I have always been the "fat chick". I am only 5' 5 1/2'', which doesn't help things at all. In high school I just didn't care about my weight and I was 250+. I was definitely a late bloomer due to my weight, I always hung out with guys, never had a boyfriend, nor did I want one. When I started getting interested in guys I started to lose some weight. When I met my sons' father he was all about exercising and I started going to the gym with him and got down to about 180. Not long after my weight loss I found out I was pregnant with our first child (Sean). I was a very unhealthy eater during that pregnancy and gained 40 pounds. Afterward I NEVER lost the weight. Fast forward 3 years and I find myself pregnant again, starting off at 232 pounds. During my second pregnancy I ate really healthy and actually ended up losing weight. After having the baby (Trae) I thought I was on the right track. He is now 8 months old and I am so unhappy. I got on the scale this morning and I weigh 246 pounds!! I am ready to get my weight under control. I am tired of not wanting to take pictures because I am so overweight. I am a very emotional eater. No matter whether I am stressed, sad, mad.. I deal with all of it by eating. I buy food for Sean and I end up eating it along with him. My living situation and family life is very stressful, for the time being I am a single mother, just temporary for a few years. I am still with my sons' father but he isn't around for right now and that does nothing but add stress. I am determined to lose weight. I am just nervous that I am going to get focused and then not succeed.

Hi! My son is named Sean too and I never lost the baby weight either. I am finally starting to lose. I can sympathize with emotional eating issues and the only thing that has helped me is going LOW carb. It is hard to balance meals and sometimes make different things for them but you just have to make your best effort to stay on plan. I'm sorry you're having a hard time. You can do this!

Welcome! Baby weight and stress can definitely do it - after my second child I was seeing the 260's and it felt almost impossible to surmount the weight issues there, especially after never having been particularly small. But time and dedication DOES work and if I can lose weight, anyone can (I'm that bad at it!).

Just find a plan and get to work - commit to NEVER quitting, no matter what. You WILL have an off plan food, maybe even a binge or three. Things come up, the scale stalls, like gets stressful... All these things happen. But what will make you succeed is not letting these temporary things be permanent roadblocks - don't quit, just get right back up and keep going. THAT is the secret, if there ever was one, to losing large amounts of weight. Carefully applied stubbornness and a complete refusal to call it quits