New and looking for help

I feel your pain. I also have health problems and have to take steroids to treat my autoimmune diseases. Then when you feel bad you're not active. Weight just piles on making your health worse. I am 37 and determined it is NOT going to beat me down. I had a horrible flare in 2011 to early 2013. When I first started recovering, I couldn't do much but I've built myself back up to a really happy active life. Still overweight but continuing to work it off.

This is what works for me: Start slow. If you break yourself down you will be more likely to quit. I try to add one lifestyle change every two weeks or so. It all adds up + little by little you feel more like yourself. It is not going to be fast or easy. Drink plenty of water. I just buy enough for couple days. You get more variety that way. Plus fresh stuff doesn't last as long. I'll send you a friend request. We can swap tips that works for people also having to fight illness. If you accept, we can private message more about what we're fighting.

Woo HOOOOO!! Good for you. You made a great first step. You have a journey ahead of you and having supporters and friends along the way to help you celebrate and commiserate will make the journey more enjoyable.

My suggestion is: take it one step at a time. Don't try to overhaul your eating habits & learn how to exercise all at once. Changing your life habits takes practice and patience (sorry). You will succeed. You will screw up. You will lose weight. You will gain some back. It is all part of the process. Take it in stride and learn from your errors. Your are human... a human on the path to a healthier life style.

I have a friend (he's a MD) and he won't call a weight loss plan a "diet" - - he calls it a "LIVE IT" because that is the plan: to live it to a fuller, healthier life.

Assuming you've consulted your physician, I would start by looking at your food. Spend at least a week (ideally a month) working on your diet before beginning a serious workout routine. I mean, take in a walk if the mood strikes you, but don't run to the gym tomorrow and try to bench 50 lbs!!!!
Keep an ACCURATE food diary. Don't let shame allow you to omit something. Enter them at the right times, too. You may notice eating patterns (I.e.: "Geez, I love to carb load at 10 pm... hmmm." or "Wow, I am great about getting my veggies and fruits in for fiber and vitamins - now I should work on getting lean protein in!") This will help you target your diet in very specific ways.

Oh, and I agree with the previous poster who mentioned before/after pics. Do measurements, too! Sometimes when you are really discouraged, looking at these can boost you. Weight loss is a slow process and it is easy to forget where you came from. (I speak from experience here. I lost 50 lbs before MFP and I lost 35 lbs before I changed clothing sizes. Then, I lost inches when the scale stood still for 2 months. If I didn't have pics and numbers to refer to, I would have given up!)

Good luck!!!

Due to you having a lot of medical issues you might want to talk to your doctor on you wanting to lose the weight and him helping you out and possibly finding you a nutritionist that can help you make sure you eat the right foods and how much and knows what types of diets you should be on with medical problems. (Sorry i was a former nurse)

Good luck on your journey, stay strong, stay dedicated you can do it!

You can do this! If I was able to lose 108 lbs, anyone can! Add me and I can encourage you along the way.