Hi all! I've been lurking on this board for the past year, and am SO inspired by all of you. Thus, I have decided it's finally time to light that fire under my butt and actually make a genuine attempt to lose weight. I guess my biggest fear is that I can't do it on my own. I've been thinking about getting a personal trainer, but that costs money I really, really don't have. I am just wondering how those who do it on their own find the motivation to do it. I keep feeling like I can't do it, like I am just not equipped to lose this weight without the help of others, and it's making me feel very depressed. If I can't get over that mental barrier, I can't ever get healthier.

I hope this is the right place to ask for advice.

What part do you think you won't be able to do on your own? The exercise? An eating plan?

I felt the same way you did in the beginning. That I couldn't possibly do this on my own. However, a few weeks into it, I realized that this is MY journey and MY life and I had to do it MY way. And the only way to accomplish that is on my own. I come to this board for the support and advice I need on a daily basis but at the end of the day, it's my "job" to make it work! You don't need a personal trainer or a nutritionist or someone to make your meals for you. Oprah had all of that and look how that worked for her? She still struggled.

The more educated you make yourself the more empowered you will be to do this!! I promise! Even if it's on you own!!

Sure you can! In fact, you can't depend on anyone else on the planet to do it for you. Plenty of people with personal trainers fail at losing weight.

Yes, you can! And ultimately you'll have to. All anyone else can give you is ideas. You have to do every bit of the work yourself. And as far as ideas go, there are a million of them out there, and most of them work for some people, not for others. You'll just have to figure out something that works for you, and that you can stick to.

And you can keep coming here for motivation.

I had to do it on my own. I couldn't afford a personal trainer either, but I still did my exercise.

I couldn't afford a diet coach, but I figured out an eating plan.

This isn't rocket science, it is all pretty basic.

So educate yourself. Read up on nutritional values of foods. Plot and plan. Move more. The Internet is a wonderful resource. Educate yourself. Go for it.

And enjoy your weight-loss journey.

If I can, you sure as **** can. You just need to focus on what you want your end result to be. Keep a food diary and start an exercise routine that you can slowly build up to. You'll be surprised but it actually really gave me something to focus on that was completely my own thing, and in a weird way I'm enjoying it.

Take an afternoon to go to the B&N, grab a bunch of weight loss books off the shelf, sit in a comfy chair or at their internal Starbucks and read up on the possibilities. It took me a little while to realize what worked for me -- naneky, having an actual plan with a list of do's and don't's -- but when I found it it wasn't nearly as hard to follow as I feared. The first 7-10 days will always be the worst. You just have to force yourself to get over that first obstacle.

Good luck! Everyone here supporrs you.

I would submit that the ONLY way you can do it is on your own. As others here have pointed out, many with all the assistance imaginable at their disposal have failed. And many others with none of that have succeeded!

In the end, it's just you who will decide to move more and/or eat less, and if it means enough to you to do those things.

I've struggled with this journey for years myself. I've done WW, South Beach, Jenny Craig, had a personal trainer... nothing worked for the long term. Each time, the weight came back on. This time? Something's different. All I'm doing is making a date with exercise every day to do SOMETHING for at least 20 minutes (which usually turns into 30 or more), cutting portions and counting calories. I stick loosely with South Beach but it's not written in stone.

The only hard and fast rule I have these days is to count every calorie I put in my mouth. I don't freak out if I go over my calories a couple times a week. I don't care what number is on the scale, only that it's heading in a downward trend. I don't have a timeline for when this has to be done. That it's getting done at all is the important thing. I learned many of these strategies from this wonderful website!

And it's working. Sometime in the next year and a half, my weight will be where I want it to be -- or at least, I'll be a whole lot closer.

So... look inside yourself, and yourself alone, and find the inner strength you need to commit to this goal NO MATTER WHAT. That strength, it's there.

Best to you! - Rae

Only you can make the choices necessary to lose weight, not a trainer or a nutritionist. Sure they can give you pointers, but it's really taking charge and making up your mind you will be successful.

I'm going to agree with those saying that you can only do it on your own. Even if you could afford a trainer, the trainer can't lose the weight for you. Even if you have the support of all your friends and family cheering you along the whole way, you are the only one who is responsible for what you do in terms of eating and moving.

Regardless of money and support--weight loss is a lonely business. But, the good news is, there are tons of people here who have done it! So as pessimistic as my response here sounds (soooo pessimistic!), it's actually meant to be read positively-- you have the power to change you--no one else can try to change you! What a great power!