My Overweight Story

Before I go any further, you probably want to know more about me.

When I was 18 or 19, I went on a diet and lost about 10-15 pounds. When I returned to college in the fall, I started gorging on candy bars and gained back all the weight I'd lost and more, going up to 40 lbs. It was so disheartening, that I didn't diet again for almost 30 years!

Then I tried again. I'd had 2 children and I was almost 50. I had gotten up to 159 lbs. and the 160 number scared me. I started exercising -- I even created my own exercise routine to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. (I still do it!) And I went on a diet. I knew that I'd have to stay on it all my life, but I wasn't sure what would work. I lost weight, down to 144 lbs., although it wasn't easy. But then, my weight started to inch up again. A vacation with the family in Florida cost me 5 lbs. and I couldn't shake that. Soon I was up to 156.

I went to a doctor and she gave me a diet, but I couldn't stick to it. The compulsion to eat was too strong. So, slowly, I developed my own diet.

I started on 12/23/05 at 156.5 (my scale measures in halves of pounds).
I weighed myself very often, usually a few times a week. This was necessary for me to see what worked and what didn't work. And my weight fluctuates a lot, up a pound, down a pound.

The lowest I got to was 136.5, which was a 20-lb. loss, and that was last November. Since then I've held at around 138-139 and I was 139 at my last weighing. That was 6 months ago. Over the winter, I was writing 3 books at once and the weather here doesn't encourage going outside, so I almost completely stopped exercising except for walking. (I walk almost an hour each day, in 4 15-minute stretches.) So I know I've managed to hold my weight.

Along the weigh(!), I've learned a lot about why I'm overweight and what works for me. I'm hoping that my insights will help you, too.

Of course, I'd like to lose more weight. That will take more exericse, because I can't eat any less and still be getting enough nutrition. Wish me luck!