Ahoy, all!

MurrahDragon

Lessee, I started using this app a couple of months ago to keep track of what I ate and see if I'm sticking to my calorie goals like I hoped. Yup, not doing too badly! Woot! Around this time last year, I weighed about 230 lbs and hated it. I've been heavy most of my life, and the knees are letting me know what a trial that is for the poor things! LOL

I used to be a very active person until a couple of joint injuries slowed me to a crawl--bunged up a knee severely enough that it hasn't been the same since (tore a tendon). A twenty-year depression didn't help, either, and the pounds started to creep on a little at a time. You know the drill, the kind of weight-gain you don't even notice until you suddenly realize yer pants are too tight and you can't dance for five hours at a stretch anymore. :-p

Well, I lived with it, knowing that putting on weight is inevitable in my family. We're all short, built like bricks, build muscle if you look at us cross-eyed and put on fat just as easily. Yay for being Metis! I prided myself on my physical strength--probably a little too much. I can still carry a 275lb guy on my back, but I wouldn't recommend that for recreation.

Anyway, the joints have been the trigger for me to lose some of my Northern blubber. Arthritis in nearly every joint I can name is nothing anyone wants to live with, believe me. So, I decided to do something about it. I started with little walks around my mountain neighbourhood. Then cutting my food portions, little by little (I'm now down to a comfortable 1450 calories a day).

And the weight has been creeping off. It's a bit too slow for my taste, but it's better than nothing! :-)

I'm working on the other health issues, too, like the depression. Finally gave in and let the docs give me pills. No more long looks at the knife-drawer. Chronic fatigue is another thing I'm trying to figure out, and I'm hoping the slow addition of daily exercise will help with that. Oddly, most anti-depressants cause weight-gain for a lot of people. For me, I've been losing weight. Go figure. Maybe it's 'cuz I'm more motivated and have a bit more energy these days? *crosses digits* Ok, now we're gettin' started!

Here's the short list of goals:

-Eat healthy. Already doing that. I cut sugar to nearly nil years ago and eat a lot less meat than I used to (I no longer eat meat every meal--now, it's maybe twice a week), eat more veggies and fruit, don't eat out much (once a week) and eat less junk. I still like my beef jerky, though.

-Keep below 1450 calories a day. I honestly don't need more than that, unless I'm doing a big hike or similarly heavy exercise.

-Slowly work in more exercise a day. I've been too sedentary since I moved to the States. My previous job was physical and I was on my feet all day, shifting around big bolts of fabric (not those little three-footers, but the big six-foot rolls stores get and then transfer to the smaller rolls for the customers--those things could weigh up to fifty or sixty pounds, depending, especially vinyls). Now that I'm no longer working there, my physical activity went through the floor. Gotta bring it back up again. I'm doing small amounts of yoga, short hikes (a mile or two), and I work in my garden most mornings. It's a start. I hope to get back to longer hikes and maybe some weight-training, like I used to do back in the day. I miss my muscles. >^__^<

-Drop about a pound a week. Take it slow and careful. Injuries suck, and when you have arthritis, you have to be gentle on the joints. So lots of low-impact type of exercise like yoga, swimming and simple calisthenics like push-ups and tummy-crunches.

-Weight-loss goal: get down to about 150 lbs. So far, I think I'm doing pretty good: started this last year at about 230 lbs and I'm down to 209 lbs. Yay me!

Other than that, I'm a short, pudgy little Indian lady from Canada, I'm weird, creative (I design clothing, costumes, jewellery and costume props for a living), married to a ridiculously-patient guy who I cannot understand why he puts up with me, and I live in a tiny little town hidden in the mountains of San Bernardino. And my last name really is Dragon.

Hi, all!