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Introduction Text Here we are starting a new year and as I look at myself, I realize, I have got to start this new year with a clean slate. To start over again. So....I joined the new program SparkCoach and have checked in faithfully for 7 days straight. I have set myself new goals which are a lot easier to achieve. I have started back walking 3 times a week (at least) for 30 minutes a day and will only increase that time when my body tells me to. I eat only what I track and not the other way around. I have cut back eating sugary desserts. Eliminating desserts altogether is unrealistic, not going to happen. Healthwise, I have to eliminate sugar since I have been diagnosed borderline diabetic, but there are otherways around that like sugar substitutes, right? I also have hypertension (high blood pressure) and as if that is not enough, high cholesterol. Whew!!!!! So to sum up....I have been diagnosed with Osteopena, Hypothyroid, Hypertension, High Cholesterol and borderline Diabetic. Can you say ..........HEART ATTACK...... yikes scary. I guess what they say it takes a knock on the head to smarten someone up and I definately got a huge knock on the old head. Time is a wastin...I want to see my grandsons grow up, get married, the whole ball of wax. Today is the best and first day of my new life. Wish me luck folks cause with my past track record, I need it. Keep Sparking my dear friends. Well I'm "On the Road Again" to etting healthier. Since I have joined SP my life as been one long road with a whole lot of hills to climb. It has been one struggle after another and a eye opening experience. I have come to understand myself which I have realized is the utmost important thing I could ever do for myself. I am an "Emotional Eater" and also "a Binge Eater". Being honest with myself is hard. The other thing I have realized is "SP is like a Drug". I cannot, and I really mean cannot live without it. Some people like go ahead and eat without measuring their food and also without using Calorie Counter and know they are within their range. I am unable to do so. I need the 'Food Tracker' the 'Fitness Tracker' and the 'Weight Tracker'. Trying to convince myself I can do this on my own has gotten me in trouble so many times, I have lost count. Today is a new day and a new beginning. I am going to have a positive attitude and keep telling myself "I CAN DO IT" every single day of my life along with your help SP. I simply cannot live without you. You are like a lifesaver and I NEED YOU. I also have a new outlook on my life. I no longer am doing this for just my grandchildren, I am doing this for ME. I want to be able to live a long and healthy life and see my grandkids grow up, get married and become a Great Grandma. Now wouldn't that be something. So here's toast to me for finally waking up and realizing I need help and cannot do this on my own. It has been an eyeopening experience and it's just the beginning. It just gets better . That is exactly what I need. A good kick in the butt. I have been prograstinating far too long and it is going to stop RIGHT NOW!! I have let myself go to the point of not being comfortable in my own body. I huff and puff just bending over to tie my shoes, to climb stairs and generally just doing anything. What is wrong with me? I lost 35lbs when I was with SP last year and now, I am almost back to my old weight before I joined. I want to feel healthy again. I want to be able to walk around the neighbourhood and not be out of breathe. What happen to the person that used to walk 5 miles/day, and still have have enough energy to walk another. When I joined before, it was to be able to keep up with my grandson and be there for him when he grew up. I still want that, but it isn't my main reason anymore. I want this for me. I want to try and beat Osteoporosis and become all that I can be, and the first step is to start loving myself. Only when I start loving myself, can I start to make changes. I am not a patient person, but I know in my heart these changes are going to take time and with your support SparkPeople, I know I can do it this time, again. Starting over is a hard pill to swallow, but that is exactly what I am doing. I have moved to a new province, a new house, and a new neighbourhood, so why not make myself over and produce a new me. I was off SparkPeople for a while during the move but I am all moved in now and hoping to get back to the weight I was before I started getting lazy and not following my new healthy lifestyle. I could blame it on where I was living temporarily but the blame falls squarely on myself. I knew better but I chose to ignore the little voice inside my head and went on my month and a half long binge. Well that is over. I have a lot of ground to cover since I gained back 25lbs, but I am determined more than ever to due this and continue to do it for the rest of my life, and with the help of all my SparkFriends I CAN and WILL do this. Thanks to SparkPeople for giving me the tools and knowledge to achieve my goals. ________________________ I joined SparkPeople in May/09. At the time, I weighed 190lbs. I felt terrible. I ached all over, it was hard to walk up stairs without huffing and puffing, my legs bothered me all the time and my addiction for food, especially junk food was way out of control. I moved to a new province and was unemployed for the first time in many, many years. To say that I was homesick and lonely was an understatement. Basically, I was feeling sorry for myself. I went to the doctor's for a physical and was diagnosed with Osteoporosis. I thought I was too young for that ( my mom has it), whoa, it was an eyeopener. I vowed then and there to do something about it. My first goal was to quit smoking, next was to lose some weight, and third was to find that person inside of myself that I liked. Well to date, I am smokefree for 10 months now, hooray. I have lost 35lbs and last but not least, the person I was searching for has finally been found. Every now and then she hides, but I know she is there and is waiting to come out and play permanently. Someday, she will, with the help of SparkPeople. You have helped me to find her and now I want her to stay. I will continue down the path I have been taking and I know that someday that person inside of me will come out and stay out for good. I have made so many changes to my lifestyle, that I feel I really should update my profile. Since joining SparkPeople I have lost to date, 27 lbs. I eat healthier, exercise 6 days a week, no longer eat at nite after dinner and the biggest challenge for me is, NO DESSERT. Every Sunday, I would spend the afternoon baking something for dessert, that hopefully would last the week. My hubby asks for dessert every nite. Even though I would bake healthy, WW flour, Splelnda instead of sugar, applesauce instead of butter, etc., anyways you get the idea, I would crave that dessert everynight myself. Not good. You see, once I started to eat my dessert, then I started to crave other things. I had the sweeet (dessert) next I craved something salty. That is the reason my progress was slowing down, I was nite binging. Every week I would tell myself, this week, I will have dessert and NOTHING else, but the same thing happened again, again, and again. I had to do something positive, so I started a Nothing, Nada, Zip, Zilch Challenge or Journey and to date I have a perfect success rate. Along with the eating healthier, exercising, No Dessert or Nite Binging Rule, the biggest thing for me was quitting smoking. I was a pack and a half smoker and with the help of a tiny pill called Champix, I quite cold turkey. I am VERY proud to say, I have been smokefree since April 07, 2009, and doing fantastic. I no longer rule my day around cigarettes. The cravings sometimes are there, but I am so focused on SparkPeople that they quickly go away. If there is anybody out there that is trying to quit, talk to your doctor about Champix, it is a miracle pill. I blocks cravings, not only cigarettes but also food. I have been off Champix since July, and at first it was okay, but when the effects of the pill finally left my body, the cravings came back strong, but thanks to SparkPeople, I was too busy to give in. I had exercising to fall back on, going for walks outside, going on the computer to check in periodically, etc. It was a lifesaver and still is. I want to thank all of you out there who helped and kept encouraging me. I especially want to thank SeaGlassQueen. She is a great believer in what I have accomplished and I am actually afraid to disappoint her and go back to the way I was. That is not, I repeat not, going to happen. I would feel sooo foolish, if after all my bragging, I went back to my old ways. So a big THANK YOU to you Sonia. Thanks for believing in me, even when I had doubts. God Bless You. A New Me My name is Pat. I joined Sparkspeople in May weighing a whopping 185lbs. I had been 190lbs but getting sick lost 5lbs. It was getting harder and harder to do the simple things like tying my shoes, let alone bending over and actually getting them on. Going shopping for clothes was embarassing. I was in a size 2x, depending on the clothing make. I was constantly out of breathe. Just going up stairs was a chore. I knew something had to give. Along came Sparks, my lifesaver. With the help of Sparkpeople I have managed to lose over 25lbs. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Everyone has been very encouraging. But I have to admit, I have been down lately and because of this, I have gained back 4lbs. Nite snacking is probably my biggest challenge. Drinking water is one of the hardest for me, only because I am up most of the nite (well you know what I am doing). So getting 8hours of sleep is almost impossible. But I am honestly trying. My exercising has not stopped whatsoever, everytime I get on my Treadmill, I go like crazy, wanting to always beat what I did the next day. I have tried run/walking and its not bad, but walking outside has been put on the wayside (too many bear sightings, promised hubby I wouldn't). So I am confined to my Treadmill. I finally reached one of my goals of walking 5 miles/day in one shot and under 60 minutes. Way to go me. But I am not going to stop there, my next goal is to walk 10 miles/day in under 2 hours. Wish me luck!! Here's hoping my next weigh-in on Sunday, produces a loss of weight or at least inches. Keeping my finger crossed.

GOALS 1. Consume only 1200 calories /day. 2. Ride my bike daily. 3. Swim lengths of my pool daily. 4. Sleep 8hrs/day.

1. Stick with portion control 2. Exercise at least 3x/week minimum. 3. Eliminate sweets. 4. Lose 10-15lbs in 3 months.

I live in Amherstburg, Ontario and love it. I am a grandmother of 2 grandsons ( 5 and 3 years old), who live in Ohio. I have a son in Ohio and a daughter who is living with us temporarily while going to college to get her Executive Chef Degree. I have been married going on 35 years to the same wonderful man. I love to read and make greeting cards. I also love to meet interesting people.

For those who are suffering from Arthritis, here is a link you might be interested in regarding Arthritis, I hope it is informative for you: http://www.arthritis.org/protect-your- joints.php

Add a Link People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -- that's why we recommend it daily. Slow and steady wins the race. Consistency is the key.
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