WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2019

Oh come on!!!! It's only August 4 and you Chatty Cathys are already on Page 15! I'll catch up on this month later.

Thanks Barbie for keeping this group going. I've been MIA for a little over a year and I was able to find this month because of your faithfully posting the link to next month at the end of every month.

I did NOT read an entire year plus of posts. However, as I was trying to locate this month I saw Pip's post the Winkle has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. I's so sad to read this. She will be missed.

I've re-gained 15 lbs. I'm back to get back on track and shed this excess before it becomes an incredible problem.

Starting small with my monthly goals.
1) Track food every bite, every day.
2) Take my measurements. To be redone once a month.
3) One day of strength training each week. (A bit of a cheat since I have a personal trainer that goes over just this each week but it gives me a starting point.)
4) Walk one day a week. Not specifying a time or distance but I will be working my way back up to 5K training levels. I was walking 5Ks when I fell off the face of the earth and I want to get back to that level.

I know 15lbs does not sound like a lot to many of you ladies. Those who were here a year ago may or may not recall my story. Here it is briefly to do a tiny bit of "getting to know me" chatter.

I have been heavy almost all of my life. About 7 years ago I finally had a breakthrough with childhood weight issues and realized I was not an obese child. Just a bit pudgy. I was also a normal weight when in high school. Then came college with the addition of the "Freshman 15" and the weigh went up any where from 5 - 15 lbs every year after that. I was determined to lose the weight "by myself" and went on nearly every diet imaginable year after year with weight gains at the end of every year. Finally, I met a doctor who persuaded me to just listen to a talk about weight loss surgery. I had been very resistant to the suggestion of surgery up until then but for some reason it began to sound like something I could do. In Feb. 2014 I had a Roux-en-Y, otherwise known as gastric bypass. I was 350lbs when I made my appointment for surgery. 2 days post surgery my blood sugar was normal and I no longer had to take Metformin for diabetes. I won't go into all of the good health things that happened because of that surgery. Suffice it to say it was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Two years post surgery my doctor declared that my weight was as low as he wanted me to go and he OK'd me to have a tummy tuck. After that tummy tuck I lost 10 more pounds to reach my all time low of 175. I liked to say that I am half the woman I used to be.

Here I am 5 years and 5 months post surgery and I am sitting at 191. Doctor is still satisfied with my weight but I am not. I have promised him (and DH) that I will not try to go below 175. My energy level isn't quite where it was. My knees hurt just a little bit more. I need to work on this.

Mia in Michigan