I know, I know

I wasn't going to blog for a few days, but when I read the comment and the inquiry made as a result of my blog entry of yesterday, I thought I should reply in blog form rather than to the comment section.
Here's my reply:
I have been on this journey since December 31, 2008. Why that date? Mainly because I didn't want to start on January 1, 2009 . In my head starting on New Years day would be like making a New Year's Resolution and I know most resolution are more likely than not to fall by the wayside before the end of January (ask me how I know). This time because I decided I was doing it for me and not because a Doctor said I should, and not because I wanted to look good to someone else or for someone else. I said to myself why not start in the morning and in the morning happened to be December 31.

At first I was trying to keep my caloric intake to 1200 calories (that's hard) and I measured everything that went in my mouth and I wrote it down and tallied it up. I was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There were days when I felt like I wanted and could eat anything that didn't eat me first, and I struggled with that more in the first month more so than I have since and there were days when I did eat more but I never topped out at more than 1500.

I am not a real lover of meat so I would say my diet is more veggie based and contains a lot of fruit and nuts. Meat I have on average only once a day. When I do eat meat it is lean beef and pork and I try to keep it to four ounces a serving. I eat more chicken and fish. I eat a lot of beans and love every kind, black,white, pinto,kidney, you name it. I am not particularly fond of the taste of egg yolks but ever so often, about once every two week, I will have two egg whites scrambled with one egg yolk. Because I have a wheat allergy I am not tempted to eat anything with wheat in it. So there was no effort on my part to give up stuff like bread, pastries, cookies, cake and pasta. Me being sicker than a "Dog" is not something I want. I do about once a week have rice, corn or a small baked potato.
Dairy is a favorite and I have that in the form of low fat products like yogurt, and lower fat cheeses like provolone. I was a REAL LOVER OF ICE CREAM. (I still am) but since I started being more health conscious, I have had it only twice and then in a small amount.
ON the days when I am eating more calories it is generally due to the fact that I NEED a piece of dark chocolate or some hard candy. I escaped my annual yellow marshmallow PEEP binge but did succumb around Easter to some candy Easter eggs.
When I think back, I can not remember a time since I was 17 or 18 and newly married that I did not have a bowl of ice cream at night and I do mean a bowl and some times I had several bowls during the day. You know when you are grown and on your own you can eat what you want when you want and I wanted ice cream. Especially my favorite Black Walnut by Baskin Robbins which we brought by the 3 gallon tub and kept in the freezer. Ice Cream was what my late husband came bearing instead of diamonds and flowers as proof of love.
Now as a substitute, I have yogurt with frozen fruit and nuts almost every morning for breakfast and a cup of 1% milk with lots of ice at bedtime.Yeah, I know it's not the same, BUT!
When I reported that I had lost 51 pounds I did not say that I want to lose at least that many more. And WHEN I DO I will still be overweight by most ideal weight charts even the number they allow for people with BIG BONES.
But hey, I'm pushing 66 and what I want more than a number on the scale is to just be healthy and physically able to keep doing what I love and what I love is making quilts, dyeing my own fabric and teaching occasionally. For that it take being able to stand without your back and knees hurting and being physically fit enough to wrestle a large quilt through the harp of the sewing machine without your shoulders and neck hurting. For all of that I need muscles and stamina and that is what I am working toward as well as hopefully down the road, maybe for New Year's Eve (Dec. 31, 2009) getting into a size 12. A size I haven't seen my body in since I was 12 (Ha!!!)
So if I am inspiring anyone to get healthy come join me on my trip. As you have read, I still have a way to go and I am not so far along that I can not look back and see where I started. Sweating is a good thing. Just make sure you check in with your Doctor first. Especially if you have been as sedentary as I was or you are as old as I am.