Losing weight has never been a problem for me. Heavens! I am a pro at losing weight. I must have lost 1000 pounds in my lifetime.

Sometimes a diet would last a week. Then an encounter with a pint of Hagen Daz or some sour cream and nachos would beckon me to quit. Sometimes a diet would last for many months, and I would actually achieve goal or near goal and toss out my wardrobe and buy all new clothes. I would manage to keep that weight off for months. Then slowly, slowly ...

Losing weight has never been a problem for me. Heavens! I am a pro at losing weight. I must have lost 1000 pounds in my lifetime.

Sometimes a diet would last a week. Then an encounter with a pint of Hagen Daz or some sour cream and nachos would beckon me to quit. Sometimes a diet would last for many months, and I would actually achieve goal or near goal and toss out my wardrobe and buy all new clothes. I would manage to keep that weight off for months. Then slowly, slowly it would all creep back--again--bringing with it a few new friends, leading to another wardrobe change.

I just got sick of losing weight.

I retired, went on a few trips, had a lot of fun. Then I went on a trip to Scotland with a friend. We were walking around steeply -hilled Edinburgh, she tripping along merrily, me panting and suggesting we stop to enjoy the view. Both the same age, my friend and I. Both non-smokers. The only difference was the 100+ excess pounds I was hauling around.

But I didn't think that was the problem. I came home determined to join a gym to become more physically fit. When I signed on at the gym, the physiologist asked if I wanted to lose weight. OH, NO! I told him in no uncertain terms. I had absolutely no interest in losing weight. Why bother, I thought. I will only gain it back plus a few more.

For the next three months I went to gym, first three days a week, then five, then six. I watched the physiologist work. I saw that I could lift a weight and use the exercise equipment. Maybe I could even . . .

Could I?

I talked to the physiologist about a nutrition plan. And I hit a gold mine. He was not interested in putting me on a diet. He does not believe in diets. He understood that I was very interested in losing weight, but not interested in losing weight only to gain it all back. He believes in changing a lifestyle and finding a way to eat healthfully and realistically for always.

Could that mean I could lose weight and keep it off? For always?

And so I jumped on board for the best journey of my life.

I started down this road weighing in excess of 300 pounds, and wearing size 4X blouses and shirts, along with anything I could find to fit over my ever-increasing bulk. I am now wearing size 12 , and I am working towards achieving my optimum healthy weight. I am comfortable in my own skin. I fit into seat belts and restaurant seats with ease. I don't spend my time at a friend's house worrying about making a clumsy fool of myself when I rise from a low seated chair. I don't moan when I realize I have left something upstairs and have to run back up to retrieve it. My life is so much easier.

I am sixty-six years old and well-past menopause. I have low thyroid and cannot tolerate thyroid medication. I have problems with my back, arthritis in my neck and hip, and a bad ankle. AND I am steadily and surely losing weight.

If I can do this, anyone can. Just determine to make life as healthy as it can be!

I eat five or six small, balanced meals each day. I track every morsel of food that passes my lips and have been doing that since the day I joined SparkPeople back in January of 2006. I watch the proportions of my macronutrients and make sure each meal contains healthy portions of carbs, protein, and fats. I weigh, measure and count all the food I eat. It is just second nature to me now. I come to SparkPeople everyday to talk with my friends, to read articles, to seek out people who may need my help and who can help me. I still go to that gym five or six days a week.

For the first two and a half years of my new lifestyle, I did not allow the physiologist to tell me my weight. I figured paying attention to the scale never did me any good in the past, so I saved that for sometime in my future. When the big reveal came last June, I had lost 126 pounds. I am losing more slowly now, but I am still delivering--tracking, going to gym, and feeling better all the time. Fueled by compliments from strangers, ease in life, pretty new clothing, I know I can make it to goal.

We don't get many chances in life to correct our mistakes, but SparkPeople is here to show us a way to do that, to help us to find health in our bodies, our minds, and our relationships with each other. My plan is to use all that help to make me into the best person I can be.

Life is full of promises and pitfalls. Do what it takes to embrace the promises and to gain the strength to weather the pitfalls.

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