Hey, I'm new and I'm looking for some help with trying to loose some weight. I'm 27 and currently 18 stone 2lb which as a 5ft 4 woman ... well you can imagine what I'm like . I live in the UK. I'm a single mum of a school age child and it actually one of my daughters friends who is kind of given my the kick up the backside to do something about my weight.

I'm a long time believer of big is beautiful as that's all I ever saw for myself but its time for change, all thanks to a dose of childhood innocence from one of my daughters school friends. My daughter came home one day and told me she was asked why her mum was so fat and she didn't know what to reply with. Shes 7 she shouldn't have to worry about things like that.

I try and eat ok but I've hd to move back in with my Dad and my Step mum and although most days we try and eat homemade and watching what we put into our food y step mum is far happier serving up deep fried chips with something. Shes fussy although getting better.

I will hands up admit by biggest down fall is I don't exercise. I'm scared to. I was never a fan of sports growing up and its developed into a habit where i try and avoid it at all costs now with problems on my health. I'm asthmatic and I have days when I cant even manage a flight of stairs . I've tried to talk to a Doctor about this and they say I'll be fine but I have no idea where to start.

Sorry to ramble on but thanks and well done for getting to the end

There are two parts of weight loss, diet and exercise, but diet is the more important of the two, so I'd recommend fixing your diet first. You should try to avoid sweets (or anything with added sugar), refined carbs, deep fried foods, and highly processed foods. If you want to post a list of foods that you eat, I might be able to give you more suggestions on what to improve.

Have you told your step mum that you're trying to lose weight and want to eat healthy? If you talk to her about it, maybe she'll understand.

For exercise, you could start with walking. Aim for at least 30 minutes a day, but if you can't do 30, then try to increase gradually. When you feel you're ready, then you can start adding in cardio and weightlifting. You may also want to ask your doctor for advice on which exercises to do, if you haven't already.