I’ve been overweight my entire life. I’m 30, F, 5’6” and on 02/11 I weighed 313 pounds. I have hypothyroidism and PCOS working against me. I, like every other fat person on the planet, have tried dieting. I’ve tried starving. I’ve tried bulimia, exercising until I couldn’t walk the next day, diet pills, laxatives, meal replacement shakes.

I can usually lose 5-10 pounds but it’s never been maintainable because I cave to cravings. I’m currently 288. I haven’t weighed below 300 since I was a teenager. I’m excited with the weight I lost and I feel like I’ve finally found a meal plan that I can maintain.

I’ve been doing one lean, protein-based meal a day, usually between 10am-12pm and fast for the rest of the day. I don’t think I as an individual can make good choices throughout a day and not overeat or snack to the point of it being a detriment. I can, however, eat one good meal and when I’m craving sweets or wanting to snack I can have a green tea and tell myself I have x hours until bed and I then I can eat again tomorrow.

My clothes fit better, I’m feeling full after eating smaller portions, and I’m not carrying as much overwhelming guilt for taking up space as I normally do. I want to get to 250 pounds. I would be happy there. I care about the way I look of course but I care most about how I feel. I’ve recently fallen in love with nature and hiking and I have my first international trip planned for late April, which is what inspired me to start dieting again. I was worried I wouldn’t fit in the plane seats (never flown before) and I’d make the person next to me uncomfortable. I feel like if I keep going and can lose around 3 pounds a week those fears will be alleviated and I will feel better when I go hiking on vacation.

Thank you for reading if you did! I don’t really have any friends I can talk to about it because I’m scared I’ll jinx it or they’ll start paying attention to my body which makes me uncomfortable.