I accidentally posted this in my journal, not here, so I'm just copying & pasting!

Hey all, I think I'm ready to get serious about losing weight now.  I stared at myself in the mirror the other day for like 5 min. and really looked at myself.  I'm a male-26 years old- 5-10 and I weigh 340 lbs.  I don't remember what I was in High School, I was still fat then, but I looked pretty good compared to now.  In high school I was in weight lifting for 2 years, plus until I could drive, which was until my junior year, I rode my bike everywhere, including to work.  Now I've tried losing weight with my wife & coworkers-we have a competition, and every week if you gain, you put money in, you also pay like $5 to join-whoever loses the most gets the join money, biggest percentage of fat loss gets the penalty money.  We've done it like 4 or 5 times, and everytime I finish right back where I started, and by the time we start again, I've gained more weight.

So anyway, I've got a used bike that I tried to work on, but the seat tends to move, and only 1 set of gears work, and not that great.  I have a recumbent excercise bike, and a treadmill, but I'm too heavy for the treadmill to work.  I try to eat less, and my wife starts thinking I'm starving myself and tries to get me too eat more-even going to the length of eating less of her own food and saying-"well, you can have mine, I'm full".  We don't have a lot of extra money, so I can't afford a new bike, or a gym membership-I can't even afford to buy the good wholesome foods I would like to try.  I don't like most vegetables, which also doesn't help.

My wife thinks I'm fine the way I am-But I'm not happy the way I am-and I think I need some help-be it motivation or foods that will help that I will eat (I don't like hummis; and the only vegetables I can stand are baby spinach, corn, green beans & once in a while carrots.  I only like Dorothy lynch or honey mustard dressing.)  I just don't know what to do, but I want to get healthy for me-my wife and eventually any children we have.  I used to be a beanpole until my parents got divorced when I was a kid-then I ballooned.  I know I can be skinny again, I just need Help!  I do have some problems-I have hyperextended knees, flat feet, a few pinched nerves in my lower back, and I apparently suffer gout if I eat peanuts or oranges in regular quantities (haven't gone to the doctor on this, just have discovered it through eating).

Sorry for the long post-Hopefully someone out there can help; I love my wife, but she isn't very good about motivating me unfortunatly.

Oh also I work in advertising & in a 1 hour photoshop at a locally owned groc./dept. superstore-so not a lot of chance for excersing on the job; I run around the store sometimes, but not enough!  Thanks for reading!

Just coming here and asking for support is a great step in the right direction. Good for you.

You might want to talk with your wife about the health issues related to your weight. Although you are still relatively young, you will begin to see even more negative impacts of this amount of weight over time. You don't say if she has weight issues, but she may perceive your effort to lose as threatening even if she does NOT have her own weight issues. If you can, schedule an appointment for BOTH of you with a medical professional to discuss the health-related consequences of obesity. Even if you cannot get her "onboard," it needs to be clear that her active obstruction of your plans is a serious threat to  your health. This is not about whether or not you "look fine." It should not be her job to motivate you, however. Support is a nice bonus but not essential to the weight loss journey.

There are a couple of simple changes you can make that don't require any investment from anyone but you. Drink lots of water, starting now. I forget the "formula," but you can aim for 64 oz/plus (there is a formula that takes your weight into account). Also, start walking even if it is just 5 minutes/day right now. The goal is to make these two things into life-long habits, so start now and go slowly. The physical challenges you have will prevent you from doing much walking at first but should become less of a problem as you lose weight.

You could also start looking for low cost, healthy recipes online or at a book store. Use a day off to make a few meals that you can freeze (don't ask your wife to do this for you; do it yourself and you may even enjoy it). Make them in the portions you need or freeze them in the portions you need so that you don't have to worry about overeating. You may not like a lot of stuff, but with more exposure you can expand your palate to include a greater variety of foods. Seasonings can help a lot.  Just don't use a lot of extra salt!  

You could probably begin a weight lifting program right now, too, even using things around the house if you cannot afford a gym membership (YMCAs have sliding scales, so be sure to check into that). Check out the Fitness Forum for ideas on what you can use from around the house--there are some very clever folks there!! Building muscle will increase your basic metabolic rate (BMR) and help you burn more calories even at rest. You can taylor the weight training to your particular phycial limitations.

These are just some ideas off the top of my head. Good luck.

you sound a lot like me. Losing just to gain it back.  Everyone tells you, that you're perfect just the way you are but you're not happy.  My biggest suggestion is to change your entire life style. Now that sounds so daunting I know.  When my doctor said it to me i was like WTF! He suggested to make a list of things that would make my life style healthier.  For example, only have fast food once a month, or walk 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week.  I have my list on my profile and there are lot of ideas on this sight.  If you focus on one goal at a time then it becomes routine.  You get use to the change and you don't feel like you're depriving yourself. But I will warn you that results aren't immediate and it might take sometime to see any significant loses. The change is for the rest of your life and not just the few weeks you are on the "diet".

Sometimes people associate food with love, maybe that is why your wife is trying to give you her food. I have a friend and her grandma use to do the same thing. She would say, eat,eat eat and keep putting food on your plate. She meant well but as an over weight kid it did not help at all.

 You sound a lot like my sister. She is kind of a picky eater and no money for the health foods or gym. She always gets so frustrated with it. The only thing I can say is work with what you got. Walking is a great weight loss aid so is fiber. Eat a lot of fiber and drink lots of water. I never liked all the health foods either but slowly my husband and I started adding healthy foods and taking out bad ones and over 2.5 years we love all the healthy foods. We eat so many bean soups it is unreal. Just start off slow and I bet pretty soon you will be eating all that healthy food.

It took me 3 months to start to lose the weight once I started with the life style change but 2.5 years later I have lost 100 pounds. You can do it. Start with samll goals. Looking at the big picture can seem overwhelming. If you ever need any encouragement feel free to e-mail me. I would love to help.

First off I want to say kudos for being here! Just like mkculs said it is the first step in the right direction!!  Losing the weight and keeping it off is going to be a life time commitment, so you should look at it like a change in lifestyle and not a diet.  You are far too young to have all the health problems you have mentioned. My heart really goes out to you because I know how hard it can be.

I have a few suggestions that may help you out.  Do you have 99 cent stores in your area? If you do many of them do have some produce available so that is an option that you may want to look into.  Also things like brown rice, barley, and beans are very inexpensive if you buy them dried.  You can by chicken breasts with the skin on and bone in and you can remove the skin and bone before you prepare them.  Also watch the grocery store ads, sometimes they have very healthy foods on sale for great prices! 

If you can just make some small changes in your diet you will start to see some changes.  Cut out soda, and junk food, try not to eat fast food instead pack lunches and try to make meals at home.  Take a look at your diet and try to eliminate high calorie foods and try to find a healthy alternative. Even if you take these foods out one by one it will make a difference.  Good luck, keep us up to date on your progress.