Hi, my name is Rose and, as you can guess from my user name, I am from Ohio. I am 52 and single. I have a job that pays the bills and that I (mostly) enjoy, a house that needs a little work, and a cat who keeps me company.
I doubt my story is anything new to those posting there.
I have always thought of myself as pretty overweight. The sad part about that statement is that I never went over 140 pounds (I'm 5'5") until I was out of college and working and living on my own. All that time I was starving myself to get to 115, I should have been simply walking more and doing some toning up. When people see my college pictures now, they talk about the "skinny girl".
Once on my own the weight creeped on until 1978 when I got a walking schedule and dropped about 30 pounds. I was then within 3 pounds of my weight goal of 125 (as set by Weight Watchers).
For the couple of years I was in pretty good shape but, due to my continued preoccupation with being model thin, I didn't think so.
Then, I hit a year of being underemployed and went up to 160+.
I got a job with Girl Scouts then and, thanks to odd work hours, too many work hours and an abundance of Thin Mints available, I added another 80 pounds.
Now I work for a local technical college both as staff and as an adjunct faculty member. Better hours and a wonderful natural setting to work in every day.
Twice in the last 7 years, I made serious efforts to lose weight. The first time, I successful completed the first couple of weeks of the South Beach Diet. On the 14 day, I even had breakfast with my Dad and stayed within the guidelines while eating out. He died later that day. He was 89, in pretty good health for his age, and loved life to the fullest. Thankfully his passing was simply a case of his not waking up.
Although the event pretty much threw me off the diet, the funeral and dealing with his estate kept me busy enough over the next few weeks that I managed to drop a total of 35 pounds at that time. Inevitably, I put about 20pounds back on.
Two years later, I tried again. (Ok, I did try again earlier, but only made it through a couple of days.) That time, I not only completed the two weeks but successfully transitioned for several months getting down another 30 pounds. Then my employer decided it was time to restructure and my job (and salary) radically changed (and not for the better). Maple fudge becames a food staple for me and I gained the weight plus 10 back.
For the last two years, I have had it in mind that, if I try to diet, something horrible is going to happen. Silly, but I have thought that.
This past year, I have had a lot of respiratory problems (which turned out to be related to a large thryoid goiter in my chest that I was unaware was there). I have had a problem with one knee for several years. For the first time, I started to worry about my ability to continue to care for myself. Problem was that I was also feeling completely unable to help myself - I couldn't face another "diet".
Then, two weeks ago, I took a gift card to a bookstore and used it to buy "Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork" by Governor Mike Huckabee. He had lost over 100 pounds after becoming governor. The book deals with behaviors - not specifically what you can eat and what you can't. For some reason, the way he discussed the issue clicked with me.
The first behavior on his list was "Stop Procastinating". Fortunately, in the course of having surgery to remove the previously mentioned goiter just a few months ago, I have been through all the medical tests and know that my heart is sound and I am (other than the weight) basically healthy. The day after reading the book, I started changing how I ate.
For my plan, I picked "no white flour, not white sugar". In addition, I focused on getting at least 5 fruits and vegetables each day and drinking 16 oz of skim milk. Finally, I decided to not beat myself up over the little points. I needed to GET STARTED. I know that many products contain both white flour and white sugar, but I decided to not focus on that at this time. I was eating whole bags of Halloween candy and a roll of croissants with butter in an evening of TV watching. THAT'S what I need to change right away. Each day of the first twelve days, there was a task to do from the book.
I was surprised by what happened next. Apparently white sugar/white flour are huge triggers for me. In 5 days, I was walking with less pain on no medication than I previously had with 5-6 Advil everyday. Virtually all the swelling in my ankles, legs, and hands is gone. Work slacks I bought the same day I bought the book are loose. I didn't get measurements because, frankly, I thought it would depress me more, but now I sort of wish that I had. While I am glad about losing 10 pounds in the last couple of weeks, the real benefit has been loosing the bloated, puffy feeling. Movement in general is easier and I have much more energy.
The best thing is that I don't feel like I am on a diet. I know I have a long way to go, but I am committed to celebrating the steps and taking a long term view of the situation. Getting healthier is what is important.
I look forward to talking to all of you.
And the best of luck to you!