Ok, well now I got the ticker figured out, I'll tell you a little about myself.
I have been a yo yo dieter for many years - been through all the ups & downs, with my best success being about 15 years ago when I exercised my brains out and lost about 75 pounds, both through diet and exercise - but the crazy thing is I was exercising 2-3 hours every single day for years - to get it off and try to keep it off -and still struggled constantly with about a 15 pound fluctuation. I kept it mostly off for about 5-6 years - as long as I did the excessive exercise. I then started a job that just took over my life and I got out of my exercise habits and gradually gained it all back - and then some.
Now here I am some years later, so fat and miserable and really feeling the toll it is taking on my health. The worst part is my knees have gotten so bad and painful it is all I can do to walk around the house and yard. It makes it really hard to do any kind of exercise, and the job I am doing is very sedentary - sitting at a desk all day - which is good that I am able to still work, in spite of the pain, but doesn't help the weight issue one bit. I expect that if I could get a chunk of the weight off the knee pain would improve some and make it easier to do more exercise - but that means I have to really stick to a diet for a long while without the benefits of exercise to even get to that point. I know it is possible to lose slowly even without exercise - it just takes dedication and willpower to stick to it even when the scale is moving very slowly. Bike riding is even painful, but I am thinking about having my hubby move the exercise bike in out of the garage (where it will be too hot in the summer to use) and just bite the bullet on the pain and use it some.
My immediate goal: I would love to lose 15-20 pounds over the next 2 months so when we go on vacation I can buckle the airplane seatbelt! Last year I could buckle it on some of the flights and not on others and hid the unbuckled ends under my shirt on some flights - just could not face the embarrassment of not being able to buckle it and to ask for an extender or something. Of course there are all the other reasons too that I would love to lose some before this big vacation - clothes to fit better, walk with less difficulty, look a little better, etc etc.
Knowing how to diet is not the issue. I have used a variety of diets at different times, and I know a lot of different things work - if you stick to them. Sticking to is has been my problem. I can stick to it for 2-3 weeks and then end up getting discouraged or stumble and cannot get motivated to get right back on.
Hopefully with the encouragement here I can do better!!! I want to watch my ticker "tick down", help my health and appearance, and feel better about myself. It has gotten to the point that both my health and my appearance are keeping me from participating in things in life - activities I enjoy, and also going places and seeing people sometimes because I am so embarrassed to look this way.
Well I have rambled enough - told you more than you want to know I'm sure - but I will keep you posted here on my progress and maybe this little accountability will help me stick with it.