IN SEARCH OF SUPPORT!

Hello! I joined myfitnesspal a few months ago, but that's all I did, was join! I didn't track my food...I didn't check out the community, and I didn't search for friends going through the same thing I am! I have learned that all of those things were mistakes! I thought I could do this on my own, but I was wrong...very wrong!

I am 51 years old and disabled with a husband that loves me like I am and as well meaning as he may be, doesn't support my weight loss journey! My age alone makes it harder to lose the weight and hubby telling me "If you want it, eat it" doesn't help much either! As for the disability, I have degenerative arthritis in my feet, knees and back. I have 3 bulging vertebrae in my neck and I have carpal tunnel. I have had all but one of the metatarsal bones removed from my right foot. The bone was fused together with cadaver bone. I'm not telling you all this to make excuses about why I have trouble losing weight, I'm telling you because these are the obstacles I face, and I would love to hear suggestions to help me overcome these obstacles. I would also like people to add me as a friend, so that I have a much needed support group! One other obstacle I have is the fact that I live 20 miles from any place with a store, let alone a gym! I don't have the money to join a gym or the gas money to drive that far if I did. I have to do this at home!

One suggestion I heard a lot a few years back was getting a pool and exercise in it. Well, I got a little money a few years ago and bought an above ground pool, which is very expensive to handle upkeep lol but that wasn't my main problem at the time. I would walk around and around that pool . My problem was, every time I did this, I couldn't walk for 2 days afterward. My feet were in agonizing pain! I have always heard that exercising is water was less stressful on the body. This is NOT true with my feet!

The tools I have at my disposal are a treadmill (I can't run on it because my toes don't bend on my right foot anymore, but I can walk), an ab lounger 2, and a Weider exercise thingy lol...don't know what to call it! It has the bar that pulls down, the foot holds that lift and the arm bars. I have tried to use this too, and even with no weights on it my knees hurt something awful when I do it and so do my elbows. I don't know if this will pass in time or not. I don't know weather to quit when the pain gets bad or try to push through. Don't know if its my arthritis or my weight!

I joined a challenge listed in community to lose 4% of my body weight in the month of April. I thought that would be motivation enough, but it doesn't appear to be so. I should have lost 2.2 lbs. my first week, and I only lost 1. I still have 3 weeks to go for this challenge though, so I know it's not hopeless.

The reason I decided to ask for friends and for help, is because I signed in this morning to log my breakfast, and found I had a message. Someone had seen my post stating that I only lost 1 pound, and this complete stranger cared enough to send me a message and remind me that -1 is still a loss and to not be discouraged! This meant so much to me! I am not more determined than ever to change my life and lose my weight ( started at 227 lb. .... am 219 now). If one person could make me feel so much better, I thought it would be impossible to fail if I have a whole support system! I want to help people get motivated and feel as inspired as I did when I got this message!

Thank you!!