But I will. I'm Jada, I'm from kissimmee, which is a few minutes away from Disney world. In 21, work full time and am currently looking to go back to school to get my bachelors degree. I've always been "big", both in terms of height and weight. Because I stood out physically, I never really connected with people. I had friends, but none that I was close with. I never (and still don't) really go out, and spending all my time at home has made me a boredom eater. I am currently 350lbs, and my goal is the to get down to 180 by March 2015. That is two pounds a week I have to lose every week for the next two years.

I have tried eating healthier, but have found it hard to find good tasting healthy food. Also, I live with my relatively healthy family and they bring in a lot of junk and other tempting things, despite my protests. I have started going to a gym, but am having a hard time finding a workout that is effective for me. I'm physically very strong, but have poor cardio health and find jogging/walking difficult (my knees, back, and hips start locking up). I came to this forum seeking advice and maybe some friends. The weight loss support groups in my area only cater to teens, women over 40, or require you to buy a supplement. Hopefully I find the support I need on here.

My ultimate goal: Have a bikini body by Summer 2015!!

Hi,
I actually re-signed up for 3fatchicks to answer your post.
You were me 28 years ago. I have been dieting on and off since I was 12 years old. I first joined Weight Watchers around your age. I only had 20 lbs to lose and I thought I was fat then. I called myself bulky. I weighted 165. If I weighted 165 now I would be running around in pasties and a thong !! My highest weight was probably around 230 and I looked like a beast. I lost 25 lbs initally on WW before they changed to points plus. I have kept it off then I went on Ideal Protein last year. I lost weight and got down to 165. I thought well I will join Weight Watchers to keep it off because Ideal Protein is expensive. Well I didn't and I gained back all the weight and am miserable and continue to eat. So my advice to you is if I could do it all over again I would never quit Weight Watchers. It is healthy, you can eat real food and the support you get from the meetings is priceless. So don't waste your life on these diets that are quick fixes. They don't work.

Thanks for the advice. What bothers me about weight watchers is that the one where I work caters to an older crowd. But I'll give it a shot.

Welcome! This stuck out to me because there is no way I could stay on track eating food I don't like.

What is is that you like to eat? Do you or can you cook?

What I like to do is make 2-3 dishes that I love, portion them and freeze them so I have a variety of awesome meals at my disposal.

A great start to find recipes is http://www.skinnytaste.com/ but there are so many other online blogs (this happens to be my favorite!).

Skinny taste is absolutely amazing, one of my most favourite sites, especially because it uses mostly whole foods, not lots of weird diet stuff! So it tastes great and you know you are getting some good stuff into you. Sometimes it takes a while to learn to like new "healthy" foods too. I usually think of what I like, and then try to make a healthier version of it. Skinny taste helps there a lot

I love a good meat and veggie dish. I've never been a fan of sweets. Yes, I can cook fairly well. Being the oldest of four, I think it's a requirement.

If you wanna do cardio with knee problems, try the elliptical. Its a bit easier on the joints. I sometimes load a video onto my phone and watch it with earphones in while I'm on the elliptical. It helps the time go by.

Awesome - If you can cook, you're ahead of the game!

I feel like my weight loss in the past had always been doomed for failure because I never made a plan. I just said to myself "I'm going to eat HEALTHY" but I really didn't sit and make a plan of what that meant to me.

If you take a look at different ways to keep appropriate portions (exchange, WW, calorie counting) then you'll have somewhere to start. When I started, I wrote down my entire day's worth of food before it began, and knew exactly what I was going to eat ahead of time. Taking the guess work out and knowing that my meals were balanced and that each snack was accounted for in my day's total made it easy - details here.

Instead of jogging, walk an hour a day. It brings your stamina up and its adding something easy to your life.

Welcome!

First of all, it's always good to ease into weight loss slowly. If you swap out the cheese burger for a salad and start trying to run on a treadmill for an hour after being stationary for a long time - you're going to snap!

I would recommend counting calories to begin with. Myfitnesspal is a popular website/app. It will calculate how much you should eat in a day based on the information you provide, then you can start entering all the food you eat and see how much calories are in it. For a while, some people might disagree with me, eat what you normally eat but stay strictly within your calorie limit. You will be surprised how much an unhealthy meal/snack adds up to your daily goal and you'll start to realise that eating healthy means eating MORE good food!

As for exercise...well, I have a love/hate relationship with the gym. Personally I don't like gyms, but they've always been a catalyst that makes me want to do more outside of the gym. Start out with walking/swimming/elliptical and stationary bike. You will hurt, but that's the point! Your body is hurting because you are using muscles and joints that have been inactive for so long! As long as you don't push TOO hard (but still pretty hard) then you will start to see the difference. Drink water before, during and after the workout to stay hydrated - it's important!

Try and aim for 30 minutes at least of exercise where you feel your heart rate increasing 3/4 times a week and monitoring your calories. Also - water is your new best friend! It's 0 calories and you can have it all the time. Soda has calories in, fruit juices have calories - it will all add up to your daily intake! I'm positive if you take these steps you'll see results and see a change in the way you see food and fitness. Good luck!

Hi Jada, well first I have to congradulate you on wanting to make this change in your life. Your need to make small changes;
1. Start by walking around the block and then gradually increase your distance
2. Make healthier eating choices, as Iconised Ghost already mention SkinnyTaste is a great website with healthy recipies
3. Cut down on junk and soda
4. Drink about 2L of water per day
5. Be accountable to someone on a weekly/monthly basis
6. Use 3FC as a support system, we are all here for you

Start small so you wont be overwhelmed.

All the best..