The turtle has crossed the finish line!!

The turtle has crossed the finish line!!
Slow but steady I hit my goal, nothing fancy. I can honestly say I was never grumpy, deprived or discouraged (dear husband says that's the truth!).

I had been a healthy BMI until my 40s when I started to get a little overweight and in my 50s I was over the edge into obese BMI. In my 40s I did start treatment for a low thyroid and of course there was the perimeno-stuff. I asked my Dr. once about my weight and he vaguely mentioned Weight Watchers.
I didn’t have any weight related health issues...yet, but it was discouraging to wear size 18 jeans.

Then sudden passing of an obese co-worker prompted me to search for free weight loss programs. On 11/12/13 I started MFP journey.

I am 5’2” and that day I was 59 years old and weighed 178 lbs – my highest being 180 lbs. My goal was to get to a Healthy BMI which would place me at 136 lbs. I had no idea how long that would take.
This is from April 2009

June 2015



My husband, also in need of losing about 50 lbs., was agreeable to whatever I served him. We didn’t eat badly – no soda, chips, fast food or even eating out often – just too much of my good cooking!

I logged in every day – everything I ate. I weighed out portions of everything. I like my escali scale that measures weight and volume –you can measure out cereal and fruit in grams and then weigh in ½ C. milk. No measuring cups needed.

Running or going to a gym held no interest for me. I use to get on my treadmill about 3x/week. Now I made a point to get exercise everyday. Either on the treadmill, house cleaning, or folk dancing. This is the point where I really changed. In March 2014 my son introduced me to Coffee Prince, a Korean drama. Suddenly slogging through 45 minutes of American TV changed to 60+ minutes of breezing through really great shows that had me eager to get back to the next day. My husband agrees. Now we’re making kimchi and taking Korean language classes!

With MFP it was easy, there was something to measure, CI<CO, and I enjoy data. It became a game.

On 2/15/2015, after 15 months, I hit the Healthy BMI range with 136 lbs. A loss of 42 lbs.

By 6/14/15 I am at 130 lbs. I feel comfortable here. Measurements: bust 36”, waist 28.5”, hips 40” (my waist was 40” when I started).

By other measures of success:
Dr. Oz said women’s waist no more than ½ your height and hip to waist ratio puts me in perfect pear shape.
Suggested BMI for women in their 60’s is 25-27. I’m below that a bit.

• Ate the same foods I always made, just measured out one real portion (or less).
• I eat more yogurt and nuts now.
• Never touch artificial sugar or special diet foods.
• Never went below 1200 cal/day.
• Activity every day.
• Weighed myself every morning. I figure you don’t drive down the road peeking out once every mile.
• After 6 months I just started logging the lows. I never fluctuated more than a couple pounds and it made for an encouraging graph to see the line always heading downwards!
• I did have a couple 6-8 wk. plateaus towards the end, but I just kept doing what I was doing and then it would fall again.
• I never said no to a craving. But I can eat just one cookie really slowly. Cooking Light’s recipe for Texas Sheet Cake is awesome. But it is frozen in portions and enjoyed when I have the calories to spend.
• Weight loss doesn’t cost more. If anything it costs less. Eating a proper portion means that there is enough for a second meal or lunch ready to pack.
• Embrace housework! It is a productive distraction.