Hi everyone,

I really hope finding this forum is going to help me with my weight loss. I am 21 years old and have been overweight my entire life. I think I have been trying to diet since I was 12. Right now I weigh 280 lbs which is the most I have ever weighed in my life. I am a senior in college and I am ready to move on with my life but I feel like my weight is holding me back. I have felt like it has always held me back. I always start a diet lose 10-20lbs then somehow I just stop exercising or dieting. I can’t seem to find a good motivation then I get down on myself and emotionally try to eat my way out of it. I can’t seem to break that cycle and hopefully some group support will help me with that.

Right now I am cutting my calories (to about 1500 a day) and trying to exercise at least 30 min a day. I did this last year and lost 15 lbs but then I got ‘too busy to exercise’. I have recently got a puppy and since I am now moved into an apartment, she needs to be walked so that gets me walking. YAY puppy! I also have a couple of biggest loser dvds that get me a real 30 min workout. I am just worried that I am again going to slip up then quit. I’m also kind of broke, which is good because I don’t eat out but I can’t afford any programs like weight watchers etc. So if anyone knows any good free diet/exercise helps or logs let me know!

If anyone has any motivation tips or healthy cheap recipes let me know. What has been working for you guys? I have snooped around the forum and am so happy to see so many successful stories!

Welcome to 3FC =)

Put motivation completely out of your mind for the moment, and instead think about building habits. Habits don't require motivation. They simply require getting used to doing a certain thing.

Yes, it takes effort. And yes, sometimes we'll feel like doing it, and sometimes we won't feel like doing it, but we still brush our teeth every day even when we don't feel like it. So we don't really have good excuses for not eating healthy or not exercising when we "don't feel like it".

Continuing with the teeth brushing analogy, if we slipped up and forgot to brush our teeth before going to bed one night, we wouldn't just... stop brushing our teeth altogether! We'd very simply, and without question, get back to it the very next morning.

Under the Food section there's an area for Shoestring meals. That's meals on the cheap. You can usually get a good deal by making meals in bulk and then rationing them out and either freezing them or keeping them in the fridge for each day during the week.

There's a Calorie Counters area, and a 20-something's section to start you off.

Jump on in. And keep in mind that no matter what's going on. No matter how you feel. Keep at it. You never have to be perfect in order to lose weight, no one here is perfect. There will be slip-ups, mistakes, times of low motivation, but the ones who stick around and keep going regardless are the ones who succeed.

Best of wishes

Welcome to the forum! Weight loss does not take motivation, that is a passing thing, if you wait until your motivated to so something, it probably will not happen. It takes commitment and determination.
Early in my journey I found I was too busy to work out. I kept telling myself, I will work out tonight and then something would come up at home or I would not feel like it and then I would feel guilty for not working out. It was a viscous cycle. I finally decided I am WORTH the extra work of getting up early to exercise. It is not easy by any means but I am committed to a healthier me so I make it a necessity to get up an hour early.
I am not saying that you have to get up early to exercise. What I am saying is you are WORTH the extra effort!