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Introduction Text I'm a 7th generation native northern Californian, and I love all the beauty of this area. I had back surgery in July of 2011, and am happy to say I'm on the mend. I'm a retired school principal, after 32 years in education . I enjoy yoga, wine, winemaking, hiking, reading, and my wonderful husband and our 3 daughters. Poor Santosh is outnumbered by all of us females, but manages to dodge our drama by keeping busy programming or golfing! I have 3 girls, ages 26, 26, and 29. The oldest is a CVICU nurse and the twins are in education and private industry. I live right in the heart of the wine country, and have a home in the Seattle area as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been using sparkpeople regularly since 2006. In those years, I've lost as much as 20 lbs, gained as much as 27, and lost and gained any number of pounds in between. It is my desire to lose and keep off 20 or so pounds. But It always seems that my "thermostat" creeps the weight back up. I just tell myself that if it weren't for this online community, I could easily weigh in the 200's. So far, that's never happened. But in 2000, I suffered a loss and the grief threw me into a deep clinical depression. Myriads of anti-depression medications, a sedentary life, and using food and wine as self-treatment had me pack on the pounds in a very short time. I was also diagnosed at that time with PCOS, T2 diabetes, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. WHich caused what??? Fat=disease? Disease=weight gain? A little of both, probably. I feel like I'll never know. Slowly, I recovered. I discontinued all the depression medication (which was not helping), and instead addressed the thyroid and t2/pcos. I began to lose weight, though I've never been able to get down to that lower range I enjoyed in the late 90's. The hair that fell out during my sick time never did grow back. That's an ongoing battle to deal with my scalp-revealing alopecia areata. I joined Sparkpeople in 2006, and lost some additional weight, getting down to 138 lbs. That's the lowest weight I've been since that time I worked with the weight-loss doctor. The weight is once again creeping up (this time due to lack of discipline, motivation, menopause, and my nemisis: WINE). My greatest pleasure is playing sommelier, and pairing wines with wonderfully prepared dinners. I even make and bottle my own wine from wine grapes, right in my dining room! Alas, I have eaten and drunk myself to an undesirable 170 lbs, In the meantime, I have begun re-incorporating the lifestyle eating strategies I was taught back in 1996. I may not ever weigh 112 lbs again, but if I could get to 136, that weight falls within the healthy BMI range for my height. I'm shooting for 132 lbs-- an even 25 lb weight loss. ROOT FOR ME! LOL! Lisa in Northern CA

Exercise 5 mornings a week, either jog/walk or swim Daily meditation Yoga 3 times a week Keep calories between 900 and 1200 per day Eat lean protein in the amt of around 100 grams a day, with equal or less amts of carbs, and no more than 30% intake of fat, daily. Consume Wine only 2 days a week; one to two 5-oz glasses Get 8 hours of sleep per day Drink 64 oz of water per day

Under the guidance of an endocrinologist, I strive to eat and exercise in accordance with the above-stated parameters.

Lisa from Northern California- age 49 married, mother of 3 college-aged girls, and teaching Kindergarten (26 years beginning in August). Losing weight, and maintaining weight loss has been difficult to nearly impossible, thanks to Type 2 diabetes, Hashimotos thyroiditis, PCOS, Insulin resistance, and menopause. Because I am SHORT (5'2") and LIMITED in what I can do for exercise (Major back surgery in July of 2011), I cannot consume the generally suggested 1500 calories per day that others insist that "everyone" needs. This is too generic to insist upon for every person. I have had my BMR calculated at my gym using C02 output and I only need 1,317 calories to MAINTAIN my weight. Therefore, I need to eat less than that, to lose. In other words, I am not "starving myself". LOL!!

my little farm: http://www.ccmof.com/

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