Oh noes, the scale. >.<

[kyoshi]

I've been trying to loose weight for like...ever. Seriously. I can never seem to do it.

The only time I lost a significant amount of weight (18 lbs) was when I was practically starving myself. And I can't really do it...theres no way I could force myself to become anorexic-like, because I <3 food too damn much.  x.x

I've tried many different things, like crash diets, starving, South Beach...nothing seems to want to work with me.

I'm 5'5" and probably around 180 or so pounds. Disgusting, really.
But! I know I'd be a lot happier if I lost weight...it would reduce the size of my chest (at least, I hope it would) and thats something I would DEFINITELY enjoy. ^^ And my mom also promised me that if I lost a significant amount of weight, she'd take me out shopping for a bunch of new clothes. And these things don't seem to help provoke me enough to do it. There are even more things that should motivate me, but...it just seems to slip my mind when theres a plate of food in front of me.

So is there anything...and tips, tricks, or diets out there you think might work for me? I'm aiming to become as andrygenous(sp?) as possible.

And sorry if this doesn't make much sense. @_@ My brain is more-or-less fried today.

[Susan]

Cutting portion sizes and increasing your activity levels is your best bet.

[Dennis]

I agree, increased activity will help. Weightlifting will build lean muscle mass that will consume more calories. If you try and do it with a special "diet", you'll just feel like you're denying yourself and will return to old habits as soon as you relax vigilance.

With starting activity, don't try and do it all at once. Start small. Make 15-30 minutes of your day available for a walk. Then you can build more things in or different things in once you make that a part of your routine.

And look at your eating habits. Is there something you can do with less of, or add more foods with fiber, like raw vegetables? But don't do starvation or crash diets or anything like that. You'll gain more back than you lost. It really messes with your metabolism.

fitday.com has good exercise and consumption charts that will help you keep track if that would help. It's taken me two years, but I've gone from a flabby out of shape 192 pounds to about 165 of muscle (mind you, testosterone helped with the muscle part, but I work out for an hour, three days a week for weightlifting, and I go for a 45 minute walk every day). And I'm 5'5" too, so I started out worse than you

Dennis