Want to join me on my journey to lose over 100 pounds without weight loss medication?

Welcome to MFP @Lady_Magenta

I started here at 56 and lost 97 without meds, through a combination of careful logging and exercise. Like you, joint pain from arthritis and an Illness, piggybacked with extreme GERD for me.

My doctor told me on repeat that weight loss would help with GERD. Absolutely vanished with the first 20 lost.

The more active - and lighter- I became, the easier it became to get out of bed (no more painful and slow hand-over-hand acrost the four-poster to reach the bathroom. Yay!!!!). It also became easier simply to get up and eventually came to the point where sitting down for an extended period drives me nuts.

If I can do this, clumsy, slow, sedentary, obese as I was, anyone can do this.

MFP killed the friends function when they eliminated the friends newsfeed back in June. There’s really no point to having friends now, and the requests you do receive will mostly be from either male romance scammers or people trying to get you involved in some kind of bitcoin scam. If your “friend” request profile pic includes a uniform, is handsome or fit, or has a pet, be wary. Those are all the red flags.

I am currently back from five weeks of international travel, including what was probably a bout of Covid, and was most definitely an extended bout of Travelers….tummy, which has somehow morphed into a bout of joint paint and fatigue.

I have no idea if my weight is up or down with all the joint swelling, painful bloating, and dehydration from ongoing tummy troubles , but am still logging and tracking every single day so I can get back on track once things have simmered down.

I also can’t wait to get back to my normal routine. My trainer cut me off after 40 minutes this morning and told me to go home and rest, that I was clearly tired and weak. That just makes me mad and more determined to get healthy again. I enjoyed feeling strong and vigorous, because it’s something I had never ever experienced before. It’s a thrill.

Weight loss is like getting a snazzy new luxury sports car with a better motor. Everything about weight loss feels better, and like having a snazzy sports car, I feel happier and more satisfied with life in general while “driving the new me”.

I hadn’t expected that, but it’s the greatest benefit of weight loss.

I will continue to record every single day, because as soon as I don’t, it’s too easy to fall back into bad habits. Getting to goal is freaking awesome but it’s maintenance that’s the challenge.

Please use these boards as your source of information, to get good versus bad plans, to weed out BS, and for straight up inspiration. Ask anything. I have, and I’m grateful for the support I received.