I am trying to loose about 80 pounds.I am 46 years old and it has been so hard for me.I started 2 weeks ago.I did loose 8 pounds but i think a lot of that was water.The reason i finially decided to do this was because i had a heart problem.I had rapid heart beat.I had to go to the emergancy room and get it slowed down.My blood pressure was very high.I am now on 2 kinds of medecine each day.The dr told me i need to get this weight off or i will not get any better.It was enough to scare me.I am counting calories and doing it the old fashion way.I keep a record on fitday.That is such a nice place.I just bought dr phils book last night so i will be reading it.I am going to start walking on good days.I have a lot of back pain so it is hard to do any other exercise.I hope when i loose some that the back pain will go away.Well i don't want to bore you all so i will say nice to know you and hope to know you all better sheila

Hello Sheila and welcome to our group. We are a friendly bunch so feel free to jump in wherever and whenever you want. It is really rough when your weight starts to catch up with you. I'm only 35 and I'm starting to have a lot of health problems too. I have to say though I wish more doctors were as forthright as yours. Most drs won't say stuff like that straight out, they hem and haw and talk around it.

my Dr is a very careing woman.She was the one that found my moms heart problem.She takes so much time with people.Thanks for letting me post here.I am going to spend some time today reading the posts.I like it here.

Welcome Sheila,

You'll like it here ~ the people are so nice and helpful. I am kind of where you are ~ about the same age and about the same amount to lose ~ need to do it for health reasons. Wish I had taken care of it years ago instead of fooling around with this. It is harder now. But we can do this!!!

Looking forward to getting to know you ~ join in and enjoy!

(A former Ohioan) Gayle

Hello Sheila, Welcome!! We can all do this!! TOGETHER!! You are going to do great. It's nice meeting you.

Wow you are all so nice here.I love it here already.How are you guys doing it?Are you counting calories or something else?I have done ww but i cant seem to loose on that.The thing i have a problem with is to know how many calories i should eat a day.I dont want to eat to few because then i won't loose at all.I dont want to eat to many either.Do you guys have a suggestion on how many i should eat?Thanks

Welcome!!! I can't chat now, I'm at work on lunch break. I'll try to be a bit more friendly in the future!!!

Welcome, welcome - it's always great to add another person to the group (especially another one in their fabulous 40s ). We're a very diverse group - all ages, all locations and all sizes, yet all on the same journey and all excited about feeling and looking better!

I'm not going to suggest any particular plan for you to follow, since there's so many out there and what may work for one may not work for another. We have people here following Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, etc. and those who've made up their own plan of combining sensible eating with exercise. Since you have a good relationship with your doctor, perhaps she can make some suggestions based on your medical history and "stats".

If you're looking for support and encouragement, you've come to the right place!!

If you go to the 3FC home page there is a calculator there that will help you find how many calories you need, your BMI and all kinds of neat things. Check it out.

Hi and welcome. Sorry to hear about the health problems. Sounds like you've got a good plan started. Keep up the good work. I look forward to losing this weight with you.

Welcome, Sheila.

We are a great bunch of gals if I do say so myself.

Hi Sheila, and welcome. I'm pretty new here too. Its a very friendly, encouraging and supportive place, so jump right in!

Hello All! I just started also and I'm really happy to see so much support! I'm 26 and I wasnt to lose 100+ lbs. I would like to acually just start by doing smaller goals of 37 lbs each because it seems so overwelming right now.
What made me finally decide to start my weight loss was when I was at work the other night. I was carring a 37.8# box to the back and I told a close friend that it was getting very heavy. I then said to him "I wonder what it would feel like if I lost this much weight, how great I would feel...." and he smiled and said "Go for it".
Tonight I came across this and I thought how wonderful!!! So you can see why I decided to do 37# goals, I started calling it "Operation no. 37"
thanks!! pebbles

Welcome Sheila! Welcome Pebbles!

You'll find lots of support here at 3FC!

I like the idea of your "Operation no. 37" Pebbles! Weight Watchers has a similar idea where they encourage people to make a first goal of loosing 10% of their body weight.

Looking forward to getting to know both of you better...

Sheila and pebbles - glad to have you in our little slice of the world. Feel free to jump in on any of the threads or start one of your own!! This is a great place for support and motivation!!!