New to the forum and OH

I just wanted to introduce myself.  I'm Bert, I live in Knoxville, Tennessee, and currently I'm not interested in surgery, but I am working hard again to lose weight.  I haven't been overweight all my life, but most of my adult life.  A couple years ago I topped the scales at 598.  Back in December I once again decided to take a swing at losing weight and being serious about it.  I didn't have a scale to weigh on at the time (I was too heavy for normal scales) but I started changing my eating patterns and attempting to integrate exercise into my life again.  On March 21st of this year, I found a scale that worked for me and, to my surprise, I was 514 pounds, when I expected I would be over 600.  Since then, I'm weighing in once a week and I've lost 26.5 pounds, putting me at 487.5. I'm not doing anything special, I'm just taking the phrase "eat less and exercise" to heart.  I'm not doing any particular diet, and I'm really trying to avoid doing one; this isn't a diet for me, it's re learning how to eat.  I am, however, limiting myself to 1500 calories a day and I monitor my calorie intake pretty rigorously.  I cycle on a recumbent bike I bought several years ago an hour a day and I am trying to walk every day.  Last week I went to the movie theater for the first time since 2001. I'm pretty excited by the success I've had this year so far, but I fear the spectre of regression.  I've had success before, but as is maybe true with some of you, I gained it back and then some.  I'm trying to avoid that this time around by enlisting support instead of bulling it out on my own. I look forward to reading and participating with you!

Yay! Its always good to find out that you are less than you think you are... Oh wait, did that come out right? Lol. I mean that you weigh less than you think you do. Thanks for the motivation!

Welcome, we need all the help we can get.  All newbies get to come up with the questions of the day.....nah, just joking, but jump in if you want to.

Hi bert!  Chris will be so excited to see another dude! Don't fear regression - epxect it and have a plan, namely, get back on. I find i don't "fall off" and stay off like I used to. Not so much.  I think us fat peeps tend to overreact and go with that over reaction rather than get a grip and just do what we know feels best for us. It is NOT fun to over eat or gobble up stuff that makes us feel bad. Is it???? welcome.

Hiya Bert,      Congratulations on the spectacular start!  :-)  A 110.5 pound loss is mighty impressive.      At only 1,500 calories (and with cardio on top of that), you should be able to keep the same plan diet-wise for pretty much your whole journey.  If at any point down the road your weight loss stalls temporarily, you can expand your exercise options and jumpstart it.       And you have the right idea about how it's all about re-learning how we should eat and exercise...not something we do for the short-term (and then revert back to our previous behavior).  We'll all have "falls off the wagon"/set-backs, but they'll only mean re-gaining if we stay off the wagon.  We have to let go of any feelings of guilt over our "sins" and just view them for the minor speed bumps they truly are.  It's our old thinking that causes one binge/incident to turn into days or weeks of bad behavior.      So welcome to our little pond, and we're always here to support you.  :-)

Woohoo another male! Neecee's right Chris will be happy there is another guy on the board. lol.  Welcome to the board Bert! This is a fun board....we have great times. And we are all here to help. Good luck on your new journey!!!!!!!  ---Christa

Our friend Chris is going to love having you on the board.  He won't be completely surrounded by girls anymore.

Welcome to our little pow wow.  Your efforts in losing weight are tremendous and I'm impressed at how successful you've been so far.  Keep up the good work and hopefully our board will be able to keep steering you in the right direction.

Our board is fairly simple - we post when we want but we do daily questions.  Someone posts 5 random questions and we all take turns answering.  Please join in. 

Best of luck and we look forward to hearing from you. 

Congratulations on your success and welcome to the board.   Sounds like you have made some positive decisions and they are working well for you.   

Thanks everyone for your warm welcome! 

Hey Bert! Welcome! I know someone who lives in Tennessee but I have never been there myself. I live in Georgia and have so all my life. You'll love it here. I personally have had the surgery but this is the best place to find love, support, honesty, and fun! I love these folks. Looking forward to seeing more of you around here... Candy