I just noticed i have never added a bio, so here goes:
I turned 76 on May 19th. I was married at 18 and had two wonderful sons, eighteen months apart. A second marriage of 22 years gave me my only daughter, who will be 40 in Aug. My youngest son passed away in 2009, leaving my only grandchild, who was 7 when he died. She is the reason for my trip to Eastern WA last week; to celebrate her 15th birthday.
I was always underweight at 5'8" and 130 pounds. Having half my thyroid removed at age 35 added a little weight, but what really plumped me up was finally being able to quit smoking in my early 50s. Best thing i've ever done in my life, despite the weight gain. I gradually got up to 170 lbs. I had always been very active, but the added weight slowed me down. At my heaviest, i was at 210 and 5'8-1/4". Due to degenerative disk disease and resulting scoliosis, i began to lose height in my late 50s, and today i am 5'4". I started using the Wii Fit in 2009 and got down to 173 lbs, and i felt good. Then, in Nov of that year my youngest son passed away, and i stopped doing everything, including trying to lose weight. All i did was sit around and cry. Anti-depressants, and grief counseling through work helped some with the depression, but i no longer had the desire to lose weight and get fit, until my back began to really ache and hurt when i was on my feet too long, and i began losing stamina ~ especially if the weather was hot. I decided to get back to trying to lose weight. I want to stick around for my kids and my granddaughter. I've always been large boned, so i never really got where i looked "fat", just overweight, but a gain of over 70 lbs over the years, could definitely be called fat (the Wii Fit says i am "obese"). One of my goals is to get back to being "overweight", and eventually "normal". The meal pix you all send to FS, and the encouragement and inspiration you all give, is really helping me to try and stick to it this time. Thank you!