New year- hopefully a new me.

I'm 5'2 and hit my highest weight ever of 280 at the end of December. The weight has been seriously piling on after back surgery a couple years ago.

Well-

January 1st: I quit smoking

January 5th: I got a family membership at the YMCA.

I've been going for an hour before work and 1.5 hours after work.

I am trying to watch the types of food I am eating and I am about to start on 3-4 weeks of medifast this weekend.

I have been eating more fish and chicken and "good" veggies and trying to severely limit sugar and carbs.

I am down 5 pounds and added the nautalis (sp?) machines to my routine this week.

I wish I had enough guts to wear a bathing suit around strangers because I would love to use the pool.

Maybe in a few months I will be at a more comfortable weight.

Also question for you all:

Do people ever get mad at you for refering to yourself as fat or saying you need to lose wieght? It seems like any time I talk frankly about myself people react like I am "hating" on myself, when all I am doing is being honest. My boyfriend actually got upset with me until I started bawling.

I'm 5'2 and 275 pounds....I know I am fat. Why do other people act so shocked that I know it......it's not like it is a big secret.

Congrats on quitting smoking. I hope to be able to do that some day.

I would never be able to do that much exercise. I would burn out too fast.

I can totally relate to the "Y" thing. I've thought about joining the Y, but it is always soo busy. The pool was a big draw for me, but now my legs look like a shar pei. I've never seen so many wrinkles. I need a 1920's bathing suit that goes to my knees. lol

As for calling myself fat, I don't think I ever did that. I also had back problems and just told everyone that I was tired of hurting, and it was time for me to feel better. Maybe they should understand that acknowledging that you need to lose weight is not "hating" yourself. It is loving yourself enough to make yourself healthier.

Good luck on your journey. Enjoy the process!

Fat is fat. Fatness makes some people feel uncomfortable. They don't know how to respond or what to say. They really can't say "Oh you're not fat" without looking foolish and so it's uncomfortable territory for them. I say meh... We are what we are.

You might want to peek into the pool early in the morning. You might find you're one of the smaller people there.

I have major back, hip and knee issues so I can't exercise as much as I would like. I'm down 50 pounds since last April. I'm a slow loser due to thyroid and not being able to do vigerous exercise slows it down even more. I'm plugging away though. I've committed to the long term and don't expect to be at my goal for another year.