Hello all!

I'm new to the forum and after having a look around, I can see this is a very safe environment, so I figured I'd ask my semi-embarrassing questions here.
A little back story first:
I've always been overweight; I was a chubby kid--not so much so that it was a real concern, but I was made fun of nonetheless. That didn't affect me so much because I was a pretty confident kid, so I just pushed them to the background and ignored them. When I was nine, though, my Aunt slipped into a coma after overdosing and died shortly after my tenth birthday. She had always been my favorite family member, and I spent every waking minute with her, so losing her was a huge shock. I felt so many things that I just became numb and started bottling up my emotions, which is when the pounds started to pack on. Before I knew it, I had reached 200 pounds in 6th grade, 300 pounds in 9th grade, and now 345 pounds as I'm going into 11th. I've been saying for years that "this summer is going to be the one. I'm going to go back to school 50 pounds lighter, I swear!" the problem is, I have a hard time staying motivated when I know I'm just exercising. I love to gain skills, like dancing, boxing, things like that, but I hate going to the gym and feeling like a bottom feeder because I'm struggling to walk briskly on the treadmill as the person beside me is running a 7 minute mile. This summer,though, I believe that I am nearing rock bottom. Going to an Amusement Park (something I love to do), waiting in line for half an hour, getting to the car and trying to sit down, only to realize that I can't fit and having to walk off by myself as my friend and everyone else stared at me was humiliating. I realized that this will only continue if I do not take control while I'm young and not so internally effected by being so overweight.

But now comes the hard part--actually doing it. I've tried dieting before, staying at the gym for 4 hours a day to do 2.5 hours of cardio and 1.5 hours of weight training, but that hasn't worked for me, and when I put in that effort and the scale does not reflect it, I get discouraged and stop almost immediately. My mom ordered Sensa for me a week or so ago, so it should be getting here sometime this week, and maybe that can jump-start my weight loss and encourage me to keep going, but until then, do you all have any tips on things that I can do that burn calories, but that isn't monotonous or hard to do without equipment at home? Some people have suggested dancing and housework on other websites, which I can do and like to do, so do you all have any other ideas? Also, are there things that you do that keep yourself motivated when you aren't seeing what you'd like to see when you step on the scale?

Thanks so much, have a great day!

I suggest eating fewer calories, you can do this by calorie counting. Efficient, reliable, and free. Exercise is good but to lose weight it is necessary to eat less calories.

I agree! Also, making a real plan helps me. When I was younger, I would always just say "I'll eat less" and not have a plan for follow through, then eat too little and binge at night.
Writing down the food I planned to eat over the entire day gave me the control over my health. Spending time in the kitchen and honing my cooking skills so that I could produce delicious foods that fit into my plan was another integral part of my weight loss.

Welcome! Everyone will have different ideas, but you don't need drugs or a fancy gym to get healthy. Right now, log off and walk outside for 20 - 30 minutes at a brisk pace. That's all you need to do to get started! Drink lots of water when you return and later this evening take a shorter walk or walk a dog or go with a friend. If you're by yourself, take headphones and listen to upbeat music.

I also agree with the others to replace unhealthy foods with the good stuff in moderate portions and to create a food diary.

It doesn't take money to lose weight, you've just got to cut out pop, junk food and MOVE MORE. Make exercising something you do every day and you will see a big difference.

Some great advice above, I would say, drink more water, try reduce carbs (Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc), move more, be it a brisk walk or anything, and also, write down or log EVERYTHING you eat and drink, make a note of every single thing and review it, this will help with counting calories, I thought I had a relatively healthy daily diet but on writing it down realised it wasnt as healthy as it appeared. So I suggest log and write down everything you eat, and also exercise. Say it takes you 30 minutes to walk, to a local land mark, note the time, then the next time try beat that time, and so on and so on, then say you reduce it to 20 minutes, try walk it twice, or a new landmark, keep trying to beat your previous time, not only in walking but whatever exercise you do, and this keeps you focused and driven. Also I find an ipod or music great for passing the time and not realising you are exercising, I am not a huge music fan but you find yourslef thinking, ohh I wonder what song is next, and next and so on! Best of luck!!

HELLO . just wanted to we;come you and to give you thumbs up for deciding to change you're life style... i am at 320 and just started 3 days ago ... im on a 1300 calorie intake .. trying to eat more protein and fiber and lots and lots of water ..

GOOD LUCK ......... remember .. no pain no game ... lol ....