I am new to this site but decided to check out the 30-somethings... I am in the mid- 200's... I weigh about 249... I am getting married and we are already in the planning process... Our wedding date is August 6th of this year. I would like to get down to 200lbs before the wedding date, but it seems like an unattainable goal. I have a tendency of being very lazy I love healthy foods but I seem to gravitate towards unhealthy junk food and I graze all day... I am a mom of two and a step-mom to one and I work full time caring for people with physical and mental disabilities. Getting my life in check and taking care of me for once would be ideal, but I think I need a support system that will really give me a kick in the butt when I need it. I've been overweight since I was really young (about 8 years old) and I think it's high time that I do something for myself... Any comments/support would be wonderful... I'm looking forward to meeting some great people on here, it seems like a great site!

Hi, welcome to the site and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Are you planning on using Weight Watchers, calorie counting or something else? What about exercise, do you have a membership for a gym?

Whatever you decide to do, good luck on obtaining your goal!

Thank you! I am planning on doing on calorie counting and cutting down on my carbs For excercise I'm starting off by bike riding and walking... I need to fit some strenth training in there too I think... But I just need to stick with it this time... I have a tendency to start something and drop it just as fast as it began... I just need to keep telling myself that this time will be the time I make a change for good!

You're not the only one that starts something and drops off, I am guilty of it you. But you're right, this time you'll make the change for good!

This is what I am doing exactly! I started eating this way for a few weeks before I incorporated exercise but the minute I did start working out, the pounds just flew off. But in a healthy way! My cravings for sweets and carbs started to diminish and I started wanting big ol salads with marinated grilled chicken.

Congratulations on taking that first step and coming to 3FC! Welcome!

Thank you for the warm welcome! I go through "carb-withdrawls" I get headaches, irritability...etc., etc... I eventually just get to the point that I would rather stay fat than go through the changes even though I know that it will pass... So, instead of cutting carbs completely, I figure I can cut down.... I am truly grateful for finding this site, though... I don't think I ever really realized how many people are out there going through the same issues as me...

Welcome! I am a newbie too! I look forward getting to you know you and hope we can reach our goals!

Hi Chicks,

I am new too. I love carbs and junk food. I tried WW lost weight and gained it all and more back. I tried Medi weight loss and in 6 months lost 6 pounds. I tried going to the gym I started out going then that too fell by the way side. I feel like a total loser. Any ways Good luck gals.

I found that without a plan, I had nothing to abide by. A good place to start is with an actual caloric and carb number to aim for, and maybe a specific amount of exercise per day (or week, etc) so that you can actually attain your goals.

Good luck and congrats on your wedding!

I am trying to stick to no more than 1500 calories per day and at least 45 minutes of exercise 5 times a week (cardio and strength training) I am still unclear on what I need for my carb intake though... Any ideas?

Welcome! I count calories and you can actually start a lot higher than 1500. I started counting calories in January and I put my stats into a bunch of different calorie counting calculators to see what calorie amount I should be eating at. I modeled my calorie counting off of this one in particular: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

The reason you should start out eating more calories is that once you start losing, you may hit a plateau because you weigh less, but you are still taking in the same calorie amount. If you hit a plateau (which is longer than a few weeks), then you may have to reduce your calories to jump start your weight loss again. You have a goal of losing 70 pounds, so if you stall out a lot, you'll have to reduce calories, and you don't have a lot of wiggle room to go down if you start at 1500.

To give you a comparison, I weighed 196 when I started counting calories and I would eat 1700-1850 every day. I lost almost a pound a week. Now that I have lost some weight, I have dropped my calorie amount to 1600-1650 because now that I weigh less than I did originally, I need to eat less calories to keep losing weight. I was stuck at 182-185 for weeks until I dropped it to 1600 and saw the weight start dropping again.

If you are comfortable at 1500, then by all means stick with it...but it's nice to know that you can actually eat a lot more and adjust it from there! It's scary because we think that eating more calories is going to cause us to gain weight, but calorie counting has such a huge range.