Hello!

rygar23

Hi Everyone

Lou here. I have had an unfortunate reason to start dieting, but am doing my best to turn a negative into a positive. I am 36 years old, and apparently have been walking around with extremely high blood pressure (I hate docs, and never went to see them). Sure enough, in mid July I suffered a stroke and spent a week in the hospital.

Thank goodness it was 'minor' (yeah right, doesn't seem minor to me!) and I have already gained back the vast majority of my speech, cognitive skills, and fine motor too. In few months, the doc thinks most people would never know that I had one.

So, the silver lining is the chance to improve my lifestyle. For a few weeks out the hospital I certainly ate right, but mostly stayed away from just salty and high fat foods. I lost a a little weight in and immediately out of the hospital, but soon plateaued.

After finally being cleared by PT to start exercising I wondered about way to track progress. A search in Apples App store and myfitnesspal receive so many 5-star reviews i had to try it.

I am just a few days in but it has opened my eyes and helped not only track progress, but enjoy tracking progress too. Thanks myfitnesspal!!!

mindy14456

Hi Lou!! Welcome to MFP. I am sorry that you had to go through what you did to get here, but I am thrilled for you to be on the path to being healthy. Best of luck to you on your journey!!

wcasie

It is always sad when a horrible thing has to happen to get us on track. Glad you are better and getting better all the time! I am an over weight diabetic and nothing has happened to me, but I am also a nurse and I had a patient in her 40s who was over weight, had lost a leg and had to live in a nursing home. I decided that was not going to be me!!! Sounds like you have things in hand! Good luck and good for you!

vanessaclarkgbr

Hi Lou, good for you, and great to have the opportunity to start again, you must have had a real shock and needed time for it to sink in. Best of luck to you, there is so much support on here you only need to say and people will be here for you. I love the app and website as it really encourages you to be healthy (not to starve, not to eat too much salt, to make sure you exercise) I find that on here I don't obsess, I just try and be healthy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

ShawnT777

Lou,

You are right that it's unfortunate circumstance that has brought you here, but your story hits close to home, having high blood pressure myself. It's never too late to do something about our health, though!

Keep on truckin'!

Best,
Shawn

lgwmab

Welcome Lou. I have not been on hear very long, but it is great to not feel alone in the battle against the spare tire! Anytime you feel down so many people will help pick you up.

pappycanoli

Hey lou,
Welcome to a great place for motivation. I have been here about 7 weeks and lost 16 pounds in a good way and am feeling much better about myself.

If you ever need motivation or have a question there are so many people here ready and willing to do all they can.

Look forward to hearing your success stories soon. Add me as a friend if you like as that is something we all can never have enough of.

thurberj

Hi Lou, so glad you are doing better. I decided to get fit when my labs from my physical came back saying that my cholesterol and triglycerides were high....first time ever. Also my blood pressure was high too. I've lost weight and feel much more energetic since starting my journey. I'm going to start training for a 5k next Monday. My working out has made my husband start to exercise too. I wish you the best!! If you need a friend, I'm there:-)

rygar23

Thanks for warm welcome everyone. And thanks for sharing some your successes! It helps reassure that with work, this will all pay off.