Hi Kathleen,

Yes, a long long time to go. I started off at almost 300 myself, have done a
little yo-yo'ing, but now I'm really on-track. It takes determination, but
more than anything else it takes patience.

Losing weight, I think, boils down to two things. Having the gumption to
actually do it, and knowing enough about it to get the job done.

Do you know all about how calories work? Do you know how many calories you
burn off in a day? If not, there are calorie calculators and weight loss
calculators all over the Internet. And, hey, exercise isn't necessary but it
does help.

There are so many diets out there - books and websites - that are just crap.
If you haven't done so, you need to go on a knowledge quest. Learn how to
measure everything you eat and accurately count calories. Its not hard to
do. Thinking about it is harding then doing it, really it is.

Low-carb diets work quite well, too. I'm on a low-carb diet myself. Low-carb
is a different way of looking at things, and you count grams of
carbohydrates rather than calories. In the end, though, you still have to
limit your food choices, eat less food then your body uses, and stick with
it for the long haul -- that is the only way to lose.

You also have to be willing to commit to changing your lifestyle in terms of
the way you eat. You have to sign up for the lifetime program. Otherwise you
will forever lose weight, go back to pigging out, gain weight, go back on a
diet... so much stress and life is so short: commit yourself to beating this
thing and you will win.

Thanks for getting back on my questions -- to me, that says you're serious
about this & wanting to get started. I guess my next question would be, do
you have a solid plan for losing this weight, such as, "I'm going to eat x
amount of calories/carbs per day, and eat these particular kinds of foods in
such-and-such quantities"? Or do you need a bit of assistance with your
planning? Hey, if you have planned things out, btw, tell us what you're
doing. A reality check of any plan you may have or come up with won't hurt
one bit, & you're likely to get some really great suggestions.

In either case, you've come to the right place. I'm rootin' for you!