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Introduction Text I have been with Sparkpeople for over 14 years now and I still find it a big help in this journey to good health. I have been down with my weight and gained much back when I went through menopause completely. I am still working and learning things along this journey, but it has been difficult for me. Sometimes I am still slow to set and reach my goals, but I am a very devoted person when I am motivated. It has been a long journey to get where I am, but I'm not to the end yet. I want to enjoy and learn along the way. Hope you will enjoy it with me. I have shared my story with many on threads that are now defunct and that was a while back. Sometimes it felt like I was dwelling on the past so I just stopped sharing it. However, I don't believe it is written down so, for myself and others who might be interested, I'm going to put it down here. I was raised in a family where dad was almost always the same weight and if he did put on a few pounds he would skip lunch for a couple of days and be back on target. He still fits his first military uniform (WWII) and wears it Memorial Day when asked. How many can do that? Mom was a different story. Being a nurse, she knew and taught us proper nutrition and that has really never been a problem for me, but portions have been. She had medical problems that caused her to have a problem with her weight all her life, always on and off diets, good and bad. So I was raised around diets. Though I was never subjected to a body image problem. The one thing I remember the most was mom's frustration and battles with the scale. She was constantly battling with one number: 220. Sometimes to get down to it and sometimes to not reach up to it again. I wasn't a person who had a real problem with my weight until I got married and found myself trying to keep pace with a 6'4" man who ate well. I guess selfishness got the upper hand and I wanted "my fair share" of the food. So after losing 10 pounds for the wedding, two years later I was 30 pounds heavier. Thinking about having a family, I made the decision to lose those 30 pounds and did so in 8 months sensibly and rather easily in a way that was much like Sparkpeople today (without the community, however). Reached goal, got pregnant the next month, had the beautiful little girl. lost all but 8 of the pounds put on. Life went on, 3 more kids, each time putting on more weight until the last pregnancy I hit 193 at delivery. I lost most of that but them started putting it on as life got in the way and as I still wanted my "fair share". We bought a computer program that was again much the same principle of the food tracker here, You entered your foods for the day and serving sizes and it calculated your nutrients and calories and tracked it for you. I learned then that I ate way too much, not badly, just too much. So as a family we all cut back and again I lost 30 pounds and all was good! Well not really, I still needed to lose at least 30 more, but I was stuck, but life got in the way again, I held it off a couple of years, but the weight once again started to climb (does this sound familiar?) I didn't really pay attention, I guess I was in denial until I needed a repair of my knee and the doctor said I should lose weight and I had hit the big 200 by then I lost a little, but then my weight started climbing (I was in peri-menopause by now and the struggle got harder for me). By 2002, one morning stepped on the scale and to my horror that dreaded number my mom always talked about was there right before me! 220! NO! Shock! Fear! tears filled my being! Then anger and a desire to do something about it hit. I worked on it until I reached about 196 and then my weight climbed slowly sometimes quickly until it was back up to around 213. Curves had just opened up in town so I decided to join and have been going ever since. I lost down to 180 but stopped at that point. When the weight started to rise again I needed to put a stop to it. I was nearing menopause and I wanted to get my weight down. My BP was rising, along with cholesterol numbers. Frustrated I looked for a calorie tracker and found Sparkpeople and though it has been slower for me at this time in my life I keep on going and working on a healthier me. It has been a struggle at times to keep the motivation going, but It is working thanks to determination, knowledge, and support from the good people here at Sparkpeople!

To Learn : what my body "needs" are and not just my body "wants". that you "eat to live not live to eat." To not try to "keep up" with everyone else in my eating. To be as healthy as I can be!

Walking to wherever it is feasible Walk to Curves 3 to 5x a week to workout 30min 3 days of strength training at home Use portion control, weighing measuring, and logging the foods I eat.

I was raised in an AF family and though I have lived in a small Ohio town for 40 years, I still have trouble calling it home. Married just shy of 50 years now, to the same wonderful man, We've raised 4 kids and have 2 sweet Granddaughters.

With the initals of PMS, I like to tease my husband that even when we are old and gray (and we're getting there some days faster than others) that he will still have to deal with PMS, poor guy. I believe that if I can't share a bite or two of food with my dogs it means too much to me. If I watch them I can learn so much. I love to watch the world around me and learn about all kinds of things and God. Finding a penny on the street is like getting a wink from God.

Add a Link Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 In GOD we trust "It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains " - Patrick Henry Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2 NLT
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