I hear you Che2! I have also gained 30 pounds the last few years and it just stuck on me. I hate being this over weight but can't get my family motivated with me. My husband is also a little over weight but will not work out and eats what he wants. I have one teen left at home who is a small eater anyway and very fit. I feel alone in my pudgy misery but lack the motivation to work out alone. I agree we need to take better care of us! Now what?

first stop is myfitnesspal.com
sign up for an account
the next is a good kitchen scale
and that is all you need
mfp is a great tool with lots of people on there to motivate you and an active forum as well

if you are the sort of person that cooks all your meals from scratch then the recipe feature is brilliant - it allows you to input all the foods and calculates the calories for you time consuming in the beginning but as time goes by it is less so

serve yourself smaller portions but with bigger portions of non starchy veggies if your portion looks too small add in a side salad

and good luck - not that you will need it :)

If you are doing the cooking and baking for your family, you have a lot of control. If you prepare meals that will help you lose weight, your family will probably go along. There are lots of easy substitutions you can make that they will not notice, things like substituting ground turkey for ground beef; using whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta, brown rice for white, and whole wheat bread products instead of white; upping the vegetable contents of all dishes; having more salad; having fresh fruit for dessert instead of something baked, etc. You can do things like prepare dishes without inredients like cheese or butter, and provide those items on the side for the non-dieters to use. You can also learn to make "lean" baked goods - there are lots of good recipes out there that bring the calories of desserts way down. I encourage you to think creatively about the foods you make.