Hi! I just found my way here because I'm in dire need of weight loss support. I need to lose 100+. I have a good friend who is considering a weight loss surgery and I'm not sure that it's the right option for me at this point. However, I'm totally lost when it comes to losing weight. I know I need to eat less and eat less fat, but I have no goals and without them I'm not actually making any progress. When I think about making goals, I just plain don't know what's realistic or even where to begin.

I know I need to excercise, but because of my size I'm embarrassed to do so. I feel weird being out in public running or bike riding and gyms are full of people who don't look like they need gyms, making someone like me feel too embarrassed to join a gym (irony, anyone?).

Anyway, I'm 27, mom of two boys (my youngest is 2 months, the oldest is 21 months - yikes!) and live in Utah. So...um...anyone want to be my friend?

Hello and Welcome!! My name is Sunshine I am 25 mommy to 3 Garrett 7, Madison 3, and Colt 1 !! I to have a lot to lose to be to my final goal at least 100 more lbs I so far have lost 48 lbs since March 25, 2005!! I am also embrassed to work out in public I have never stepped foot in a gym I workout at home.. I love Richard Simmons exercise tapes they are fun! I eat a low fat diet now I miss nothing I enjoy!!

Well if yoy need someone for supprt or to talk to just e-mail me. Good Luck with your weight Loss you can and will do it!

Hi MrsButterfat: (I love your screen name)
I also live in UT and have lost 47 pounds over the last year doing low-carb.

Where in UT do you live? (I'm in Bountiful.) If you haven't been doing a lot of exercise, I suggest you start out simply by walking. Perhaps you have a stroller that will let you push both of your boys while you walk??

The other possibility is to consider joining one of the many Curves that are in UT. It is for only women so you don't need to be self conscious about exercising in public. There are women of all shapes and sizes. It's very low key, but for someone who hasn't been doing a lot of exercise, it's a good program -- one that you won't "out grow" for at least a year. Curves also has two eating plans -- one is low calorie and one is low carb. You will find a lot of support at Curves from other women who have added exercise and are losing weight.

Good luck with your weightloss journey.

I'll be your friend. When setting goals, you need to start small and increase them as time goes by. Have you tried the walk away the pounds tapes? You can buy them at almost any retail store. I know Wal-mart has them for less then ten dollars for VHS tapes. You can do those at home and with minimal space. Anything to get you up and moving is good. I'll send you my email in a private message so you can email me directly if you want. You can find tons of support here. I've only been on here for a short while but I love it so far.
I won't join a gym either because of the embarrassment factor. I do like walking in my neighborhood sometimes. Of course, I'm of the mindset that if someone doesn't like the way I look then tough cookies. I'm out there to make a difference for me not them. Let them look at me a year from now! The joke will be on them then. You have to do this for you. Take it a day at a time. For example, your goals for this week may be to drink 60 oz of water and exercise for 15 minutes (walk outside or even inside). You can then up the exercise after 15 minutes seems comfortable. I finally bought an elliptical machine so I'm working on upping my time on it.
I hope that I have helped. You can do this.

Yay! Replies!

I'm so glad to know that a) I'm not alone in this and b) people in similar situations as mine are making progress. Sometimes I feel like it just can't be done and I'm kidding myself.

I actually have the Walk Away the Pounds DVDs. I bought them over a year ago and then my husband got a job in Utah and we moved and they got packed away. We just moved to a new house a couple of weeks ago and I came across them and was sure to leave them out in a conspicuous place so I can get started on them as soon as we get blinds. I'm not about to display my flailing fat to the neighborhood.

I'd really love to join Curves. My sister-in-law was a member before my brother's family moved out of the country and she said she loved it and highly recommended it. I'll have to wait a couple of months for things to settle financially before I start, though. Moving is darn expensive!

byugrad, I live in S. Jordan. I have a dad, two brothers, and two sisters-in-law who are also BYU grads. I, however, will eventually be a U of U grad (if I ever get back to school again). Can we still be friends?

I don't have anything against current or future U of U grads. Although I got my bachelor's degree at BYU, I got a minor and teaching certificate at the U and my master's degree at USU. So when there are in-state sports rivalries, I just root for whatever team is likely to win!

I think the Curves that my sister goes to is the one in S. Jordan -- seems like it's about 7800 south or so. I hope that it fits into your budget. Watch for the promotions. I joined for free in March by taking a bag of canned goods in for a food drive. There was a promotion in May where you could join for free by taking in some milk caps. Other than that, it's $29/month.

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Blue]Looking for some support and friendship during this journey. 32 year old mom of one(10). Need to find support for myself so i can support my overweight child. Try as I might my eating is controlling my life instead of me controlling it. I am at my heaviest (280) and want to lose atleast 100lbs. My mom lives with me and is always bringing snacks into the house no matter that i ask her not to. She is also overweight. Please I need help. Anyone live in Tennessee. Kimberly

Hehehe. I was laughing when I saw your screen name but I was rolling on the floor when I saw your quote. My name is Hope. I live in utah...south jordan to be specific(and by the way the curves in south jordan is not 7800 s, it's 10400 s. just so you know) My friend Amber actually worked at the curves in Sandy for a while, if you want any information on it, her screen name for 3fc is AmberJoy. I know what you mean about exercising in the gym. I bought a membership to golds gym. It helped that I went in the middle of the night but I still felt a little uncomfortable. Now that I have a new job I'll have to go in the evening when it's really crowded and then I'll feel really uncomfortable, although my new job is at a daycare so lets hope I get a lot of exercise chasing those little gippers around eh? Okay I'm babbling again, anyway let me know if you want a buddy, I get on here fairly often. Best advice:don't give up. I've had to change my exercise type at least 5 times already and I've only been at this for about 5 months, however i'm down a little over 20 pounds so it DOES pay off. good luck!

Hi my name is Jessica, I'm 19 and need to lose 75- 80lbs. As with you I'm lost when it comes to this too... I know I need to lose it and I know that I need to watch what I eat and exercise but I have nothing to work on ya know? I'm from Michigan, and just recently married in February and very happy but it wouldnt kill to be happy with my apperiance too.

Jessica Gruno

Happy to be here for anyone who needs it. I am divorced with special needs son and also am raising my two granddaughters ages almost 2 and almost 3-you would think weight wouldn't be an issue-LOL. I too got to my heaviest and decided it was time to take it seriously and that the instant gratification just isn't worth it. I am doing WW since I have all the stuff although it isn't in the budget to get to the meetings. I stumbled across this yesterday and am brand new myself. I started at 250 and have lost my first 5 pounds WOOHOO! Start the goals low and obtainable. I don't look at the big picture eg need to lose 128lbs. I go 10lbs at a time so I am halfway to my first goal! I check email ect quite often through the day and I am sure I will need and are willing to give any support that I can. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

Hi I'm new too so if your looking for a friend you've got one! I'm 27 with four kids, 11yr old step son, 4 year old rascal (he hates the world), 3 year old princess aka drama queen aka daddy's girl, and a 1 year old sweetheart who is mama's girl! Any way I need to loose about 60 pounds to be "ideal" I think I'd settle for comfortable but who knows what that is! If you need support just drop a line!