I am 53, 4'11" and 225 lbs. I have pain in my legs and knees when I walk and even more when trying to just stand for any lenght of time. When I was in my late teens and early 20's I went thru a lot of insane diets. One hamburger patti a day and then there was the one banana a day, always did extreme diets trying to be that perfect weight.

In my 30's I took they popular diet drug (can't remember the name) I loved it. I felt so normal no cravings lost weight eating lowfat diet. After about a year the pills quit have that wonderful effect and I was hungry all the time and gained back the 60 lbs I had lost.

At 47 my knee hurt going down stairs but I could walk without problems and decidd I had to get healthy. I went to my doctor to find out what exercises to do to keep from making my knee worse. She sent me to physical therapy and the 2nd day there I sprained my knee. I ended up having knee surgery and it went down hil from there. It took forever to recover from the surgery. I gained another 70 lbs and feel older and more out of shape than most 70 year old.

I think I lost a lot of muscle with all the extreme dieting and messed up my metabolism. So my goal now is lfiestyl change. Loose weight slowley. Eat health do exercise to build muscle and do short walks to build stamina. I'm in for life not just a goal weight.

I'm Karen - I'm 50 - soon to be 51. I'm 5'7" and weigh 294. I'm married and live in Pensacola, Florida. I have a very busy life - two older children (ages 24 & 27) and two younger children (ages 5 & 6), plus a daughter-in-law and 3 week old granddaughter. I've been rollercoastering with this weight most of my life. I recently considered weight loss surgery (lapbanding) and went through all the testing and found out that other than weight, I seem to be pretty healhy, no cholesterol, thyroid or diabetic issues. Heart is healthy, colon is healthy. I do have a hiatal (sp?) hernia but otherwise I'm fine. So I've decided against surgery, and instead I'm trying to lose weight once and for all by changing bad habits for good habits. I've had success using MFP before. I find that I do better when I have to be accountable -- so that is why I've reached out on this network to make friends and join a couple of groups. I plan to be very active here because staying active here means I'll stay proactive with my weightloss plan. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

My initial goal is to lose 100 pounds. We'll see where I'm at after that. I'm torn between wanting to drop it fast, to taking it slow. I don't want to look like I am 100 years old when I'm done (wrinkles) so I hope to include weights in my exercise routine to keep everything as toned as possible.

It does help to know that not everyone of MFP is 20-30 and needing to lose 10lbs

I've been here for 3 months (more or less) - a little over 20# gone, and most of a 16-year old gymnast to go. Yes - I'm trying to lose a whole person here. Just turned 55, 5'4"-ish, and now at 253 (started at 276). Not diabetic (yet - huge family history), but plenty of other issues. Unfortunately, some of them really inhibit my exercise abilities. I'm hoping that as the weight goes, that will change.

:noway: