Before I could even put down one word I read everything I could about blogging on this site. I guess my biggest hesitation was "what could I possibly have to say that would be of interest to anyone else'?
I finally decided that it is just a journal that others might read. I can live with that. So here goes.
I am just going to start with an introduction of myself even though I have done that in other places on this site.
I am Sandy. I am 59 years old. I live in Northern California in a very small town and in a very remote location. I love my home and the area I live! It's beautiful here.
I was a skinny little kid until I got to be about 10 or 11 years old. Then I started to get a little "pudgy". I hate that word because I remember my uncle calling me pudgy and I didn't know till later exactly what it meant.
My mom is small and has never been more than 20 overweight but my dad's side of the family is another matter. The men are pretty average size but the women seem to grow to huge proportions! I don't blame genetics completely for my obesity because no one was forcing me to eat, but it just seemed to be destined judging by the other women in the family.
I struggled through high school thinking I was huge. Low self esteem was definitely and issue. I weighed about 175 pounds, which for me is quite thin because I DO have big bones! I know this is a frequent excuse but if I weighed 120 I would look sick.
Got married, had 2 kids (up, down, up, down) got up to 275! Got divorced and lost 100 pounds, got married again (up, down, up, down) couldn't blame it on babies this time. Got divorced, kids left home, (up, down,up down). MENOPAUSE....YIKES!!!!
Now I am on husband #3 and he seems to be a keeper!! But when I get comfortable I seem to let myself go and packed back on the pounds. Now on January 1, 2012 I weighed in at a whopping 339!!!!!
I have started diets on New Years Day before and they usually last a month or so and I do great until I just stop trying and it all comes back. This time is different because up until I was about 50 I never really had any health issues caused by my being overweight. Of course I had problems with stairs and I couldn't run if my life depended on it, but otherwise I felt good. Once I turned 50 everything started to fall apart. My joints started to ache, blood pressure went sky high, became borderline diabetic, everything I ate gave me horrible heart burn....and on and on!
I knew I had done damage to my body by doing the yo-yo thing all my life, and now I was feeling every bit of it.
My husband also needed to lose a little weight so we both decided that New Years Day was it! I had always had great success with my version of weight watchers points, so that is what we did. Started counting points and keeping track of everything we ate.
Today I am down 59 pounds and my husband has lost 23 pounds. He really only needs to lose another 20 pounds or so but I need to go at least another 100.
I seem to stay motivated by the fact that I want to live to see my future grandchildren and I don't want to be crippled and unable to enjoy life. I don't want to be stuck in a walker, wheelchair or bed if I can avoid it and I am trying to do that.
Well that is my story up till now. My biggest challenge is keeping my motivation. It just seems that it's here one day and gone the next. Today I feel great. I have found Spark People and I love seeing everyone else's stories and motivations. I love the support that is available here and would feel honored if I could be of help to anyone some day. Thanks for taking your time to read this and Healthy, Happy Life to all of us!
Sandy