I'm really glad I found this forum. I think that people that are 100 and 200 pounds overweight are in a very different situation than people that are 30 or 60 pounds overweight.

Personally, I think that obesity has many causes ranging from poor self-discipline to serious medical conditions. By having a forum that is focused on the seriously overweight, we are likely to be interacting with people that are suffering from the same or similar root causes and so the approaches and experiences that we share are probably more relevent.

I think that it is also the case that we have a significantly different mindset. Being 60 pounds overweight put few restrictions on my life - at 240 I could run a 7 minute mile and could run 5 miles nonstop. But at 380 I can walk about six miles max nonstop and the slightest hills are a challenge. There are very few physically active things I CAN do. We also have to deal with a longer time horizon. It's one thing to look forward to reaching your final goal in three months. It's another when you realize that a couple of years is more likely.

Our progress is also much different. I need and want to try to determine what are realistic weight loss rates and I can't do that knowing how fast people that are 25% overweight lose - not when I am fully 100% overweight.

I really looking forward to sharing experiences with people in a similar boat.