[hummingbird lady]

Hi, I found this site because I am just starting the "Eat Thin, Lose Weight" diet. I got inspired after watching the author's docu-series on "Broken Brain" neurological health. I need to lose about 25-30 lbs, which has been something I've been trying to do (or agonizing about) for seven years. I got a stressful job seven years ago and to cope I started to perfect my baking skills (particularly layered cakes) and the carbs helped my depression and angst about having a stressful job. Now my job is fine, low key, and not that stressful, and I am very conscious about maintaining a low stress lifestyle. But I never really recovered from the Year of Cakes. And last year I had to have knee surgery for an old injury and the deterioration in my knee makes it impossible to do a lot of walking (my old form of exercise was hiking and dancing, both of which cause too much knee pain now). My knee doctor is always telling me that for every extra pound I carry it's about 5 lbs extra pressure on my knee when I walk. So that's like 75 lbs of extra weight pressure on my knee. So I want to lose this weight for a lot of reasons: vanity, my knee, health, and because I'm tired of looking in the mirror and seeing my face that looks like I'm back in 8th grade.

Anyway, I joined the YMCA with my husband about two months ago and I am going there three days a week and doing an aerobic kind of physical therapy in the pool for my knee for about 40 minutes. Sometimes I dance a little in my living room on a spongey yoga mat (to take some of the shock off my joints). I find that dancing to old Bob Segar songs can really get me going. I'm 45, peri-menopausal, 5'8", 186lbs. I need to get down to less than 160. I don't know what my ideal weight is, because I think I need to just get to 160 and see how I feel and look. I try not to pay too much attention to those statistical numbers that say a person should weigh this or that.

I am hoping to feel inspired by these forums. I decided to join because I read some really nice replies in a couple of threads and it seems like a good community. I am in a longterm relationship with a skinny man who eats whatever, so sometimes I feel like I am kind of alone in my efforts to really make the changes and feel the emotional and internal energy for that kind of change. My partner is willing to do a modified version of the diet with me (for health for him), so that is helpful.

Thanks for creating this space, and I wish you all a very wonderful day.