Hi. I'm Renee. I'm 24 years old and last I knew I weighed about 310 pounds. I have come to a point in my life where I realize I need to make some major changes. I don't want to die young. I want to live a long and full life. But being as big as I am, I can't have the quality of life I want to have. I don't have a goal weight, but I do have a goal size that I would like to wear. To me how I feel and look are much better indicators of how I'm doing than the actual number of pounds so I do not plan on buying a scale. I see that as a good thing as in the past I have been very obsessive with checking my weight. There was a time in my life where I would check my weight at least five times a day. I don't think that's a healthy thing. My biggest obstacle is staying motivated. Every time I start to get motivated I can generally keep with it for a grand total of about three days. Then I get tired and cranky and I throw in the towel. I don't want that to happen this time. But having given up so many times before I'm not sure that this time will be any different. I would like it to be different. I would like this to last. I am still in the initial stages of all of this though and I have to think through exercise and meal planning types of issues. I am definitely a binge eater and I'm not sure of how to get it under control. I might be considering counseling, but if anyone else has dealt with binge eating and has found a way to get it under control, please share your story with me! Also, if anyone has any good suggestions for staying motivated, please share.

Well, I think I've gone on long enough now. So hopefully I'll see you around.

Hello Renee,

I've joined today too looking for a bit (a lot ) of help.
I used to eat a lot of junk food, and the only thing that has stopped me from eating so much is thinking of what I'm gonna look like when I'm done. It is hard to stop, but for me, once a few weeks has passed and I saw a loss in lbs, I was really happy and excited to carry on.

Checking your weight every few weeks is a good motivater. Don't buy scales, but go to your doctors or see if there are any public ones around? Once you see you're actually losing pounds, its a great feeling and you want to carry on more.

Good luck and welcome

I know what you mean about weighing yourself a lot :S It gets obsessve huh? I think it helps to join a place like this where there are people trying to acheive the same goal Hopefully you will be able to find the strength to fight it! I am trying to find that strength.
Baby steps

Thank you for the replies. It's good to know that somebody is listening and understands.

Motivation is a very hard thing to find and then keep. I know, I've been there. I recently lost 17 pounds after being stuck not losing for 6 months. I was so frustrated. I started eating really healthy food and I quit eating after 6:30pm and no night snacking. I found that every pound I lost I got more and more motivated and then I was so excited that everytime I craved a cookie or something I knew I didn't need i found more and more will power to say no. Now I have to say that I get on the scale everyday. It motivates me. It shows me if what I am doing is right or wrong. If I get on the scale and I am the same or lost a pound then I know what I did the day before is working and I keep it up. Before if I waited a week or two and then weighed myself I could be 5 pounds heavier now at least if I gain I know right away and I can get it off. I don't know how good this is but it works for me and I am losing weight so if it is working I'm gonna keep on doing it. When I am feeling blue or lacking motivation I come to this site and read people's threads and it helps me get back on track. Good luck to you. You can do it and I promise you that once the weight starts coming off you will feel and look better and you will find that motivation. Good luck and keep us posted.