Weight Loss Journey

This is for any of you that are asking, "how did you do that?". 

Most you who have known me for more than 10 years know that I have struggled with my weight since 3rd grade. My weight gain and loss has always been like a yo yo. I never had any trouble losing weight for most of my adult life. I know what to eat and how much, of course the older I got the harder to lose and the less incentive I seemed to have. This maybe due to the fact that I also have never had any trouble gaining weight either. 

I could say it was in my genes but really it probably mostly due to the fact that I LOVE to eat, especially desserts. 

I decided this past Spring that I wanted to lose 10 lbs. Having small goals would be easier to meet and might encourage me to stick with it. Since I retired (think: last 10 years) I find myself burning almost no calories. It seems it doesn't matter how little you eat, if you are not burning more calories than you are eating, you will not losing weight. 

We have a converted railroad tracks in the county that has been re-purposed to a walking/biking trail. Conveniently it is also near our house. Scott decided that we would walk together most week days becoming accountability partners (he has lost 25 lbs.). That and buying a new digital scale has kept me going. I find that when I weigh twice a week, even losing a 1/4 pound is encouraging. 

I started with Nutrisystem for a month just to get going and from there have just been cutting everything I eat down to half and sticking to it. If I want/need something sweet, I find that a bite or a half piece satisfies and I don't feel like I am dieting (because really who wants to diet for the rest of their life?).

Since June NONE of my clothes fit which can be good and bad, I guess. Good because I have to buy NEW clothes. Bad because new clothes are expensive. Good because I actually don't mind shopping and trying on clothes anymore. Bad because I find that the new clothes that I bought during the Summer are too big now and I only wore them a few times. Oh well!

My main reason to post these before/after pictures is to put this out there so that all of you can hold me accountable too. Forty eight pounds, so far! 
(Actually, I thought I would look more like Marie Osmond the closer I got to 50 lbs.)