Let's try this again... I'm going to go back and do a quick re-cap of April - December 2022 at some point, but I just want to get it out there now where things stand mid-way through January 2023. After my last post in early April 2022 I got COVID - Not badly at all thankfully, but it really stalled my weight loss so by the time I went for my physical in mid-July I was still the same weight - low 260s (which was still better than the 272 I 1st saw on 2/19/22 and the doctor saw in mid-March). The good news is now I am about 241. So a loss of 31 pounds since February/March 2022. The bad new ..read more

Starting Weight: 272.0 (2/19/2022) Last Week: 263.6 This Week: 262.2 This Week Change: -1.4 Total Change: -9.9 Of course I am excited about a loss. But I can't help but thinking that the weight should be just melting off at this stage. But I know at my age and 1900 calories a day it's not going to, but slow and steady wins the race. What was I successful with this week Weighing every day Tracking in MFP Staying within my calorie limits Avoiding processed foods (cookies, cake, ice cream, candy - I did have a few crackers with hummus) What I could have done better with We had 3 Blue Apro ..read more

  I know this is not going to be easy. Needing to lose 90 pounds just to be out of the Obese category is extremely daunting. Throw in that I am not over 50 and somewhere hovering between perimenopausal and menopausal. And the pandemic stress and the moody teenagers haven't gone away. The one thing that has gotten better is the financial stress. A "positive" of the pandemic is that we were able to save a lot of money so we have a cushion we didn't have 2 years ago. And also what is different this time is I am doing this primarily for health, not vanity. I need my A1C to come down, I need m ..read more

 Let's recap: *After being in the low 230s (and into the 220s) for 5+ years, by the end of 2019, as I was training for a 1/2 Marathon, my weight started to creep up, By the time the pandemic hit I was 239. *At my physical in July 2020 I was 255 and my blood pressure was showing signs of being high and what I now know is a hernia was starting to effect my quality of life *The pandemic did not end, life got more stressful with everyone still at home, overall pandemic stress, worrying about job loss (one of which worry did come true), moody teenagers, my weight got up to 272.0. *Besides havi ..read more

 I was struggling before the pandemic even started. I hadn't gotten into a groove working at home and being around my kitchen all day wasn't helping. I started the pandemic at almost 240 lbs, almost 10 lbs higher than I had been 9 months pregnant with my son (10 lbs less than 9 months pregnant with my daughter). I immediately felt completely stressed by the pandemic. I had anxiety and panic attacks which I never had. I hoarded food like crazy, I was terrified of getting covid, worried that being obese and not knowing if I had high blood pressure or diabetes and what that could mean. I bou ..read more

 Before we knew it is was 2021 - we were approaching a year. My kids went back into the classroom in October 2020, but only 2 days a week. Remote school was not my kids' friend. My husband unexpectedly lost his job in February 2021, but the year was not lost. First of all, this was a wonderful way to start the year. More day trips to Maine -  Once I was vaccinated I felt more comfortable staying in a hotel and me and my son went to Upstate New York to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Corning Glass Museum. My husband took a ferry trip to an island off the coast of Maine. I took an ..read more

I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I've posted. So much has happened, both in the world, and here at home. I can't fully re-cap more than 2 years, but I need to get some things out so I can keep moving forward. Where was I? It was February 2020. I was struggling. My daughter and I had traveled to Disney World in January. In February the rest of my family went skiing in Vermont while I got 5 glorious days to myself. Never could I have imagined it would be the last extended time I would be alone in the house for over 14 months. The last day my kids were in school was Wednesday March 11 ..read more

You've got to know I am struggling when I don't post. February started out so well and the collapsed. The one good thing about February was the weather - while it was chilly sometimes, we really didn't have any snow and the 14 day forecast for the first half of March is showing higher than regular temperatures. This was taken last Monday when it was 61 degrees - It had been 20s and 30s over the weekend and was predicted to be cold this past weekend, so I couldn't resist getting out at lunch time for one trip around the reservoir. My activity has started to pick up in the last week. I've w ..read more

The work week started out SO well! I was thrilled with my work outs on Monday and Tuesday. But the rest of Tuesday I felt like I was dying. I don't know exactly what I did to pull muscles in my upper abdomen. Tuesday they hurt so badly. They were swollen and protruding. I felt 12 months pregnant. I wondered if I had a hernia. I couldn't really eat because expanding my stomach hurt, but since Aunt Flo had also arrived on Tuesday (3 days early, thanks perimenopause) I also had cramps and lack of food made my stomach growl. Overall a bad day. Finally I got into bed at 6:00 pm, yes, 6:00. I thou ..read more

Happy 3rd of February - The day everyone seems to be dragging a little bit even if you didn't have anything invested in the game. I had a great weekend and already wishing it was Friday. Last week was such an insanely long week and I was pretty busy over the weekend so not a ton of time to relax. Saturday morning I went to Weight Watchers. I was 238.4 at home and 240.0 there :( But that is just the starting point! The rest of Saturday was spent doing housework. Mainly re-organizing our pantry which is desperately needed. While I didn't do any organized exercise, I was moving a lot. I did ..read more