Hi all,
I am new to the forum. i stumbled upon it by accident and i was so impressed with the support and ideas everyone had i signed up right away.
I am 25 years old my orignal weight was 165. after i had my first child i ended up at 240 and right now i am at 230. I try and try to get this weight off but i hit plato's every 5 pounds and it gets so depressing and hard to work through.
Does anyone have any good ideas. I am honestly pretty active here at home. We live out in the country so we are always outside doing something active like stacking wood, chopping wood or playing with the kids or just going for a walk.
My weight and my attitude about my body has gotten so bad and i need advice where to restart myself and get through this plato.

Can ANYONE HELP ME????????????????

You've just started without knowing it!

The support and advice on these boards will help you stick with whatever program you decide is right for you. When you notice yourself craving something or wanting to give up just logon to 3FatChicks. Take a look at the many before and after pictures or go to a forum that mirrors what you're feeling to help pull you through... Only you can do this for you and I know you can do it!

First of all, what sort of food & exercise plans were you following previously?

Next, take a look under Diet Central. Do any of those programs call to you?

Search for something that you know you can follow for the long-haul. After all, this isn't only about losing weight (although that can be a good chunk of it), it's about eating healthier for the rest of our lives.

You can do this. We'd love to help support you on the way!

Best of success!

In my humble opinion the best way to start instead of a "crash diet" is to start slowly changing your life-style and eliminate one unhealthy food a day.

For example: Coke vs. diet coke
Cookies vs. 100 calorie pack of oreos
Full fat milk vs. fat free
White bread vs. light wheat bread

Only 3,500 calories equal one pound and generally if you can dump 1,000 calories a week that can lead up to 2 pounds of weight-loss a week.

Starting slower can help you resist binges and help you stay focused.

Its great you already seem very active - to start with you can add 10 more minutes of walking or maybe chop extra wood. This can also help you not to buy that treadmill yet that may end up collecting dust or that gym membership card get lost in your wallet.

Adding plenty of water and trying to back away from salt may also help.

I also have heard that Weight Watcher is an excellent plan and gives all real food to eat to help you that unhealthy relationship to food that we all struggle with.

Don't be too hard on yourself also. That is something that I struggle with and by joining this site you have already made some very good choices.

Ok i am seriously considering goint to weightwatchers starting friday ( that is the day of the week that works for me) and getting all my info and starting it on saturday. How many people here have used weight watchers? Did you like it? I know i have to again change the way i am eating but right now i feel that if i get my portions under control first by eating what i like then i can transition easier to the healty food and not feel as bad doing it. Does that make sense? That is why i feel weight watchers is a good move for me.
ANY ADVISE I WOULD APPRECIATE...

I loved WW but they did not have a meeting time for me that worked. And WW online did not appeal to me. I couldn't justify having to pay for WW and then another $25 for a babysitter. So I signed on for Herbal Magic (Canadian). I go in 3x per week for support. I really need the face to face as well as 3FC. Combo works good for me! It rocks!

I am Hoping it works well for me. My mom did La Weight loss and she lost over 125 pounds went from a size 20 to a 4 and kept it off for 7 year now. but now that they went bankrupt that is not an option for me.
Wish me luck as i do weight watchers. I only have 4 weeks till our wedding so i hope to get something off..
Thanks all for your help. any other suggestion i appreciate

I just started WW two weeks ago and I've lost 8lbs. I LOVE it! I still go out with my friends, go out to dinners, lunch, etc. I do WW online and i count points. I love the online option (go to the meetings if you need the in-person support/motivation). I have a meal tracker online, a points cacluator online, activity tracker and calcuator online. So i just type in the food I ate into the search and it tells me how many points it was, and I add it to my tracker. So easy. Good Luck!

I've been a WW member for one year now. I love the program, and I love the meetings.

There's a WW section here at 3FC, too! It's under Diet Central. Please do check it out And don't hesitate if you have any questions or need some support. We'd love to help you out.

Hi Shannon, im a seasoned dieter and have tried just about everything.
i know how difficult it is to muster up motivation and the feeling like its hardly even worth starting a diet because there is such a long way to go - however, within your first week of starting a diet/healthy eating plan you can often loose quite a few pounds and the motivation kicks in instantly and somehow it doesnt seem like such a long journey.

depending on how much weight you have to loose, i would try weight watchers, especially if you have to also cook for your family. its a no nonsense approach and does not restrict you from any foods- WW also teaches good portion control and i believe it is a great long term tool for some people.

I am currently on a Very Low Cal diet (VLCD) plan which uses meal replacement soups and shakes, im just near the end of my first week and have lost 10pounds already and feel alot better. this kind of diet isnt for everyone though. i have always been very good at loosing weight, but keeping it off is another matter!!! i am now concentrating on developing LIFE CHANGES and completely turning around my attitude to food. with some of the VLCD plans & meal replacement programs, councelling is offered to get to the root causes of your food problems, which i think is a great motivation and unfortunately one not offered through Weight watchers.

Hi all and thanks for the advise.
Got on the scale and was down another 2 pounds!!!YEAH!!!
That is 4 pounds since sunday. I did get to walk three miles on the tread mill yesterday and i know that always helps me alot.
I am actually SO excited to join WW. I finally think i have had it set in my head that i need to do this for me most of all and my kids and family and so on.
I never ever got excited about joining a weight program before in my life..LOL
I know that being excited is a good sign for me and it is the right one that i need.

good luck...don't try to do to much too soon. Consistently eating "ok-good" is better than eating GREAT for 3 months and then crashing.

Eliminating 1-200 calories from your diet per day goes a long way.

to go in the opposite direction, i tried WW and I didn't really like it. I didn't lose that much weight even though I stuck with it, and it just wasn't for me and too expensive and I never ever got anything out of the meetings. i'm thinking about trying it again but without the meetings. i just can't afford it (i still have the stuff). I WANT it to work and it's def. worth a shot. Good luck.

Thank you all for the adive.. i go friday morning to join..
Wish me luck..
I know i can do this!!