Hi and welcome to the board! I'm not in the same situation (no children here) nor having the same amount of pounds to shed, but I'm always willing to exchange "tips and tricks", so to say
Marquetho - I think I see what you mean. I've always been overweight since i'm a child, too, so I guess I was just "used" to be fat on top of it. Then when I started piling more pounds on again, it just didn't dawn on me at all, I was still seeing myself as "a little overweight, but not too much". When the blindfold falls from your eyes though... ouch, the shock.