No matter age & circumstances it CAN be done!

Hi, everybody! I'm a 58 year old grandmother of 6 (ages 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, & 2). I had gastric bypass surgery June 2014 & am down 75 pounds with about another 60-70 to go. I've a veritable litany of medical issues - type 2 diabetes (I'm now off ALL meds/injections & enjoy being diet & exercise controlled), a pacemaker, full-body arthritis, scoliosis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea (no CPAP needed anymore), 38 screws/8 rods/8 levels of spinal fusion, metal plates & screws in both feet, a congenital bone defect in both hands/elbows, & mental health issues - just to name a FEW of them! Arthritic pain, constant stress fractures, chronic tendinitis, & joint & soft tissue injuries kept me in a vicious cycle of weight gain-inability to exercise on a regular basis. After having 17, yes I said SEVENTEEN, major surgeries in under 9 years the decision to have weight loss surgery was not made lightly. My endocrinologist helped me to see that more than 3/4 of my time was being spent in surgery/recovery/therapy/injury, etc & that there was more to life than what I was living. For me, it was the best (surgical) decision I've EVER made! Do I recommend it to everyone? NO! What's right for me may not be right for the person next to me. However, it was exactly what I needed. My bariatric team has been awesome, encouraging & supportive every step of the way. Downloading My Fitness Pal was one of their 1st recommendations, getting a fitness tracker & joining a gym were the next suggestions. Keeping track of meals & nutrition is so EASY with MFP. I use the food notes section to record pre-& post-meal blood sugar readings, keeping food & blood sugar logs together instead of having to log stuff in different notebooks. Used to be I hated to go to a gym & especially to sweat; overweight folks are prone to a NASTY skin fungus wherever there's a skin fold & diabetics are especially prone. Used to be I dreaded exercising for fear of injury. My diet has always been, truthfully, pretty good; my problem lay primarily in portion control & stress-eating. I found a gym that is incredibly user-friendly & really look forward to gym days. With the weight loss I now ENJOY getting sweaty, have had NO new injuries to joints & soft tissue, have dropped from size 26 to 16, have energy to spare, & feel absolutely FABULOUS. I have another surgery coming up in mid-April to repair the right hand/forearm. This surgery has a 3-6 month-in-a-cast healing time, THEN comes rehab. I've already discussed with the surgeon a modified gym routine so I continue to lose weight & maintain a healthy life-style while recovering from surgery. Sure, I've been through a lot but I know for certain there are many others out there who are in far more difficult circumstances. I have learned to use a valuable tool that I'd like to share with you. Ask yourself this 1 question: "Am I giving myself CREDIT for the things I do that take me to a BETTER place?" To you I say, "It doesn't matter how small or seemingly trivial that step might be. Set a goal & give yourself CREDIT for ALL those little things you do that are helping you achieve that goal. Write it down so you can SEE where those baby, CREDIT-WORTHY steps are taking you. Try writing it in the food or exercise notes section of MFP to keep it all together." Blessings to you on your journey!