Your goal is very doable! I'm just an inch or so taller than you and lost 65 pounds and have kept it off for over 5 years. I started while on numerous medications including anti-depressants, and in perimenopause. Lots of strikes against success, but I too felt desperate and like I had reached rock bottom.

One good thing about feeling like you are at the bottom of a dark hole is that the light is at the top- you sure don't want to stay there, the the only way out is up.

Unlike what Jay suggested, I needed to make a total break with my past. NO more junk, no more extra eating to feel better (boy that really doesn't work in the long run!), no more sugar or "whites" and regular daily exercise.

You don't need your ankle right now to exercise. Running or walking isn't the only kind of exercise available. Take a look in our Ladies Who Lift Forum and check out the Resistance Band Workout. Skip most of the lower body work that puts any weight on your ankle (and wear that brace!). All you need is one or two bands cheaply puchased just about anywhere. A stability ball would be useful too. They are under $20. You can do upper body work, abs, and some lower body with the brace on. You can change your eating.

You're right- on us shorties who carry our weight in the middle, 50 pounds looks like 100. The really positive flip side, is that is really is 40-50 and NOT 100!

Mel