Hello from the land of beer & cheese

sekhmet13

Hello from Milwaukee!

I've been whining for years that I'm fat, but never seriously tried to do anything about it. I joined Weight Watchers a few years ago and gained 15 lbs doing their program for 2 months, then quit. Joined a gym, but because I have hardly any cartilage left behind my kneecaps, and the cartilage in the joint is deteriorating, it was just pain (my trainer didn't believe me, of course). I don't eat a lot, but when I do it's junk food and don't know how to change (I hate cooking!).

Anyway, I bought a recumbent indoor bike a few months ago, and I love it! It's still painful, but at least I'm sitting so when my kneecaps pop out they aren't bearing all of my weight. But no weight has come off yet, probably because of my terrible eating habits. I'm skeptical, but I'm going to try the support boards to see if it'll keep me motivated. It's time for me to make an honest effort.

I look forward to hearing from you all!

fushion243

Biking is great, so is hunting!

live2smyle

Welcome Good Luck on your weight loss journey :flowerforyou:

EmilyJ1979

Good luck....you can do it!

eamartin

Welcome!! I'm from Oshkosh! How do you like being snowed in??

crystaltrejo

from one Milwaukeean to another....YOU CAN DO IT! and we are here to help!

lutzsher

I have advanced ostioarthritis in my knees so know about pain associated with any activity. I keep Advil on hand and wear a knee brace and just work through it. As you lose weight it improves your knees, and the activity actually does strengthen them so the pain subsides . . . or you get more used to it.
It has not stopped me much . . . I jog outside and on my treadmill, have a library of exercise DVD's, and swim weekly. I made the decision that my knees were not going to keep me from reaching my goals. I have had a few instances that I did pop my knee out badly so took it easy for a few weeks, but then got right back to it.
I just woke up one morning and realized tht I could let this hold me back or I could just work through it as I just wanted a healthy, slimmer, and sexier body more than I wanted to be pain free.

Good luck!

rlf58

You can do it!

I hate cooking too. My problem was fast food, but I have found healthy alternatives that fill me up and are quick and easy! You can always try diet snacks too. My favorite is ruffles light chips with salsa! The chips have half of the calories and salsa is very low cal, or 100 calorie bags of popcorn. Be careful about sodium with those though. Also, I hate vegetables without some kind of dressing on them. Dressings are so high in calories though so I tried fat free sour cream mixed with Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch mix. It's on the salad dressing aisle of Wal-Mart, and so yummy! For my sweet fix, I have been munching on special k bars. Have you tried a good knee brace to support you when you exercise? If that doesn't help, try doing some light exercises in a chair. Anything that can get your heart rate up will burn calories!

Behavior_Modification

Welcome to MFP and good luck! It is a wonderful sight and best of all you can form a support system to keep you on track

LFern

Fellow Wisconsinite here - I live in "The Home of the Hamburger" :laugh:

Bursitis in my left hip and bone spurs causing tendenitis in my right arm. I understand where you are coming from when you say the pain is daunting.

I have tried Curves. And probably 70% of the over the counter carp out there. I have wasted SO much money it isn't even funny.

We all have the knowledge - what we need is the AMBITION!!

I have been here for 3 weeks and I have to say I am more addicted to it than I am to Facebook. The people here are so POSITIVE!! The energy just flows thru my computer screen to me. I already find myself thinking "oh gee, I don't want to have to put that on the food tracker" so I put it down! I had one friend tell me that this is similar to WW but you actually see the calories you are putting in rather than that stupid point system.

I KNOW that I am Carb sensitive from what I learned through the Curves program. However I am ADDICTED to carbs! I LOVE potatoes and green beans!

PORTION CONTROL and yes HEALTHY CHOICES are what are helping me. I do not own a scale yet. But in the 3 weeks of being here - I have only gone over on the calories alotted 3 times. I already noticed this weekend that I was able to get into my jeans without doing the shimmy shimmy shake shake! LOL!

And I LIKE Beer. I have adjusted to the taste of Bud Select 55 which helps me a LOT. Each day I find making healthier food choices is getting easier. I have several quotes that I keep reading: The first one is from one of my first myfitnesspal friends:
"the time to REstart is the MOMENT you take that last bite of something Unwise" if you do not start right now this very moment, then WHEN?!

"Change the Mind and the Body Will Change Itself"

Good Luck to you - I hope MFP sends you the strength that it has me! :flowerforyou:

nilisabel

I have arthritis and it comes with some of the same stuff you're enduring. I like to swim, which incidentally burns a ton of calories. I'm doing weight watchers right now but on my own. I have never had a good experience with a personal trainer and I have never had a good experience in a group setting, except for MFP. If you figure out the formulas from your old books and try to keep your protein up you should do okay on it. The trouble is that the program kind of encourages eating all your flex points which become available on the first day of a new week, so if you tend to eat them all at the same time after being really calorie conscious the whole week before for some people that could theoretically cause the weight gain you experienced. Also it does not account for sodium and interpretation of ww guidelines although they shouldnt be are actually subject to the idiosyncracies of individual group leaders which I can tell you from experience vary from location to location.

Anyway, I'm sure you will do well with this site. I like it, it's helped me, and you might also consider blogging feelings because they lead to emotional eating, if that's a component for you as it is for me.