Hey everyone! I'm new to this site and I want to introduce myself. I'm 22 years old and I've been overweight since age 13 about, right after I began going through puberty. At that time I had just moved to a new place (thanks to a military parent) and was begining to change into a young woman. I began eating worse foods and not doing as much activity as I had when I was younger. It wasn't bad at first, but by age 15 or 16, I was probably 10-15 pounds overweight. Now I am about 160 and only 5'4" and very uncomfortable with my body. I was very active as a teenager, always very athletic but I also was eating horribly. I still don't eat very well, too much junk, not enough nutrient-rich foods, etc... I really like to run, although I don't do it very often, and I think over the past few years I have pinpointed what I'm doing wrong, and maybe that's a start.

I have been overweight for a while and I never thought it was that big of a problem. Sure, I've wished I was thinner many many times but I never thought it was a very pressing issue. But this summer, I went to the doctor and he mentioned something about losing a little bit of weight. That is the first time anyone has ever said something like that to me and it shocked me so much. It really hurt me a lot too but then I thought, well, maybe if I fix this now, it won't end up to be a big problem when I'm older.

I have grown very lazy and developed a bit of a social anxiety because I feel like people think I'm really fat. I don't like to go to a lot of social events-I honestly try to avoid them most of the time unless I'm in a comfortable place. But the reason I avoid them is because I think everyone will just be thinking that I'm fat and not care what I say or think. I think i've been depressed a lot of times too but have never seeked help for it. I just feel like I can fix it myself but I don't ever do anything really to fix anything! It's a crazy, vicious cycle that I know I need to stop right now or I'll just continue having problems until I'm a lonely, fat old woman.

lol okay, wow, I didn't know all that was in me. But I found this site somehow and I think I'm meant to reach out for support from people who are going through similar situations. So, thanks for everyone being out there and...HI!

Welcome! I'm new, too, but you'll feel so at home very quickly.

You can do this!

Good luck.