Women 200lb+, Let's Make It Count This January!!!

Hello. I am here get healthy. Form healthy habits, log, and lose weight. My profile says everything. I turned 49 in October and kind had to step back. My mom passed in Dec 2019, joining my dad, sister and brother. So turning 49 now older than my older sister (rip) was a jolt to my system. I turn 50 this year. 50.

I have no resolutions for the new year. I am taking back my life and finally losing weight. I've always tried to take the best care of myself, diabetes, seeing a nutritionist occasionally and my doctor every 3 months.
Life has been pretty messed up the few years and I am working on getting it on track. I lost 180 lbs in 2008-2010 and was very healthy. I have been on a yo-yo with my diabetes, spine, and weight since 2012.
The highest weight is 345. The lowest is 170. After emergency neck surgery in 2019 I lost 30lbs of inflammation. Inches and weight. My feet shrunk from 9.5 wide to 8.5 regular. None of my clothes fit me because I lost 2in of inflammation off my body in
8 weeks laid up recovering. I regained feeling back into my left side and physically felt the inflammation leave. My original Sarcoidosis doctor confirmed the inflammation loss and documented everything. They were fighting me for a year over the sudden weight gain and swelling telling me I was eating too many calories. Myfitnesspal logs my calories.

Long story short- medical community judges weight on calorie intake and looking at a patient. Weight affects health. I do not argue that weight affects health.
Weight is not calorie intake. Obesity is not always excessive calorie intake. To judge an individual as obese because they "eat too much" is ridiculous. Instead of judging, how about finding the cause? Nutritionist, log foods, blood tests, stress test, imaging test, history, biological factors.
Fibromyalgia, migraines, reflux, medication side effects,
diabetes, hereditary, gastrointestinal issues, thyroid, tumor, sarcoidosis, endocrine disorder, depression, spinal problems, the list goes on.
I have Sarcoidosis of the bone marrow. I have Fibromyalgia.
My left upper arm only is 2inches bigger than right. My right thigh only is 1.5 inches bigger than my left. I've made them run the tests. No blood clots, no embolism, no lymphati, no cellulitis, no thrombosis. They don't know except the muscles are swollen. I have a sarcoid myopathy test on those limbs.
Point is the swelling contributes to weight. Throughout my medical nightmare, references to "morbidly obese", "huge, morbidly obese" from doctors who never read my file and spent less than 5 minutes with me. One doctor suggesting chemotherapy as weight-loss treatment and Sarcoidosis treatment.
I just finished 6 rounds of Remicade and Chemotherapy Cocktails therapy October 23rd. Not one pound lost. Sarcoidosis is not in remission. Swelling still here.

Now January 2021, my system is clear. I refused treatment in December. I have lost 14lbs. I'm moving, functioning a heck of a lot better than I was for that 7 months.

I am here to get my life back. Log my foods, exercises, daily life to see what I actually eat and do. This program works for me and I am able to connect with Withings. The ability to track everything is great and reassuring.
My goal weight is 140.

I am looking for mutually supportive friendships. The journey is difficult however goes smoother with good people.

Good luck to everyone!

My knee is feeling better, so I went ahead and did the workout I had planned for today this afternoon - this morning I did some light upper-body work and went back to bed, LOL. It went all right, I didn't aggravate the injury any more I don't think. I'm glad I did it.

@Aubsy07 I read your January 11 post. I think you are approaching this well this time. This is a great supportive group.

@Angief05 You asked about what is too low for a calorie goal. I am sure you got better answers from others but here is my 2 cents worth: It depends on your weight and activity level. There are calculators which will give you an estimate of your BMR and you TDEE. Eat between the 2. You can get away with eating below your BMR for a short time if you are obese but you will probably hit a wall. That is what happened to me before. I was given around 1500 goal by MFP and I upped my exercise and eventually that was way too low for me and I hit a plateau for a month+ until I upped my calories. Then I started losing again. Some people seem to be fine with low calories. I will do it for a while but not for long. If you are satisfied and you are losing it might be right for now but if you up your exercise you may need to up your calories. Recalculate you BMR and TDEE as you lose and change your activity level. I use a spreadsheet to get a handle on what is and isn’t working.

@KMC55 I make sure I have dark chocolate squares around that aren’t too sweet. Ghiradelli or Fran’s for time’s when I need chocolate. Chocolate is good for you. It is the sugar etc that isn’t.

@iloveeggnog I would really have a hard time if I was my Mom’s sole care giver. I luckily have 2 siblings in town to share it with and she doesn’t have dementia but she is slowing down and forgetting things, not eating enough and not getting exercise. I learned to love running but then was told not to because of arthritis in my knees. I wish I didn’t listen. Hope you get back to it soon. I think it might help. I do not know what I would do without my small household around during this pandemic.

@MuttiNM glad to hear your parents are continuing to get better. It sounds like you are getting back into the swing of things after quarantining and your cold. I liked reading your reply to @TabulaRasaElisa where you talked about losing when you were working because that is what I am struggling with now. I have lost when I wasn’t working (the last economic downturn and when I was on furlough during this pandemic) but I need to learn to do it when working fulltime. My job is starting to heat up now too. It isn’t just exercise though for me it is having the time to plan and make healthy food. I seem to be able to one but not the other when I am working.

@KMC55 I liked reading your post on mindfulness. I just bought myself an espresso maker now that I have a job again. Yesterday I was trying it out again since the 1st try was not quite what I wanted and I also had a new grinder to try out. This time it worked. I made a cappuccino that was just about as good as the ones I have bought except this one Italiam place we used to go. I truly savored it even though I was also reading my Sunday times. It was mostly 1% milk too. Much better than the Starbuck’s Lattes I used to have every weekday. Then we went for a walk along Puget Sound.

@goal06082021 I am sorry you tripped. Take care. Soon after I get my job before this one I fell on the way downstairs. I was holding on so it wasn’t too bad a fall but I broke my leg. It was just before going to Hawaii for my son’s wedding too. I even went down to the beach once and in a lot of pools. I don’t think I got enough PT but this can happen to us all. They said it was the best break I could have had. LOL. Take care and hope you are up and going full force soon.

@Emheia I weigh daily too. I am glad you found a fun way to get into exercising.
@speyerj I am proud of you for taking maintenance seriously. Hang in there.
@jaclynkay92 remember to take care of yourself when you are doing caregiving. It isn’t easy to do that.
@GrammyG0505 the last time we replaced our scale it weighed 5 lbs more than the last one. It was about 4 lbs right. I still take a lb off from it because we have checked it. It now needs to be replaced. I hope I don’t go through that again. I already gained a few lbs at the end of last year.
@Rhondab89 the good news is there ais a lot you can do to lose weight. Start 1 step you can achieve at a time. Make sure you set a diet that you will be able to sustain.
@AlexandraFindsHerself I think the national news has affected me too. My youngest brought home some corn nuts which I love. I have been able to eat just a few at a time when she brings them over. I think it helps that I know they are hers and not mine but I am doing better at eating more sensibly.
@pamiede I am so glad you are so determined. Your best is more than enough.
@VickyEltonGreen Thanks for the snow picture. We have only had one this year in December. A walk in the snow sounds fun.
@uyister I struggled to get below 250 and then fall and holidays happened. I am today at 250.4 after getting in the low 250s so hoping to get below again soon. I went down to 249 one day this month. So I am proud of you.
@becky1390 I think the point is to find a sustainable healthy diet and exercise. Definitely taking a doable step at a time is a great start.
@holdthefries I think I would lose really well if I cut out all sugar. However I have lowered it significantly at least. I think you are right you need to find a sustainable way to lose. You obviously have done a great job finding a way to lose.
@osier keep it up It will happen.
@Spotteddingo It doesn’t look like anything is slowing your progress to me. We need to find sustainable weight loss not warp speed weight loss. You are doing well.
@MWojdak Congrats on quitting smoking. That was the right choice. Take this one step at a time.
@emmclean I have to line up my scale with an edge of a slat in the wood floor and a screw in the bathroom door threshold so I can get a relative reading each day.
@changeforeverlj way to stay in there.
@Xandriad 2019 was rough for you. I am also sorry that you have had issues with the medical community. I am glad that you are doing better now and hope that things go better here on out. I agree weight is not only a matter of calories. This group has been a great support to me.

Obviously I need to get on here more often.

@speyerj: Thank you. I intend to continue my determination on this new journey!

@uyister: My BP has been much better since I’ve been off the meds. A little higher than usual but not extreme

@KeriA Can I just say how much I appreciate your posts. You always go the extra mile to reach out to each and every one of us and give us a personal pick-me-up. That takes time and compassion and shows us all just how kind you truly are. Thank you.