New to Forum

Hello.  I'm so happy to have found this site and forum.  I've been "lurking" and learning from this forum for the last couple of weeks. Let me introduce myself, my name is Melinda and I'm from Michigan.  I thought I was overweight my whole life, however, in looking back I was a skinny kid.  Interesting isn't it????  I remember thinking how fat I was when I was in the 3rd grade and really fat in the 7th, but that wasn't true.  I can see for myself in my pictures.  Hmmm...I see my real problem developed around 10th grade and slowly got bigger...literally.  I think I finally ballooned to the 300 range in my early 20's.  I just turned 36 and am tired of being unhealthy and fat.  The last time I was weighed (this time last year) I weighed in at 345lbs.  I'm not sure how much I weigh right now, but wouldn't be surprised if it was more.   What really gets me is what I've had to give up or the worries I have because of this weight.  I haven't been on a plane since 2004 because frankly those seats are too uncomfortable to squeeze my fat into.  Plus, when I get to such a fun destination I can't go like others.  Walking for 8 hours a day, just isn't in me.  I know you guys can relate.  Hauling this weight around is not only tiring, it HURTS.  I can't tell you how I wanted to cry because my feet hurt after walking around on and off for 8 hours with my wonderful boyfriend on our first vacation to DC together.  I also worry, will I break this seat???  Ok, that's never happened but it worries me.  I HATE THAT!!!! Enough of the worries, now is the time I MUST get it together.  I have been trying on and off since January to work on my eating, portion control, and dieting, but I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times.  I think what will help is the support of this forum, which is why I'm here.  To get support and give it to people who understand my struggles. I have been contemplating WLS for awhile, though my DB (darling boyfriend) is against it.  His reasoning is simple...he's worried about the complications and has heard a lot of horror stories.  Anyway, I did take his feelings into account, but after reading about the complications and frankly worrying about the affects years down the road, I've decided to happily join the NON-OP journey.  I do know that there may come a time and if, after giving it 100% and not getting anywhere, I might have to revisit the WLS option.  Until then, I'm looking forward to getting to work on this and creating a new me. Melinda

Yay! Another Michigander! Woohoo. Where in Michigan are you from? Anyways welcome to the board! And good luck with your journey. We're all here to help. ---Christa

Hi Melinda.  That is one fat cat.  I have a 25 pounder named Stinky.  He is the biggest lover there is. I have broken a few chairs in my life.  It was not nice. We all fall off  the wagon but we have to keep our eye on the prize.  I'm glad you came to our forum.  Welcome to the family.  I hope you can find support, answers and humor here on this sight. 

Starting weight 320

Current weight 213

Goal weight 170?

Hi melinda! your story sounds very familiar to me...I thought I was 'fat' since I was in the second/third grade, I was even teased about it in grade school. I look back now at pictures and see how not fat I was and it makes me sad. If someone would have sat me down back then and taught me about self image and that I wasn't fat, and kids are just mean sometimes, maybe I would have turned out different? who knows.  I HAVE  broken more than my fair share of chairs, with much embarrassment. Several at work, in fact!   I've found this board to be a great  support system, a great group of people! Good luck on your journey and keep posting!!

What's up Melinda!  Welcome aboard!  After reading your intro, you'll fit in here just fine.  We all discuss our concerns as vividly as you do.  Best of luck!

Welcome!  We're a pretty close group and I think you'll learn plenty!  Glad to have you on board!

welcome!!!!  get out the towels...you will be spitting coffee/tea/water all over your keyboard too when Chris gets on a daily toot!

Helloooo Melinder Some reason the name Melinda always makes me think in Australian......I see you too are in search of the wild and illusive creature Skinnyassicus.......just kidding mate! Anyways, welcome home and good luck there are a lot of good people here that will help you on good and bad days!!!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!  Kitty kitty!!  I wanna pet it!!  :D  Love cats, especially the fat ones!  That one is beautiful!  Is he/she yours?? Welcome to the forum!  We're glad you joined!  I can't even begin to tell you how much of a help this forum has been for me.  I used to think I could do it on my own because "I" knew how to lose weight and ain't nobody gon' tell me what to do!  I was wrong.. well I mean I was right about the knowing how to lose weight.. I mean everyone knows how to lose weight right?  To a point I suppose.. What I didn't know is how to deal with all of the emotional struggles with losing weight.  That's where this forum has helped out the most.  Not only have I learned new things about eating right and exercising I've also learned about the proper ways to succeed and how to properly measure your progress (not just in pounds but in relation to personal change).  Learned how to stop beating myself up for my failures and rather understand what caused me to fail so I won't do it again. I could probably go on for miles about the various things I've learned from everyone here.  I'm sure you'll do the same if you haven't already.  Just wanted to let you know we're here for you!  Feel free to post any questions and definitely tell us about your current plan to lose the weight so we can critique it and make you feel like you don't know what you're doing!  JUST KIDDING!!!!  Seriously though, I found that typing out my plan or my eating habits helped me to truely understand how I felt about my plan.  I also got feedback on it and learned more about nutrition, even if I didn't take all of the advice. Typing it out made me realize the parts that I knew wouldn't be good for me that I had justified in my mind. Something about seeing it in writing that finalizes things.. Dunno! Good luck!