Doh!

When I hadn't heard from any of you about whether or not I should continue the blog, I reckoned it was time to take it down. Then I had the brainchild idea the other day of checking my Gmail account for the first time in months - yes, the very e-mail account attached to this blog - and there I find all of your e-mails. So for those of you thinking I wasn't being responsive, it's because I forgot that blog-related e-mails are sent to my Gmail rather than my Yahoo account. So I promise to reply this week.

Diana, I have finally started entering my fitness info on SparkPeople but am still trying to learn how to navigate the site - but I've finally started! Mai, it sounds like you and I are in the same boat. I, too, was very thin and fit all of my life until the past 7 years. I still think of myself as that thin woman and then am shocked at the heavy woman looking back at me in the mirror. I just can't believe I'm still facing the same weight battle I did before I even started the program.

Sue & Lorrie, I hope you don't mind that I removed your posts where you had your photos attached - after opening up access to anyone, I wanted to protect your privacy and removed posts with photos. Please continue to contribute your wonderful posts since you've both inspired us so much. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to remove your photos from your account profile, if you feel so inclined.

So my new approach is this: I am eating mostly a plant-based diet now and trying to walk daily. If the food is processed, I'm trying to avoid it. I read the other day how the National Health Service in the UK recommends that women consume 1500 calories per day and men consume 2000 calories per day. Contrast that with here, where we always hear that women should eat 2000 calories per day and men 2500 calories per day. Well, that may be fine for some people. However, when you're middle-aged and have a job like me where I sit in a chair all day, the reality is that 2000 calories per day is simply too much food. Allison was right (as usual) that for some of us, an extra 200-300 calories per day can mean the difference between losing weight and not losing a pound. I'm that person.

Since switching to a minimum of 5 servings of fresh (usually raw) fruits and veggies a day, the change in my energy level, skin, hair, mood, etc. has been remarkable. The other upshot is that I'm enjoying them for the first time, too.

Now, if I could just get my calorie intake down to 1200 per day - I've never been able to do it yet. When I feel like I'm on a diet, it triggers an urge to binge and eat bad food and is counter-productive. Now I'm going to try to simply change what I eat rather than focus on dieting anymore. That said, I'm happy to say that I have stuck with some of the behavior changes we learned in the program.