Hello everyone,

My name is Jen and I am 24 (25 in sept) and have just reached a point where I am sick and tired of hating the girl in the mirror and can honestly say I am not happy with myself and miss the days I used to at least have some good feelings about myself.

I just graduated college and am in the look for my first job, which is really stressful and hurtful for weight loss since I find myself sitting around my apt bored with nothing to do but think and snack. My friends are all in pretty good shape so they dont understand why shopping has lost its appeal for me and why now going out isnt fun because well im the girl who doesnt get approached any more because well my friends look way better.

I have a gym membership but cant seem to find the motivation to go more then once a week (sometimes not even that). I have decided to make this Lenten season (catholic thing) as a help in my weight loss journey but eliminating all take out/fast food, in the hopes that cooking my own meals will help me cut down on calories.

I just feel sick, disguested, depressed and alone with my weight and physical apperance and felt that perhaps by joining here I will find others who might feel the same way or at least be there for some motivation and maybe even be a workout buddy since I cant find one close to me. Even having someone to check in with and share this journey with would be great, I would love to be a support for someone too and hear how they are dealing with their own progress and issues.

Well enough ranting..good luck to everyone on their way to a healthier life

Hi Jen! I am so excited to see someone in a similar situation to me. You posted on my intro that you wish you had a kid as an excuse for the weight, well i actually lost all my weight from having my daughter. And started gaining it back after she was 6 months. So i cant really use her as an excuse. This is all me. I hope we can get to know eachhother better and find some support throught our weightloss journey!

Hi welcome to 3FC. Last year during lent I gave up all fried food and chips (my biggest weakness). During those 40 days I lost 8-10 pounds with minimal exercise. The motivation is there. You just have to seek it. Take small steps. Good luck on your journey.

BTW, I'm from the Houston area too. The rodeo really took it's toll on me this past weekend. It's hard to bypass carnival food (especially fried oreos and fried snickers). =P

Hey! I hope we can get to know each other better too and make some great progress on our journey

Thanks for the kind words, and o goodness I am planning on going to the rodeo sometime soon and can only imagine the potential damage i can face there haha just the smell of carnival food and the lights just make you buy something

Hi Jen. I can understand the stress and not seeming to be able to "find" motivation. I workout almost every day now, and do it first thing in the morning. I'm so sleepy still that I almost never feel like starting. But I'm always glad I did it. So I have two suggestions. First, watch your self-talk. Commit first to stop telling yourself "I don't feel like going," and replace it with "this is a great time to kick-start my workout program." (Say this even when you feel exactly the opposite. Repeat. )

Then commit to just going anyway. Change always feels uncomfortable, but as they say "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Go for it!