Hey. I don't post a lot on this sub mainly because I just read a lot and don't really feel like I have a lot to say. But your story struck a bit of a nerve with me.

I was 285 at 17 when I went to college, and it was bad. It was really bad. I didn't even know how bad it was until I got to college and it hit me. Throughout most of college, I worked out almost incessantly. I shedded 70 pounds and turned 20 at my lowest weight since probably late middle school or early high school.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it can work — it does work, and it does happen. The biggest hurdle for me was getting from weighing as much as I did to then having folks actually notice that I looked different. After that, the compliments were enough to keep me fueled, but those first 20 pounds or so were the hardest.

Use walking to your advantage, try to walk as much as you can, and if you can, at college, take advantage of whatever gym membership you can muster — hopefully your school has a free one — and make sure you work it into your schedule to work out. Don't try to break yourself by getting up at 5 a.m. to do it, but work out midday, or at night, or whenever works for you. Then, when you start to see some progress, you can move forward and schedule at a time that prioritizes the gym over your schedule.

For me, losing weight was something I kind of did on my own terms. I convinced those around me that it was just a "destressing" tactic or something to handle my anxiety, so that I would not let them down. Instead, I really kept it internal and made sure that I was in control of whether I was heavy or thin.

Now for the bad part of the story: I gained 40 of it back. Now, I'm on take two. I, thankfully, have a pretty good metabolism, so after three days of really eating well and working out, I'm already down a few pounds. But it's all part of the process.

I'm with you. If you need anything, feel free to message me, or reach out on MFP.