I've been incredibly lucky all my life in being able to eat anything I wanted (and I have a very sweet tooth) without fluctuating more than a pound or so. I've also been very active all my life, walking everywhere and doing things like heavy landscaping of my garden on a steep hill. Then several things happened close together that really threw me for a loop. First came the big M at 50, though it didn't impact my weight at all for a few years. Then I fostered kittens that turned out to have feline leukemia. Then some of my older cats started to get sick. Instead of spending my weekends hurling a pick-axe, wheelbarrowing tons of soil downhill and rolling boulders, I spent them on the sofa or bed to give all the time I could to my sick cats. Last year I lost 3 of my long-time cat companions within 8 months and ate lots of the sweet and junky stuff that you think will make you feel less depressed. Factor in a new car which I decided to drive to work every day instead of walking to the bus stop a mile away and - voila! a recipe for a bulging stomach and, even more horrible, cellulite in the thighs.

I'm embarassed to write this but I am now reduced to using rubber bands to fasten my pants at the top and have to wear long loose tops. I flatly refuse to buy new clothes since I don't want to accept this physical change. I'm determined to fit into my size 8's again and still be able to breathe but I'm shocked by how difficult this is. I've never had to try and lose weight before so naively thought that if I simply cut out most of the cakes, cookies and chocolate, my weight would be back to normal in no time. It made so little difference that I started skipping meals which only meant that I got my first taste of hearburn. It's exercise that is key, I realize, and that's what I'm working on now. I can't afford a gym but I have gone back into what was once a garden and is now a jungle.

Great idea for a thread! Hopefully writing here will help me stick to my resolution. I don't have scales but I can report back on whether I can zip up my pants half-way within the next two weeks, all the way within a month. By summer, I should be able to tuck in a t-shirt.