New here, and could use the help!

One Sunday morning, last May, I woke up and said "I am too Fat and today, I am going to do something about it" I then asked my husband if he wanted to go up to the high school track and run with me.
I ran less then one lap and thought I was going to DIE! I wanted to unzip my chest and lay on the ground with my tongue hanging out.. So I walked and had a beet red face for hours after.
But I didn't quit and 6 months later, I dumped 46 lbs and I can run 16 laps.
I also ran a 5K.
I feel much better, my face doesn't get beet red anymore and I look forward to my workouts, especially on my run days.
Imagine that? Looking forward to a workout? I used to HATE running. Hated it. But now I love it.

Please don't think FAD diets are any good. Skip Atkins, Pills, Starvation, liquid diets, etc.

What does work is Diet + Exercise + Willpower .. that is the plain truth.

Once you start to see results in yourself, drop a clothing size, feel stronger etc, it will motivate you to do even more.
Stay true to yourself, use My Fitness Pal every day and be truthful on it. It is for you.

You can do this if you want to.
Good luck.

You can add me as a friend if you would like.

When I started out here all I did was just count calories. I didn't restrict what I ate. I just stuck within my calorie limit and let myself have one cheat day a week to go over my limit. And if I wanted to eat something that would put me over my limit, I would make myself earn the calories by walking or hiking or riding my bike to burn the amount of calories I wanted to eat. I suggest you start out that way. Just seeing how many calories you are eating and what a real serving size is versus what you thought it was will teach you so much and you'll start regulating yourself. It's so much easier to eat healthy when your attitude is "I can, but I don't want to" versus the usually "I want to, but I can't". You definitely won't feel as deprived.

The biggest lesson I've learned through my journey is that exercise is only 20% of losing weight. What and how you eat is 80% of it. The first six months of just counting calories - no regular exercise - helped me lose 30 pounds. Gradually I started to incorporate regular exercise and now I'm up to six days a week, but I did it at my own pace and as I lost weight and felt more energetic, suddenly working out was fun to me and not a chore or a struggle.

Good luck and feel free to add me as a friend.

i wish i had advice and tips. i set myself a goal date to start jan 1st and go from there. i ate a ton! had my final total over calorie kill meal.. i drank and drank new years eve.. and here i am. i started at 265lbs jan 1st. im not at 250 in just 10 days. no quick fix here. its been work work work. 1400 calories give or take a day and an average of an hour a day on the elliptical. im not trying to be mean and i dont know you and your situation. but it depends the amount of work you put into it to get results. and eating alone will not always do it. you have to burn more then you consume to lose weight. and when you skip meals your body will store instead of lose. do you have equipment at home? do you have access to a gym? even just walking around the neighborhood or a park close by? you have to set yourself mini goals and do it. dont rely on friends and people around you to motivate you. cause they may not be serious and stick to it. you have to do this for you. and even if i cant be there to go drill sergeant on your butt... message me anytime and lets motivate each other to do more! ill jump on my machine or throw my shoes on and walk too even if i cant be there:)

Hello! I'm new here and I have about 80 pounds that I would like to shedd. I lost 80 pounds about 10 years ago before getting pregnant with my last child. I'm determined. Year after year I say the same thing but I never put any action behind it. I'm proud to say that I joined the YMCA and I have been exercising and eating a lot better. I have to remind myself to eat...It's amazing how good I feel. Now I'm adding My Fitness Pal as another tool to hold me accountable!! I look forward to the support and finding friends with similar goals and likes.

Think of exercise as something you get to do not something you have to do. For instance, my son has MD and he cannot run, cannot jump, cannot lift weight, cannot hike, cannot ride a bike, etc....even if he wanted to. So my way of seeing things is: I get the privilege to be able to use my legs and exercise. It is about your mindset. Make the switch in your head.

I just started this in support of my hubby, but now i've lost 4.2 lbs. and Im exited! I am reading the book Beyond Diet: Pure Fat Burning Fuel". I had no idea how much of the food we buy is processed and FULL of sugar! I am cutting all that out and eating whole foods instead. A lot to learn yet, but wow is it working!

Just thought of one other thing. There is no magic here. But if there is any magic, it is drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Drink one full glass before each time you eat. This will make you feel a lot fuller. I agree with others that eating 5-6 times a days helps. This keep your metabolism and blood sugar on an even keel. I eat breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner with a small dessert, usually fat free pudding. It is basically the Nutrisystem diet without buying their food.