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Introduction Text JULY 2011 ~ I developed this knee pain, for which I am in treatment right now. Well, maybe that is not accurate. My knees started hurting when I was in college, and I have gone to doctors off and on since then, hoping for some kind of answers. The only answer I got was, "there's nothing wrong with your knees." Maybe not. Except they hurt. And as the years progressed, they hurt more and more. It got to where it was interfering with exercise. I even developed a stabbing pain in my calf that my doctor called "neuropathy" and gave me some high-powered medication that knocked me on my ass. Try working in that condition. So I started looking for alternative solutions, and I found Koala Health & Wellness. Where I discovered the "nothing wrong with my knees" is really scar tissue that has built up over time and where, ironically enough, they actually WANT me to have pain because it shows that we are making progress in reducing scar tissue and strengthening the muscles that support my knees. Oh, and my doctor also wants me to lose weight, which he says will help. So here I am again, ready to make this work so I don't end up buzzing around in one of those little scooters they push on those commercials I find so annoying. Why does it take so long to get back to where you once began? AUGUST 2011 ~ I have been at this a little over a month now and am down about 18 pounds. I have settled into a few teams I enjoy and am working on making exercise a regular part of my life. My knees still hurt, but now that I know I do not injure them when I exercise, I am working on building up the leg muscles that support them and doing other things to offset their weakness. I have pretty much rooting Diet Coke out of my life except as a sometime thing and now drink enough water every day to fill a bathtub. Well, at least enough for a sponge bath. I am building healthy things into my eating habits -- tons of veggies and fruits with an emphasis on potassium-rich foods. But one thing I really need to do some major renovations on is my brain. I realize that if I don't change my mind, I am not going to have much success at permanently changing my body and my health. I have discovered that no matter how much I can appreciate what I have accomplished, there are still pockets of resistance that need to be flushed out and destroyed. Pockets where, no matter how far I have come, persist on reminding me how far I have yet to go. Pockets where my brain cells insist on holding onto the idea that I am fat -- kind of like Inquisition silencing all the blasphemers who insisted the earth was spherical. What we believe, we become. I need to believe in my own beauty and in my own inner fit person who is fighting to break out and breathe free. I need to learn to do in reverse what I did in the past: I once thought myself fat. Now I need to think myself fit. Is this some weird metaphysical gobbledygook. Who cares? It once worked one direction in my life. And what worked one direction can be harnassed to go the other way, right? Starting on July 12: 257.8 Weight on July 24: 246 Weight on Aug 15: 240.6 Weight by Sep 12: Weight by Oct 12: Weight by Nov 12: Specific goals as of 8/01/2011 ~To lose at least 10 pounds a month ~Be in ONEderland by 01/01/2012 ~Track my food EVERY day! ~Get very faithful at cardio and strength training -- at least four times a week. ~Work up to and do at least one dance-related workout every week (Zumba/belly dancing, etc.) ~Work on bicycling and become strong enough to do a bike tour of Israel in Fall 2012 ~Be a SparkPeople Motivator! Weight Goals - ~Get out of the morbidly obese category (under 217 lbs) ~Get out of the obese category (under 185 lbs) ~Get out of the overweight category (under 154 lbs)

To lose at least 10 pounds a month, starting July 2011. Starting on July 12: 257.8 My short and long-term goal weights: By Sep 15: 230 By Oct 15 : 220 By Nov 15: 210 By Dec 15: 200. By New Years: ONEderland! To strengthen legs & have pain-free knees by 2012 To work up to at least 45 minutes of cardio 4 times a week

Continue with drinking water or tea without artificial sweeteners except stevia To continue weeding processed foods, white flour, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. out of my life. To stretch daily for my legs. To be thankful every day. To WAKE UP and stop avoiding things I'd rather not look at -- such as my scale after a not-so-successful week.

Texas; writer & amateur traveler Favorite city: Roma, Italia Favorite food: chocolate (sigh!) and avocados (it has fat, but it is GOOD fat!) One BEYOUTIFUL daughter, Walys

One of the most important lessons I have learned on SPARKPEOPLE is that small, consistent changes are more effective than big, inconsistent ones. If I make a bunch of small changes and keep doing them faithfully, over time not only will my habits change, but my body will change and I will change along with it!

Add a Link -- Averyl “If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.” ~ Dolly Parton
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