Support that Doesn't Focus on Challenges but on Relationship

I am 48 and have bone on bone knee arthritis. I am always up for supportive friends! I do CrossFit as my exercise and love it.

@AmberGlitterSparkles Are you out there. It's vacation time for many but I'm tooling on. I'm all about relationship and connection. Some say the meaning of life is to belong and that begets happiness.

I'm through with dieting and that makes me happy, too. I grew up in the midst of the piney woods and blue ribbon trout streams. I'm used to not traveling with the herd or running with the pack but connection is strong medicine. I know how to fish, put up a shelter and take care of myself. Where I'm from this is commonplace for women and men. No GPS coordinates because I don't want anymore company for crying outloud. Another relative decided to blow in at the last minute from Texas. No warning just flying in on a jetstream.

My relatives use me as a motel in the summertime. So I simply get in my car and head further north. I pay a very high price for about 2 months of summer. It doesn't stop snowing until Memorial Day and starts right back up again on Labor Day. I pay the price and they take advantage. There, I said it.

I will tell you this much. I grew up at Old Faithful Geyser. Not just for the summer months but we lived there all year 'round. The jewel of the national park service is my home and it belongs all to me. I only allow the tourists to come there but they are stomping it into dust. Every year brings another million or more than the previous year. It makes me very sad to see the campgrounds literally stomped into the texture of baby powder.

[img]. There's alot of things I could say but we simply haven't got the time. Geology and seismology are my hobbies. I keep my ear to the ground and watch earthquakes all over the world on various sites. I love geysers and mudpots, trees and squirrels, the little foxes and pine martens. I've seen my share of grizzly bears and I'm more afraid of the big city than the backcountry. It does take true grit to live out here but so does the city. I loathe dieting with all of my being. I can't stand dieting tricks. There's always another food hack coming around the corner. I've been duped by all of them and that was my fault. It won't happen again because all of the mistakes I've made = experience. So come back. Let's mill around and shoot the breeze. I like talking things through. I can't follow menu plans written by other people. Tracking data points is the only equipment I need. Tracking is a cognitive behavior that is not difficult to adopt. It will give you confidence. Your tolerance for cravings and indifference for old food triggers is a muscle that will grow stronger with use. Give yourself permission to have anything you want and do absolutely everything on your own terms. Reasonable restriction is not the same as overrestriction. Not by a long shot. Giving yourself permission is the first part of the journey and how I parted ways with dieting. All of the permission belongs to me. You can learn to moderate yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TYepdbTIog[/url][/img]

@campfirequeen1 Yay! You're home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home.

[img]Crank up the band, let's get this party started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gS6NucKt20[/url][/img]

Right back at you, Allison. Swimming, swimming, swimming. I like to stay in my own lane. It's the best on these hot summer days. Our rec center had employee perks but someone complained and now they don't. No free lunch, no free membership.

I stay in my own lane, keep my eyes on my own plate and tracking keeps me from meandering too far outside of my normal river banks. I find writing feelings, fears, hopes and general thoughts on just about everything is an invaluable tool. Plus, it will keep your hands and mind busy during some inevitable rough patches on the pathway to overall health and well being.

@Mari22na I totally agree with you about the writing of things ! Very beneficial. It's amazing how many times I look back at something I wrote when I was in an off state of mind - and then find it no longer applies and I feel so differently.

@dnunny70 Congrats on being down a dress size! I'm hypothyroid, too - my med's been the same dosage for a while. Enjoy your vacay!

@allison8668
I'm irrigating outside and watching Fried Green Tomatoes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yedsblplSMg[/url]

I'm challenge and diet free. It's taken over a decade to get here and I'm not going back.

Why I can hardly stand to read about a new book that promises the secret keys to solving everyone's issues with food and weight. Some of these new eating protocol books being touted are a downright cover for their own disordered eating. They promise everyone the moon but secretly they're only eating one bowl of food aday or have dialed food down into something to be despised. They may Chew and Spit, take 2 or 3 bites and throw the rest in the trash. That's a code that those with disordered eating live by. All of it will get you nowhere good. That's not ninja thinking.

Common horse sense is alot like deodorant. Those who need it the most seldom use it. That can result in more stinkin' thinkin'. Leading everyone down the primrose path to nowhere. We all have to give ourselves permission to do our own thinking. Use our heads besides something to part our ears with. We are all in this together and when we put our heads together, there ain't nothin' we can't do. There's safety in numbers and boundaries.

That's why I like this joint. You've got some folks who've experimented and explored. They know the difference between horse sense and horsesheet. That's pretty major. I've been duped by diets and I'm not going down that trail again.

And now, I have to have a lil tune because that's just the way I tick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_45jbE5_Y8[/url]