Justice in Sept 2004. Looking for a job in the field, my specialty is juveniles and victim's services. Up for a job with juvenile probation and one with the victims services unit in my local area. Passed my physical agility test (almost have to be comatose not to, everyone there passed) and now have a medical exam on Monday that I am a little worried about.

Personally, I want to lose about 90 lbs, as I feel I look my best at around 140. My immediate goal is to exercise every day, tho. I have a membership at a gym I love, but with the high bp, I was only recently released to exercise, then lacked motivation. Got motivation now, want to lose that fat and be in good enough shape to not sweat over a medical exam, especially in my field. They spend a lot of money on training, so they don't want to take a chance that you might not be physically up to it.

I come from a hopelessly overweight family, and the eating habits are so hard to break. Both parents currently "dieting", but not what I would consider exercising or really trying. Hard to deal with the reactions from mom, she thinks I am saying its her fault I'm fat and actually nags me foodwise as she eats her cheetos.

Think I've babbled enough to let my true personality come out...

Appreciate just the existence of this board, the internet, etc as my biggest challenge is being embarassed about my weight and hiding.

Hey Tiggergirl, welcome.

No need to be embarrassed here. We have all been where you are now. We all have had those same feeling about family and how we were brought up and taught about food. Hey, this is your life, and you can make a change if you want to. It won't be easy, but eventually it will become habit and it will become easier.

Mabye join at www.fitday.com, this is a FREE website that really helps me. You can keep track of everything you eat, and see where you are consuming all your calories. They have really neat graphs(gotta love the graphs), and you can even get reports showing your progress in activites and food choices. I like it a lot.

Hey, you said you have the excercise part down, and for me that is the hardest struggle. I hope you join in and hang out with us more. Feel free to post whatever & whenever you like.

Looking forward to seeing you around more. Have a great day!

Welcome Tiggergirl - spill has some great info for you - I concur!

Absolutely love fitday.com! Having to actually write it down makes me choose my foods and portions more carefully. I encourage those just starting out to use it, it really helps focus my efforts!

OH Good, I'm glad that you have found that it helps!

another tall one!

welcome, tiggergirl! congrats on your new degree. it sounds like you are in a really interesting field and will do a lot of good for the world.

on the weight loss front, congrats on just wanting to do something about it. i like the fact that your immediate goal is just to exercise as much as you can. that is my goal too, although you sound a little like the opposite of me. you exercise a lot and then want the bad food, while i eat fine but can't get my butt off the couch (i just joined a new gym though which i have been going to, yay!).

anyway, i dont have a lot of advice to offer because i am going through it too, and learning a lot as i go. i just believe that slow and steady is the way to go and try to make small changes along the way. the best thing about posting around here is just the unwaivering support from a lot of great people. i hope to see you around a lot!!