Hi and welcome, I have been on MFP off and on and I really realize it is the key to my weight loss. If I have a visual of what I'm eating I feel motivated to keep going. This will also help you see what is better for you when grocery shopping. I am at 213lbs and I have to get under 200 by July. I just gotta do it for me. I am 42 and I see some 60 year olds that look fab...that motivates me to get myself right. I will also start using my laptop to search for easy workouts on Youtube. It helped me greatly last year. You can find one that's suitable to you. Also I experiment with all types of smoothies for breakfast EVERYDAY! Then I have the perfect portion containers I purchased at Walgreens but I'm sure Walmart has them too. When you want sweets eat fruit and when you want salt eat veggies. Hang in there! Everyone's plan is differerent, find what you like, your motivations, and what you don't like. Remember to try new things it keeps this journey interest. For example, I read a book when my husband is at the table eating his dinner so I won't be tempted to eat the not so good things or overeat on wasted calories.

Advice: This is going to take a lot of time and you will get discouraged by what seems like a ton of different things. Do Not Give Up! There will be weeks where you exercise, eat right, drink water, do everything right and you will gain weight. Just remember the scale is only telling you how much gravity is affecting you right at that moment, it is only a number. You'll have weeks when nothing goes right. You'll want to quit. Do. Not. Give. Up! All it takes is seeing clothes that fit you tightly start to get a bit loose, or notching your belt a litter tighter to make you feel like a king/queen of the world. All you have to do to get there is Do! Not! Give! Up!

Advice: Buy a food scale. I've gotten much better results weighing my food that I have weighing myself. It's always best to know EXACTLY what you're eating, and if you've ever seen how little a single serving of pasta (2oz) is, it's awful easy to realize why I ballooned to over 250+ lbs. Weigh everything, log everything, be honest. We've all slipped up and ate an entire bag of Doritos when we only meant to eat a serving, don't be embarrassed. If you hide it/don't log it you're only lying to yourself. We'll never know you did it, but you'll never get the results you want if you look through your diary and think 'why am I not losing weight' if you aren't honest in your logging.

Advice: This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you...this entire journey is about making progress, not about being perfect. You'll fall, you'll slide backwards, you'll cry, be frustrated and angry. Keep signing on here, keep logging your food, keep telling yourself "It's all about the progress, not about perfection". And of course: DO NOT GIVE UP!!

Encouragement: I am not good at encouragement, but I will leave you with something a friend of mine told me not too long ago - "Losing weight was so much easier when I was in my 40's than it is now that I'm in my 50's". No matter how hard it is now, it will get harder if you put it off. Best of luck to all, my prayers and thoughts are with you.