i don't know where to begin. Do I walk first, Do i have to eat nothing but salad?

Well, what are your goals?
You certainly don't want to only eat salad. What I would suggest is talking with your doctor or a nutritionist to help you get started on a healthy eating plan.

You can start walking anytime - you don't even have to have your food plan in place to do that.

I also might suggest logging your food for the next week to see exactly what you are eating currently - and that will give you a good idea of what to work on.

And welcome to 3FC!

I started by keeping a journal of everything I ate and drank. Literally, every single thing that passed through my lips, and it really helped me realize where my calories were coming from. I still do it, and it helps me avoid eating things I'll regret, because I know I'm going to have to write it down, and read it later.
But here is my all time health gem that has really improved my lifestyle- drink as much water as you possibly can. It'll be hard for the first few days, but after you get over that hump, it'll be great!

This is so true! Tonight, I forgot to thaw any meat, so I thought I'd order in. I haven't splurged in months, so it would be fine. Then I put 'cheese steak' and 'onion rings' into Fitday... and immediately remembered I have tuna in the cupboard.

Let's start first by making sure you're in the right place -- or if there are other places in the forum we can point you to! You posted in the Weight Loss Support forum -- sort of a general forum for... Weight Loss Support!

But you might be looking for a more specific group... are you on a particular plan?

I think you should start with eating right and walking. Set yourself a goal of how many minutes you should walk a day and stick to it. I don't know how easy or hard it is for you to walk, but you could start with 20 mintues a day and after a week of this, you could bump that up to 30 minutes a day and so on. The eating: I start my day with veggies and egg whites or a healthy oatmeal or a soy hot dog. I then have a snack around 10 a.m., which is either a protein bar or a protein shake (I like Jay Robb's whey protein found at health food stores). Lunch is usually a low carb tortilla (La Tortilla Factory) that's only 50 calories, a soy protein Boca Burger (100 calories) and salad with no dressing. Then, I have another snack around 2pm...usually a protein bar or nonfat greek yogurt or laughing cow cheese w/ corn crackers. Dinner is usually chicken with veggies, but sometimes I like to have Lean Cuisine Pannini. I know it's not that healthy, but it's a nice treat. If I'm still hungry, I'll have some fruit or some baby carrots.

I suggest you figure out how many calories your body burns if you do nothing. This is called your Resting Metabolic Rate. You can do a google search and figure out your amount. Then, you eat just a bit less than that and you exercise as well. I highlly recommend writing down everything you put in your mouth...even if you don't want to count calories. It helps you know how you're doing, because it's so easy to forget all the little extras.

I hope this helps you a bit.

I log everything I eat at thedailyplate.com (sorry, I can't post the actual link yet). They have a large data base of food and associated calories. By entering my age, height, activity level, and rate of weight loss desired, the program calculated about how many calories per day I should eat. This has been a great tool for me and it's free! Congratulations on deciding to begin.

thank you, you guys are awesome