Hello everyone! Nice to meet you all. Could you help me?

I'm 18 years old and a freshman living in college dorms. I'm 5"2' and would like to get back to 135lbs. I think that sounds like a reasonable, healthy weight for someone my height, right? For the last 2 years or so I went through a lot of therapy for depression and the stress of that plus trying to keep up with school got me really stressed out. At my heaviest, I want to say I was at least 210lbs. Right now, I'm 195lbs, but I feel stuck. I've always thought of myself as a confident person, so since the weight gain and everything that's been going on I sort of developed an "I don't care how I look attitude." But now, I'm starting to care for once. If not for my looks, than at least for my health.

I think I feel stuck because I don't see how I'm going to lose all this weight. I know I have all the time in the world to lose it all, but I'm aiming for a year. I feel a bit discouraged because I wonder how my friends and family see me right now. My friends are very fit and so are my cousins. When I get discouraged or stressed out I think god, screw losing weight I'm going to eat. Of course, I feel really bad after haha. I really need motivation.

So, my goal is 60lbs in a year. Can you guys help me out?

Stop caring about other people. At the end of the day - the most important person in your life is you. Dont let thoughts of other people hold you back from regaining a healthy weight.

What you need to do is start making little improvements today. That takes no study. Right here - right now - resolve to start making changes.

Go out for a walk. Walk for half an hour straight and resolve to do at least as much (preferably more) tomorrow. Keep increasing it. Walking is a great form of exercise. It was the first thing that I did and I was a lot fatter than you (I am only 5ft3).

Start sorting out your food. Make sure that you drink plenty of water. You should be drinking 1 oz of water for every 2 pounds of your weight - so that is just under 100 oz water you should start drinking every day.

Fruit and veg (especially veg) are really healthy so make sure that you are having 5-a-day.

While doing that read up the nutrition and exercise sections of the forum paying close attention to the sticky threads.

Get a free account from FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and log both your food and exercise. Hone it towards what you have read about regarding nutrients. Make sure that the calorie balance shows that you deserve to lose weight.

Losing a lot of weight is perfectly possible (but it does take time and hard work) - a lot of people here have lost as much weight as you want to lose or a lot more. There are plenty of people that have lost more than me.

Good luck.

Hi! I kinda went through the same thing and it is not fun! I started a diet and exercise plan in Feb. and my weight was 180 lbs and I am 5'2''. Now I am at 128 lbs. For me once I started eating healthy and exercising everyday and seeing the weight come off it motivated me to keep going. I still have slips and eat too much of the wrong things but for the most part I have made a life style change. I also read a lot of stories about weight loss and that inspires me to keep going.

Hey you don't have to stop eating.. really all you need to do is change what you're eating.

If you're prone to depressional fits of eating stock up on stuff thats ok for you to eat. carrots, celery, cucumbers, apples, oranges.. All very ok for you to stuff your face with if you feel the depression coming on. Another thing that I think you would benefit from is exercise. Its said to up the chemical that drives out depression. If you're sitting around doing nothing for the most part, of course you're going to not feel yourself. You need to do anything you can to get up and moving a bit more.

Also.. you've got to get to a point where being discouraged is only a temporary thing. You can do it, you've just got to make sure you get right back up after you fall.

Hi, I'm new too. Whatever you decided to do with your life, the main factors is you must have patience and perseverance and your determination to achieve what you want is very important.

What other members said is true, you need to be more concern about your health and your body.

You got a long way to go, so take care of yourself.

All the best