[LoraH]

Hi everyone. This is my first day here, so I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Lora, and I am living in Kansas. I am 38 years old, married and have 2 teenage daughters.

I have been overweight since I was about 8 or 9. I was up to about 200 by the time I started high school, and about 275 at the end of high school. After having my kids I went up to 350, and then after a divorce I went back down to 280. That was 10 years ago. I gained back up to about 300, and stayed there for about 8 years. A couple of years ago some health issues kept me in bed for about 2 and a half months, during which time I gained a bunch, and my weight went up to 375. I am at 380 now and I hate it.

I want to lose weight so that I can move comfortably and live longer. I still have health issues that make things difficult, but I am sure that as I lose weight some of it will get better.

My husband is also obese. My kids are not overweight, but struggle to stay at a normal weight.

The way that we feel is best for us to lose weight, is to increase our activity and exercise and to eat healthy. We have started eating boneless, skinless chicken breasts and ground turkey for most of the meat we have, and have cut beef down to only eating it if we are somewhere else that is serving it. We have also increased fruits and veggies and healthy stuff.

After a 25 year habit, I have been cigarette free for about 5 months. Yay! Since giving them up, I have noticed that veggies taste much better to me than they used to.

My weak spots are that I crave sweets too much, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE bread and cheese. I have stopped buying store bought bread and use a bread machine to make all of our bread now. I also use it to make pizza crust. I use whole wheat flour for much of it, but do use some white flour too.

I am rambling now. Sorry. I tend to do that a lot, as I don't talk to many people in person. I have agoraphobia and do not leave my house unless it is for a doctor appointment or something very important with my kids. My husband and I work from home as well, so really I don't talk to many people.

I look forward to finding some new friends here, and information and support while I try to get rid of some of this disgustingly heavy fat that is taking me over.