I tried posting this in my blog, but am not sure it worked.

I have been walking for the past month, I guess, walking every day, either on the track at work, or on the treadmill at home. It would be an understatement to say I dislike exercise, because I was disappointed so many times when I’d get on the scale and it didn’t move. I would also be lying if I said that weight loss wasn’t important to me.

Maybe this is one of those aha! Moments, although I’m sure all this stuff was in the back of my mind. I am not walking just to lose weight. I am walking to have a healthier heart. I am walking to lessen the pain in my knees from arthritis. I am walking because less pain means going up and down stairs with ease. I am walking because I feel good after I do it. And you know what? It has kept me going. Know what else? The scale is moving in the right direction. My band works when I do my part.

I will always love sweets, that’s what got me to my highest weight of 338 pounds. I am allowing myself to eat them, though not in the huge quantities I have before. Just for today, it is working for me. There may come a time when I know longer desire them, though I can’t see that. (LOL) I do eat fruit; I eat salads and veggies. I’m making a conscious effort to make better choices, and though I don’t always do that, I feel like my refocusing has helped me immensely. I have lost 11 pounds Saturday was the first time I weighed myself. That also works for me, otherwise I know I'd be nuts. :-).

What a great post! I hear you about how we have to show up to do our part. You are doing that -- way to go. I'm so happy for you. And the walking. I, too, have become a regular walker and what a difference in so many areas of my life besides the scale. Which is moving by the way, but the walking feeds me in so many other ways. I don't want to do it then love doing it and how I feel afterward, so there is some reprogramming going on.

Congratulations ! Glad to hear things are going well ! I hear you on the walking and the sweets. I miss running and walking ( hip problems and plantar facitisI in my heel ), hopefully I can start back up in a couple of months. As far as sweets ? I could live in a candy store for the rest of my life and die happy. So far ive managed to keep my weight stable, but im happy for you for your 11 lbs ! Great job !!

I have asked myself in the past just why I’m doing this, because I just knew I wasn’t going to lose the weight. Today, I asked myself the same question and when I started to think the same way, I was able to stop myself. Let’s hear it for reprogramming!

@@serenity55, I like the term reprogramming. Our habits are not only physical but mental. Change the brain and the body will follow.

You mentioned arthritis and walking. I rode a bike today. Just a few months ago it hurt way too much to ride. Back in the spring the up bend on my right knee brought me to tears. I was talking to my best friend today and wondering aloud why the knee didn't hurt as much today. The weight loss from a few months ago to now is of course a nice thing, but the pain in my knee was not from bearing weight. It was from bending it up. She mentioned all the walking I do now. I walk every single day. Sometimes just a little but most days a moderate amount. She reminded me of what my rheumatologist told me years ago but what I chose to ignore. Exercising my leg muscles helps relieve stress in the arthritic joint. The more work the surrounding strong muscles can do, the less work the joint itself has to bear.

I was so happy to make this connection today. It only took me ten years to follow his advice. I'm hoping that I can live without my cortisone injections now. We will see. Thanks for your post!

JustWatchMe, I like your goal of getting in to shirts? Worn by your daughters. I have a pair of jeans that I haven’t been able to wear for years, and I’m determined to get back in to them.

Thank you all for your encouragement. I really do appreciate it. I think that’s another thing that keeps me going, knowing there are bandsters doing the same thing I am.