Hello to everyone!
I'm back on the wagon after several years of unwise diet-related choices interspersed with (at best) haphazard dieting.

I started The Simple Diet yesterday. I've been very slender and
very heavy and all phases in between several times. I wasn't a heavy
kid by today's standards, but I wasn't a skinny one either. I didn't really
have a major weight problem until my 20s, and I've been yo-yo dieting
ever since, going from an old size 6 to a size 3x repeatedly. Crazy!

Even though my history has repeated, I do believe that people can change, truly and deeply change, and that I can too. I know that it will take work,
effort, dedication, patience, and planning to implement those changes. I truly want to be healthy and to feel pretty again. It's been too long.

I have a long way to go but bit by bit I know I can get there. I've accomplished this before. I want to be wiser this time, smarter, to incorporate more deeply these lessons and stop repeating, already. I just want to be healthy and to enjoy my life.

I hope to be able to come to this board for support and understanding, and to offer it as well. Thank you for reading!

Hi I think it's great that you have had the energy to go back after gaining weight. Sometimes it's so difficult to keep trying. You obviously encompass the ability to lose weight, it's just a matter of sticking to it from here on out - something we all struggle with (at least I do). Good luck and I hope to see/read/hear/cheer about your progress.

Hi Pattience, hi Sophia's Mom -
Thanks to you both for your replies.
So far, so good at 3 days in. I'm a little more tired than usual,
but for the most part not too hungry.

What am I doing differently?
I'm doing The Simple Diet, which I haven't tried previously. It's easy
to follow. I love cooking for other people and especially for holiday events,
but I live by myself, and cooking for myself is really pretty boring. This diet involves three shakes daily plus two diet frozen meals, and 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. You can consume more than that, but that is the fundamental plan. I'm using Spiru-tein shakes. That product line is new to me and I like it, though I'm coming to feel that it's not quite as filling and not quite as tasty as the HMR shakes I've used in the past. The nutrition, is very comparable, but HMR is enormously more expensive, so I'm trying to hang in with these new shakes instead.

I'm keeping track of my intake. I count all calories except I allow myself a little 2% milk in my morning coffee and if I have tea at night, I also have that with milk. Between the 2-3 cups I put milk in daily, I'd say I probably drink between 1/4 - 1/2 cup of 2%.

I'm not yet exercising. I know that I will, but I am sore and tired. In the past, when I've hit critical mass and subsequently dieted, I didn't exercise either for the first few weeks, until I was feeling a little lighter and less stressed physically. When I get thin enough - under 200 pounds - I will resume my old habit of walking an hour or so a day. I understand that many people will feel I should exercise more right away, but I know this will work for me. To move more when everything hurts is no fun. As long as I am disciplined and manage to work to my goal, it won't be long before I'll be able to move with much more ease. I am hypothyroid, which doesn't help, but the fatigue and soreness are manageable once my weight is within a more normal range.

Overall I am just determined to recover my energy, my willingness to socialize more spontaneously, and my looks. I've been reading more about impulse control and delayed gratification, and have had some insights into my own tendencies as a result of that reading. It has helped.

I am in the beginning of my journey this time, and want to do everything I can to help myself to remain healthy and slender once I reach my goal. I think that will be a process as the scale counts down.

Thanks again for your kind comments and good wishes. I wish you both much success and happiness on your own paths!