jlynne
New member
llo to all of you here at WLF. As you may know, I’ve been around for a few months now but am just getting around to creating my diary. I’ve wanted to do this for a while but it’s hard to know where to start.
I’ll begin with the easy stuff. I’m 48 years old, happily married, and mom to 3 grown kids. I’m on a two year assignment in China, and have just completed my first year of living outside the U.S. Interesting process! My goal is to lose 34 pounds and after that we’ll see if 128 is a good final stop. In the long run, my goal is to lose the weight and then to really get disciplined about my body fat percentage.
About 5 years ago I underwent treatment for a lump in my right breast. The surgery and recovery were tough times. Immediately following this, I had a mole removed from my back that was diagnosed as melanoma. Underwent some very different treatment but came out with a clean bill of health. Until the second lump showed up…...So, overall it was just 3 years of a medical nightmare. The end result being that I was about 35 pounds overweight, physically and emotionally worn out, and really, royally pissed off. Doctors send you home with a comment that you need to drop some weight…………
So I spent the past two years just being angry, frustrated, and more than anything, disgusted with myself for feeling such apathy. So it’s a downward spiral and a self-feeding frenzy of negativity. Intellectually, I have known that I need to lose the extra weight. Problem has been that emotionally or mentally, I just was not prepared to take on the challenge. (I think this is Steve’s answer on why it’s so hard: to succeed you need to be intellectually, mentally, and emotionally prepared to succeed. Getting and then keeping all of this balanced every day is the hard part…..) Sorry, I digress.
A few months ago I decided that I’m ready to move forward. I’m committed to making the changes that are needed to be happy and healthy. Overall, I know what I need to do and I’m able to do it. The plan right now is fairly simple, eat fewer calories, make healthier choices, and exercise. When I reach my goal weight, I’m going to focus on dropping my body fat into a lower range because it’s a small piece of the puzzle I can control in trying to guard against future health problems. (I do not know why I’m now prepared, and before was not. If I could figure this out, I would really have the answer on why it’s so hard………...and then I would bottle it up and share with everyone!)
The WLF site has been a great help to me. The diaries are so motivating to read through, and are largely filled with people who are “in the zone” of being intellectually, emotionally, and physically prepared to succeed. You are all so awesome! I’ve already been able to really use so much of what is here...I’ve posted threads on my refrigerator to help me, borrowed recipes or snack ideas from a ton of diaries, or just enjoyed reading the successes because they provide reason to believe.
To all of you “walkers” who help support finding a cure, a very sincere and deep-felt thank you.
Sorry for the long post, but I'll get more concise in future notes!
I’ll begin with the easy stuff. I’m 48 years old, happily married, and mom to 3 grown kids. I’m on a two year assignment in China, and have just completed my first year of living outside the U.S. Interesting process! My goal is to lose 34 pounds and after that we’ll see if 128 is a good final stop. In the long run, my goal is to lose the weight and then to really get disciplined about my body fat percentage.
About 5 years ago I underwent treatment for a lump in my right breast. The surgery and recovery were tough times. Immediately following this, I had a mole removed from my back that was diagnosed as melanoma. Underwent some very different treatment but came out with a clean bill of health. Until the second lump showed up…...So, overall it was just 3 years of a medical nightmare. The end result being that I was about 35 pounds overweight, physically and emotionally worn out, and really, royally pissed off. Doctors send you home with a comment that you need to drop some weight…………
So I spent the past two years just being angry, frustrated, and more than anything, disgusted with myself for feeling such apathy. So it’s a downward spiral and a self-feeding frenzy of negativity. Intellectually, I have known that I need to lose the extra weight. Problem has been that emotionally or mentally, I just was not prepared to take on the challenge. (I think this is Steve’s answer on why it’s so hard: to succeed you need to be intellectually, mentally, and emotionally prepared to succeed. Getting and then keeping all of this balanced every day is the hard part…..) Sorry, I digress.
A few months ago I decided that I’m ready to move forward. I’m committed to making the changes that are needed to be happy and healthy. Overall, I know what I need to do and I’m able to do it. The plan right now is fairly simple, eat fewer calories, make healthier choices, and exercise. When I reach my goal weight, I’m going to focus on dropping my body fat into a lower range because it’s a small piece of the puzzle I can control in trying to guard against future health problems. (I do not know why I’m now prepared, and before was not. If I could figure this out, I would really have the answer on why it’s so hard………...and then I would bottle it up and share with everyone!)
The WLF site has been a great help to me. The diaries are so motivating to read through, and are largely filled with people who are “in the zone” of being intellectually, emotionally, and physically prepared to succeed. You are all so awesome! I’ve already been able to really use so much of what is here...I’ve posted threads on my refrigerator to help me, borrowed recipes or snack ideas from a ton of diaries, or just enjoyed reading the successes because they provide reason to believe.
To all of you “walkers” who help support finding a cure, a very sincere and deep-felt thank you.
Sorry for the long post, but I'll get more concise in future notes!
