First time I've ever joined a community for encouragement while trying to lose weight. I just turned 39, have given birth 8 times (oldest is 25 and youngest is 9). After my youngest I buckled down and got into shape pretty easily and now it's harder. I have RA and my depression/anger over the diagnosis has seen my 5'2 frame become 205 pounds. My highest last year was 228 and although I did lose weight to 199 a couple months ago I am beginning to fluctuate between 200-210. I cut out processed sugar 5 years ago including all soft drinks. I limit red meats or pork to once every 2 weeks. I eat meatless twice a week. My usual daily calorie intake is around 900-1200 calories with a slip up day where I do eat around 1400 a few times a month. I began cardio/strength training last week and it's HORRIBLE lol. I have to take every other day off because I find myself incapable of even walking without severe joint pain but I'm not giving up. My goal is not tone the "ideal" weight I keep being told of 130 but to be a me healthy 150.

I think 900-1200 calories is too little. Even if you don't exercise much, you should eat at least 1200 calories a day. If you exercise about 4 times a week, you should eat at least 1400 calories a day, and you can still lose weight at a fast rate. Quality is more important than quantity.

It's good that you cut out sugar and soft drinks, but what are you eating? There might be other things in your diet that you can improve.

If you have joint pain, you might want to give swimming a try.

I try to eat more but it's a losing battle most days. Yesterday I ate 3 eggs for breakfast. Had a chobani Greek yogurt as a snack. For lunch and dinner I had a morning star spicy black bean burger in a wheat tortilla. When my husbands blood pressure got crazy about 8 months ago we stopped buying any pre processed meals or foods. We make everything from scratch except noodles, haven't delved into that just yet. I was completely sedentary for almost 5 years, had a horrible bout of agoraphobia that I'm just recently leaving my house again for longer intervals at least 3 times a week. I took to viewing cooking as an art outlet so I would feel more like eating....it helps a lot. My fitness pal calorie tracker helps as well, it pushes me to eat enough to have energy for the workouts.

A few diet tips:

Are you eating vegetables? If not, you should. Are you eating enough fat each day (particularly unsaturated fat)? If not, I'd suggest eating nuts or avocado. If you have trouble eating enough, nuts are an easy and healthy way to increase your calories (assuming that there's nothing bad added to them).

When you eat chobani yogurt, I'd recommend getting the plain one (if it's not sweet enough, you can add fruit to it), rather than the flavored ones with added sugar. I'm not sure about the black bean burger (I'd have to know the ingredients to know how healthy it is). Are the wheat tortillas whole wheat?

One way to increase your appetite is weightlifting, but I'm not sure how much weightlifting you can do with joint pain. Have you asked your doctor for advice on what types of exercise to do?

Yes, I do eat vegetables and fruits. Usually I have almonds, cashews and pecans around but they go fast with the kids lol. I make butter spread with them honey and coconut oil which is pretty yummy. Our garden this year is featuring cucumbers, carrots, green beans, snow peas, two types of tomatoes, finally our asparagus will produce a yield, cantaloupe, pumpkin and a slew of herbs. The black bean burger is a vegetarian one but I threw away the packaging so I'm not sure what the ingredients besides black beans and corn. Oh yeah, the cardio/strength training annihilates me (that's what my doc recommended as long as I do the low impatct routines) once I lose more weight he want me to incorporate yoga and small weight bearing exercises. Thank you for the tips I really appreciate it and the support

If you continue exercising regularly, I think your joints will start to hurt less (or at least that's what happens for most people).

Read and learn. Hello!!

Hello. I just want to say that I understand the autoimmune deal. I struggled with lupus and fibro for many years, and also Hashimoto's and bipolar disorder. Being diagnosed is a life changing event. I'm 33 and don't have any kids or a partner. So that's where we differ. But I get the physical and psychological pain. Stay strong, keep at it, and you will learn what works for you and what doesn't. Hugs!