Hello. I am new to this site and am looking for some support as I begin my diet. First a little about me. I am 46 years old, happily married for 27 years, mother of 2 no longer kids ages 25 and 21 and a proud grandmother of 1. I am 5'11" and have generally been average to very thin with a few heavy periods in my adult life, mostly following childbirth. In October 2010 I had spinal fusion surgery due to some fractures, disk herniation and severe spinal stenosis. On the day of surgery I also quit smoking after being a 2 pack a day smoker for decades. Recovery was long and painful and although I returned to work 3 months after surgery I have chronic pain. I am happily still a nonsmoker. Unfortunately all of these factors along with post surgical depression helped me go from a thin 147 prior to surgery to my current 180. I am disgusted with how I look, and I don't like how I feel. My goal is to get back to 150, which is a comfortable place for me. My weakness is evening snacking! I am ashamed that I have not been able to stick to a diet for more than a few days. How can I quit smoking and yet not stick to a diet? I have an added incentive to lose this weight. We are in the process of putting in an inground pool and I would love to be able to enjoy it next summer without worrying about covering myself up! I am determined to get back to my old self. I don't like myself very much right now and am tired of feeling this way.

Hi there, and welcome to the boards - this is definitely a supportive and informative place!

I had emergency back surgery myself back in Jan 2006 after severely herniating 2 discs in my back - I couldn't even sit down because I felt like someone was stabbing me and then I started losing feeling in my legs - ack! I've also had 3 knee surgeries due to old sports injuries. I'm kind of a mess!

I know you feel great about your weight gain or how you look, but 30 lbs is definitely doable, even with back issues. I was trying to put off double knee replacement and almost 80 lbs later, I definitely have less back & knee pain. It's not gone and I still ache, sometimes outright HURT, but I keep plugging away.

Have you decided what approach you'll take to getting fit?

If you can quit smoking.......trust me........you've got it in you to tackle weight loss, take it from someone who has struggled with both. Just have to find the right diet for you

Welcome!

What are you doing to try to stick to a diet? What have you done to help keep yourself on track? Make yourself accountable? Do you exercise? Do you weigh yourself?

I'll give you a little background.... a couple of years ago, I decided I was going to lose weight, but I didn't weigh myself. I thought I'd go by the feel of my clothes, but that didn't work. I'd see no change, and dive in to a bag of donuts. I was spinning my wheels and not going anywhere until I started with an actual plan.... diets, calorie counting and weighing myself.

So I've done a variety of diets to keep the losses coming. The thing I've found most helpful through it all is weighing myself every day, weighing and measuring all of my food, and keeping track of what I eat. For me, that number on the scale is what shows me progress and keeps me going. The daily weigh is what keeps me accountable, however, some people find it discouraging and choose to weigh less often. The weighing and measuring of food, and tracking my calories gives me boundaries, and has helped me to recognize where I was sabotaging myself. I can't keep grabbing one candy anymore, over and over again, or just a little of this and a handful of that, and wonder why I'm not losing.... now I account for it and it helps me make better choices.

You know evening snacking is your weakness, so have you tried healthy snacks, like vegetables? I know, not the same as some other snack foods, but it could help. Maybe you'd like cheesy rice cakes instead of Cheetos, or nuts and fruit instead of sweets. I find it helpful to weigh or measure my portion, account for it in my daily calories, and then stick with that. Maybe I end up going over sometimes, but the act of portioning out and calculating calories has really helped me set boundaries for myself. I love to snack in the evening too, but do it less and less. With the various calorie counting apps out there, keeping track of calories is so easy!

I quit smoking around 4 years ago and I've never looked back.