However, my husband got diagnosed with MS, I was stressed and needed some 'me' time, I felt helpless and wanted to do something that was slightly worthwhile. So I signed up for a marathon. And I have never been overweight, but I've never been fit or a runner, either.

I'm doing my marathon on September 28th. It's going to suck, but I have stuck to my training for an entire year. You just have to get on with it. Start small – run 30 secs, walk 4mins and 30secs. Build up your running each week. Running is the best thing for weight loss – it's fully weight-bearing, so your body is going to burn the most energy. Get sorted with proper running shoes – they're the only thing you'll have to spend money on. Get outside. Do it in the early mornings if you don't want to look like a dork (or just get over that whole thing – people look at you far less than you might assume, I've realised!)

You will feel so much better if you lose some excess weight and get a little fitter. Stick with it. Good luck!

I know it's the opposite of what everyone else says, but I actually weigh myself every day. I input my daily weights into the excel program from the site (it doesn't work with excel 2007, I reinstalled 2000 to use it), and get the average trend chart, so I can watch the trend of my weight instead of the actual daily weight. It's really comforting to me to see the trend stay stable, even when the scale fluctuates by as much as five pounds from day to day. It allows me to keep track of where my body really is, while taking away the power of the scale to make me feel like shit.

I guess whether that helps you depends on your mood and how much you obsess over the scale number.

The biggest help to me on the mental/emotional side of things is Linda(Miss Alli)'s old weight loss essays at "Losing the Cow"

http://tiny.cc/r63PY

This is my Fat Girl Bible. I read it over and over and OVER again, I feel like it explains so much of what I'm thinking and feeling far better than I ever could. In all seriousness I consider it lifechanging.

Good luck, I'm right there with you.

"I counted cleaning up cat barf as a point once, though, so you may not want to be as generous with the definitions as I am."

Hee!

If you have it in your area, look into Jazzercise. Yes, it made me feel like I was working out with 30 "moms" but you can't find a more enthusiastic and supportive group anywhere, and it really is a decent workout.

I also agree with everyone who has voted for finding ways to work out at home. I live in LA, and I refuse to join a gym here. There's just…no way I can exercise near the beautiful people. Way too much noise in my head around actually getting myself moving to add on the hubris of being surrounded by superhumans and actressy-types. Yuck. A pile of free wights, a stability ball, and a hilly neighborhood are fine for me.

One food recommendation I can make and vouch for is to figure out what kinds of stumbling blocks you know you have and find workarounds. For instance, I finally figured out that 3pm is a killer time for me. I can be moving and grooving through my day, making smart food choices, but 3pm hits and I'm raiding the vending machine for Twix. I knwe I was getting bingey every day, but it took me a little while to realize it happens at the same *time* every day. So I rearranged by meal timing and stocked bmy office with gum. Now, when the 3pm hungries hit, I have some alternatives at hand and (probably more importantly) I *know* it's coming and can talk myself through it. Same thing with water. I know drinking a full 8 or whatever is great, but I just wasn't getting there. Then I realized I hate refilling the damned glass all the time. So I got a couple of nalgenes with oz markers on the side. Now, not only does one last me a while, but I can see quantifiable progress (ala "Drained that thing 3 times – that's 72 ounces, bitches!!"). Whether it's hard candies in your purse, taking a different route home to keep from passing a Jack in the Box, or filling your fridge with low-fat cottage cheese….figure out proactive ways around your tough spots and you can keep yourself on track with aplomb.

Best of luck – weight loss is a bitch, but it feels really good when you get there. Admire yourself. Love yourself. Believe that you can do this and do it solely for you.

It all turned around when I discovered that, for me (I have PCOS), I needed to be following a lower-glycemic approach to eating. I made a few changes (exchanged jasmine rice for basmati, cut back on heavily refined foods – but not pasta, halleluiah, cut out any kind of soda) and slowly, slowly the weight started to come off – even after I stopped exercising like a fiend. I had been hoping just to halt the inexorable rise in weight, so imagine how pleased I was that it started reversing! I'm pretty stable, now, and much happier. I don't feel deprived, because I only TRY follow the low glycemic approach for about 75% of meals.

It kind of boils down to, WHAT one is eating can be really important, even if it isn't something obviously laden with sugar and fat.