I am new here, my name is Stefanie.
I am 27 years old
Married
we have 2 boys
I'm from Oklahoma

I have been over weight almost my whole life. Most of my friends and family are skinny and they just don't understand what I'm going through and I need to find some people who do understand.

Welcome to the group Stefanie! I totally get where your coming from and we are all here to support you!

I totally understand. I am 29, no kids yet but have been overweight my whole life. I have finally made this a priority, in about 2008, but it's hard to stay on track! All you can do is take one small step at a time and they add up.

Welcome! You'll find LOTS of people here who understand. I joined last week, and I'm so glad I did. I feel completely comfortable talking about my weight issues, diet failures and successes, etc, and I've gotten lots of positive feedback, support, help, and information. I'm sure you'll have the same experience.

In response to your post, though: have you gone to a doctor about your weight? There could be hormonal imbalances that aren't helping your situation. Also, I've discovered that so many little things I didn't even think of, in my eating habits, were contributing to my (past) inability to lose weight.

Take care, good luck, and see you around!

I have thought about going to the Dr. to have my thyroid checked and to just make sure its nothing medical. But I'm pretty sure I know how I got here (to this weight) I am the youngest of 6 kids, there is a 5 year difference between me and the 2nd to the youngest. My mom and dad both had to work so I spent most of my time at my grandparents. I kind of felt abandoned and started turning to food. yummy food... chocolate, candy, cookies... mmmm... Then comments were made about my weight from some family members and some boys at school and that hurt, food made that better also. I played softball till I was about 14 and I rode my bike a lot but that was about it for exercise. About that time we moved across town and my mom and dad figured that I no longer needed someone to watch me after school so I started riding the bus home and spending the next few hours alone...(all of my brothers and sister had moved out and were on their own at this time) it was just me, pop, and little Debbie. things we couldn't afford to keep at home with a house full of kids. I would eat from boredom, I would eat from depression, I would eat even when I wasn't hungry just because something tasted good. When I started dating I started eating out more. When I had my first child, I went from 180 to 250 back to 225 only to find my self at 276 while pregnant with my 2nd child. I got back to 250. my previous diets were exercising more (then finding myself eating more) OR eating less only to feel so deprived that I binged more. I started food journals but felt like they were too hard to keep up with.

But this time, I am counting calories in and calories out (thanks to my android phone, its so much easier than pen and paper. I can type in the food or scan the bar code) At first it was just portion control and exercising and that some how changed to portion control, eating healthier, and exercising ( I guess my taste buds have changed, foods that were blah before are so yummy to me now). I still eat my favorite foods I just don't eat too much of them any more. I don't feel guilty when I throw food out that I didn't eat (a big part of who I was, I was punished for not eating everything on my plate) Since I started these changes I have not left the table in pain from over eating and I don't feel like I'm starving. Oh, and I started writing in a journal about my childhood and how I felt and things that I think may have impacted my weight, that has helped a lot. and weight loss shows on TV like Huge on a&e, I used to be fat, too fat for 15, and Ruby, they all inspire me almost everyday.

If I start to feel like my healthier lifestyle isn't helping me with weight loss I will definitely go get checked out. Thank you for caring enough to ask and I'm sorry this is so long, but it felt good to get it out

Welcome! It's great that you've joined, and your story is one many women can identify with.

I love that you've labeled yourself a "nutritional overachiever" - I'm the same way! One obstacle I've had is an "all or nothing" attitude, and mixed with my perfectionism it caused me to give up on past attempts to get healthy when I would slip up. I've learned to loosen up a little. I set pretty steep goals for myself, but I've stopped beating myself up if I fall a little short.

Each step forward counts, especially the ones you take after you've gone backwards.

Best of luck!

Hi Stefanie! It's funny how people think that if they make comments about our weight that it will make us want to lose weight when in reality it just makes us want to turn to food more. It's not their fault, they have never experienced it so they don't understand.

I have started journaling too, it's great for self-awareness!