Hi guys,
I'm engaged to be married in Aug of next year and just starting on the journey of weight loss even though I've been engaged since February!
I need all the support and encouragement I can get... I've tried and failed COUNTLESS times with dieting!!

-Sarah

Remember, you're not dieting. There is NO FOOD YOU CANNOT HAVE. You hear me? Go down and buy a food scale (if you haven't already). They're like 10 bucks I believe. Get one that does grams and ounces, and make sure it's digital. If you want a bowl of ice cream because you're pulling your hair out over swatches, go get one. But measure out one serving and log it. Eat what you love and what your family is eating, but make sure you portion it out for one portion (by the way, I found out I like to eat 4 or 5 servings of mashed potatoes...what I thought was 1 serving was actually very much not 1 serving)

I got engaged in January. I decided I was going to take some magical pill concoction I heard about online. It worked and I lost like 10 lbs in a week. I dropped a pant size or two and then I realized I hated taking 15 pills a day so I stopped-after all, I was looking damned good. Then I gained it all back within a week or two. I moped around about how I was "destined to be fat" and in June I decided enough was enough. I think I joined MFP in July after losing 10 lbs on my own and I am now down over 30 lbs. I'm averaging 10 lbs a month by doing nothing more than watching my calories. I (shhhh) don't exercise. I don't work out. I only have 15-20 lbs to go before I hit goal weight (50 lbs lost).

It's not going to happen overnight. As you stare at yourself in the mirror and say, "Am I really going to be able to lose it in time? Is it worth it?" you need to remember that you're not going to drop the weight all at once. Every week you may see a pound or two. Nothing that really gets you excited until an old friend says, "This may sound dumb, but have you lost weight" and then you realize that no, your pants don't need to go in the drier-they ARE getting bigger on you. I can tell you that even though I'm only about half way there, I am content. If I stayed at this happily overweight weight I'd be okay with it. I'm a size 10 or 12. I can wear cute clothes without having a muffin top and I still have my curves. I can wear skinny jeans. These last couple pounds are more to get back to the size I was when I was in college.

YOU CAN DO THIS!