Hi there. I am introducing myself for the first time on here. Orange County CA

jamiesmartypants

I am a 44 year old male transplanted to Orange County CA via Philadelphia. I've been out here for over six years now and really love it, but one of my goals when I moved out here has been to adopt a healthy lifestyle, and I've yet to achieve that goal.
When I moved here in 2008, I just lost my partner in a car accident. Before that, I worked out at the gym nearly every day. I didn't feel right unless I worked out. You might say it was an engrained pattern in my way of life. The depression after my loss changed my eating patterns as well as I stopped working out completely. I was never skinny, but now that I am in my 40s, I am definitely starting to feel like I need to pay a lot more attention to my health. I am reminded of this everyday from the moment I wake up, the pain in my joints and muscles.
Physical Data: I just weighed myself at 267#. I would like to weigh in under 200#. The lowest weight I ever was as an adult was 190#. I have thicker "German" build.
I am not a sports fan at all. This limits my level of interest in outdoor activity to:
The Gym
Swimming
Cycling
Yoga
Running/Walking
I am open to others, but I was never a fan of contact sports, and have a traumatic history with it as a child.

I am an excellent cook and very resourceful with creating healthy foods. My problems seems to be I can live a healthy diet for a few days or even weeks, and then completely reverse and "pig out". I do love food. I work in the restaurant business, so it can be hard to avoid temptation.
Also, being in the restaurant business poses certain issues. For one, I am on my feet all the time, and to my BodyMedia Fit band, I get a good workout every day just from working. But I don't see the results. At all.
It also doesn't really allow me time to sit down and prepare a healthy meal, so I might go an entire day without eating, or just grazing, which can be worse, and then go home late at night and eat a huge meal before bed.
The last time I was able to lose a significant amount of weight, it was mostly through devoting time to the gym. I'd do 30-45 minutes of cardio before work, and then go back to the gym after work and do another hour of cardio plus weight training, lap swimming, and a nice steam and sauna at the end.
While I can get to the gym and complete a workout like this, it is fleeting, because the ensuing back pain lays me out for a few days, so I can't get into a pattern of working out.

Nice to meet you all. I look forward to making some new friends on here.

RainbowAlpha

Hey how's it going?
I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your partner.I know being alone is really hard but having an open and positive mindset is great for the start of a new year! C;

I suffer from a dislocated knee so working wasn't really something I enjoyed doing, despite my doctor telling me I HAD to work out for the sake of my knee Of course my stubborn self did the instructed exercises for only about 2 months and then totally stopped. It's been about 4 years since that and I came to realize that my knee was giving me more trouble than usual so I started thinking about my future and how it could affect me later in my life.

Anyways!
New year, new me. Right?
I might not be starting from scratch but I need to adapt to a better lifestyle for the sake of myself and my family and I really think that using myfitnesspal will help me out ^-^ Hope we can be fitness pals (see what I did there Cx )and encourage each other out!

- Diana