Hello,
My name is Melinda and I am completly new to this awesome place. I have been lurking around for two days now and decided to finally post. You all seem very nice. I weigh 324 lbs and I am 20 years old. I started gaining weight at the age of 14. Before that I was a generally thin person. I am now watching my calorie intake ( 1500 a day ) and up-ing my exercise as much as possible. The whole exercise thing is hard because of the size I am at. I would appreciate any person who wants to share there experiences and advice. I woule love to have someone to talk to other than just my dog! Pathetic I know, but true.

Have a great day,
Melinda <3

Hiya, glad to see youve finally plucked up the courage to post.

Dont be scared, were all nice here!

Welcome!! this is a great place to find motivation, recipes, and, at times, maybe whine a bit!!

Welcome to the boards! And these boards are a great start. I have found that "blogging" really helps. It keeps me accountable. It's a long journey, but you have made the first step! This is a great place to be!

Hi Melinda - Welcome to 3FC. There is a great section called 300+ that you might want to check out, because sometimes it just helps to talk to others who know what it is like to be that size.

Regarding your calories, that may be a little low for you to start out with, especially if you start exercising a lot. If you find you are hungry a good bit you could probably bump yourself up to at least 1750 for awhile (I am at 2000) , until you start to shrink. If 1500 works for you, that's great - I just wanted to let you know not to be too worried about bumping it up a bit higher if you need to.

Thank you everyone for replying!

Notthecheat, I think your right about the calories. Maybe I am a little low for my body. Thanks for the advice it really helps!

<3 melinda