Got 8st to lose and no idea where to start

I faffed about for two years or so with "diets" and managed to loose about 2 stone, but it was hard to maintain long term. Since finding MFP and realising it was as simple as sticking to a calorie goal and finding an exercise that I enjoyed doing I have lost another 4 and a half stone. I am 3 and a half lbs away from my goal now, I enjoy what ever food I like, I just make sure I have the calories to cover it. Good luck with the diet, you will look great on your wedding day

For me, it was easier to start with exercise. So my goal is to exercise 5x a week, every week, for a month. Then I get a prize.

I'm trying to keep it beauty related. Like a trip to Sephora!

Ditto TavistockToad.

Well, pretty close. Enjoyable exercise & you may never get together. Sometime the best folks can do with exercise is tolerate it. Doesn't have to be a lot. Regular walking will do.

And start working on the mental side. If you read these boards much you see person after person wrecked by their own brain. Get ready to be involved with losing for 1 or 2 weeks for every pound you want to lose. Impatience seems to be the #1 problem in WL.

And start monitoring yourself for negative thinking. And think about how you will deal with adversity. Every hiccup is not a disaster, but your brain will try to convince you it is. Fight back.

This is about problem solving. It's a skill set. You can learn it. Whatever you've done before has nothing to do with now. If your plan isn't working the only thing you need is a better plan. Congratulations on your future nuptials.

I figure, I can do,anything for 15 minutes. Sometimes that mantra is what pulls me through.

Diets will help you lose weight, for a while. But, they don't work long term for a simple reason - they are temporary. It's weird at first, but you have to change your lifestyle. Small steps will get you there. My best advice is to get a notebook: it's tangible. Write down what you do for exercise every day. Write down your calorie deficits/surpluses. Start by taking 30 minute walks every day in addition to this app to watch your calorie intake. Do that daily, log your time and distance in your notebook. It takes about 3 weeks for a routine to become a habit. Once the daily walk habit becomes normal (where you feel the "need" to go for a walk to feel like your day is going right), make another step and repeat. I started out doing that two years ago. Now I am at the point that I don't even want junk food, at all, it grosses me out. I feel weird if I don't hit the gym and workout for 2 hours a day - rest days are harder on me than intense workout days.

Yes, log everything you eat and drink, if you struggle with your food choices you're going to need to get organized, pre plan some days, you want to remember weight loss is not linear, your motivation will come and go, so you need to build good habits and routines you can stick to. Start slowly as you've given yourself enough time.

Go on to the "general diet and weight loss help" forum and read all the stickied posts there - especially the ones on accurate logging and weight loss not being linear. Knowledge is power in this situation. The mechanics of how to do it are all there.

For the mental side: Weight loss is a long, slow process - you may find you lose very quickly at the start but this soon slows down and people often get frustrated and give up. Take regular progress photos and make an album on your phone where you can flick through them to see how far you've come.

I weigh every day and log it in libra (android, iPhone users have happyscale) which helps me see my overall trends and not get frustrated at mini plateaus or apprenticeship gains - it also means I don't get stressed about weighing in because it's just something I do every day.

Good luck!