Hi Guys and Gals,
I have no excuse that I know of, I like my food, though don't eat much, I need more exercise though I get much more than most people my age.
I was a skinny kid, put on weight at 11, lost it at 13, growth spurt etc, put on weight again when I got unhappily married at 21, lost 56 kg ,so say 123 pounds when I left my ex but have put it back on in the last 5-7 years. Hitting about 319 pounds at present, not great. At 193 pounds I am technically underweight, would love to be back around the 200 pound mark, then I was dangerous. Life can suck sometimes, and bad food makes me feel better, but worse is when life sux, I just don't give a toss and really hate physical effort.

Just joined. Looks like a good place to drop in since I've been "stuck" since Christmas. Might be time to chat with folks who know what that means.

Weight has been a struggle for me since I was young, I was the chubby kid in grade school, one of the "big girls" in high school and overweight to obese most of my adult life. There were times when I lost weight, but like many dieters, it didn't last. in the past 10 years or so I pretty much quit worrying about it, other than an occasional short-lived diet, I've just ate what I wanted and tried not to work my way up too much.

Then, last June I had a bout of Afib one morning. I had been diagnosed with Afib a year and half earlier after being anesthetized for a procedure but it had been pretty minimal for over a year. However, when the June episode happened it lasted for several minutes, causing anxiety but not as much as the first couple episodes. So, instead of panic, I grabbed the Kindle, sat up in bed and started searching "weight loss and Afib".

No shock, it said that weight loss could result in less episodes, less duration so that was when I decided I had to lose weight. Losing weight is often "prescribed" for a variety of problems, my doctor had previously told me that if I lost some weight it could help bring my blood pressure down. I didn't stick with it long though and finally told her to just put me on the drugs to control it. That nasty fluttering sensation in my chest however was convincing.

Between June 12 and mid December I lost 35 lbs but then "holiday eating" grabbed me and has been really hard to throw off. I have managed to pretty much maintain, fluctuating within a 5 pound window since, but no loss beyond day to day drop of 1-2 pounds then the next day might be back up. It isn't all bad, the active losing had pushed my cholesterol numbers up so taking some "stabilizing" time isn't all bad but I have told myself several times that I need to get back on track. I have not had an extended Afib episode since I started dieting but have had some brief ones so would like to lose another 15-20 lbs at least and hope to keep from developing any worse symptoms.

I "know" what I need to do, just have not been able to pull all the ends together to make myself do it. Maybe "hanging out" with people who share this goal will add to my motivation. Worth a try.
Enough of my story for now. Better go check out the Insomniacs group now.

I was going to start a group like this.. but wa la! Here it is! I used to run marathons and eat what I wanted. I got injured, had to stop running, put weight on, which made running harder, and wa la, put on 100 pounds. I lost thirty of it a few years back. I'd like to lose another 50 or 60. I use my elliptical but struggle with eating better and eating less. I'm hoping to finally do what I have never been able to do before, control my eating habits.

Congrats! I weighed 80ibs more than I do now a year ago but I took control and I'm on my way to my goal.