Briggsr2's Journal, 03 January 2017

my extra 50 lbs turns out to be the equivalent of one soda a day for thirty years 

I started in October.. not specifically for weight loss but nonetheless I needed to loose at least 50 lbs:( I got this way quite easily!!! My knees hurt( getting replacements , but first shoulder) and because they hurt I truly could only do so much walking.. and clearly I was taking in more calories than I was using.. but I did enjoy every one of them!!! I've never liked exercise.. I still don't.. but with the help of artificial knee joint fluid injections.. I can now walk the dog 2.5 miles each night.. your dog will be in shape and a tired dog is a good dog.. i also found a gym with a therapeutic pool( heated toasty warm) got a rx from my doc who is replacing joints staring in 25 daze.. that stated I needed to work out in the pool to get in shape pre op and although I don't look forward to it, I've stuck with it every day.. first I walked back and forth.. now I can run/ jog in the water.. but .. what I stopped doing was weighing myself .. even once a week.. it goes up and down and I found it discouraging! I recently felt that all my clothes were falling off so did weigh in and I had dropped 5-6 lbs since I last looked... but.. I'm also gaining muscles ( they weigh some more) .. I'm eating the healthiest I've ever eaten and count every calorie keeping it under 1400 a day.. and one would think weight would be falling off me.. it's just been a steady loss.. I'm thinking I want to never do this again so trying to not go all in on a way of eating we can't continue forever.. you caught my eye cos you have a dog! And you wrote that you were disgusted with yourself.. you should turn that frown upside down, my friend,because you DID look in the mirror and not liking what you saw, you ARe making changes... it's HARD! And it is harder for some than others... metabolism varies.. mine has always been rather sluggish.. if you become aware of portion sizes and what you are eating etc.. and add exercise.. don't try to climb mt Everest before you can walk up a flight of stairs.. you will sabotage yourself.. start slow and build your abilities and endurance ( I'm amazed at how easy that walk is now for me and how fast we can walk.. which is better than simply distance) so welcome and don't be too hard on yourself.. find a comfort zone with food and exercise and stick with it and you will get there.. try not to deprive yourself of everything.. have way way less.. I found a tiny piece of dark chocolate almond bark satisfied my candy habit . It's also more than just weigh numbers because I've lost inches.. my abdomen is now nearly flat.. and my upper legs have a muscle definition!!! Yet I've lost 22 lbs and change maybe more since I have not weighed in a while.. it's still a great amount in two months although people seem to loose more... I'm not stressed .. and while I'm modifying recipes to as healthy as I can get them ( almond flour, flaxseeds etc) to go 100 per cent no carb would loose faster but I know we can't do that forever!!! So.. hang in and be proud that you are doing something now!