Oh, man.   

Alright.   I was just about the heaviest I've ever been, a month or two ago (215lbs) and I've started trying to lose weight.  (204lbs, 5'10")  I've always been what my friends call "country strong," mostly because I've always had active, high-energy, labor jobs - construction, warehousing, waiting tables, something active.   For the last year and a half, I've been taking care of my father, who requires 24/7 supervision, so I haven't been as active:  I sit around the house, I eat too much (And they love the country-cooking around here.   Meat and potatoes and things with gravy, all day long. ) and I don't get enough exercise.   I'm gradually going to acquaint my body with the idea that I need to do something else with it.   

I recently found this website, and I'm really looking forward to hammering my bodyweight down, and also to bulking up in terms of muscle.   I'm taking everything apart, here, and deciding on fitness goals.   I'm starting up slow, because I can't afford an injury (Have to be available to help dad), so sticking to sixty minutes of walking a day that I've been doing feels like a really good place to start, for the next week or two.   

Steps I've already taken, in regards to my diet: 

Sugar (soda, cookies, brownies, cake, pie/"STOPFEEDINGME,GRANDMA"/etc. ) is out.
Water (So much water) is in.
Vegetables are in, but I have to tell you:  Broccoli and cauliflower are my enemies.   If anyone has alternate suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Potatoes are out.   
Rice is in.
Red meat is cut back.
Portions are down.
Been taking a men's one-a-day multivitamin, but I don't know if they're strictly necessary.   They were here.   I used them.

Difficulties (which I may ask for help with): 

1.   I'm a smoker.   I've cut down from two to three packs a day (40-60 cigarettes), to under one pack a day (app.  12-15 cigarettes) to my current state (app.  five cigarettes a day), over the last year or so.   My next goal is to cut cigarettes out, completely, but I'm going to take my time with that, too.   I've "quit" smoking probably twenty times, and it's way too easy to try to jump off that cliff, and then get mad when you find out you can't fly.   Stepping down, and weaning myself gradually off of the addiction is working.   If any of you are looking for help quitting, I have some advice for how to recognize and manage cravings.   

2.   I don't do all the cooking, for the household, who are all dedicated to "2 to 3 meals a day" thinking, and also get actually offended when it's suggested that they eat healthy.   The phrase, "No fat?  Where's all the taste?"  flies around my house quite a bit.   Stereotypical farm cooking.   

3.   My father's wife (not my mother) also purchases fatty snacks which she knows that I like, as a passive-aggressive way of getting back at me for being able to lose weight - since i've lost eleven pounds, over the last couple months.   Being someone whose idea of diet control was, "Don't keep that crap in the house," it's really hard not to grab something when I'm walking by, because I've never had to ignore them, before.   I'm dealing with it, but the conversations about how I'd prefer that stuff wasn't around, vs.  her maintaining that since she has paid good money for these, but doesn't like them, then I "have" to eat them. . .    It's stress, is what I am saying.   I dislike the idea of having to be a jerk about this, or rather, I would prefer not to be put in such a position where I feel like putting my foot down firmly is necessary.   The conflict feels unnecessary, and it's one thing on top of my daily stresses I'd prefer not to deal with.



So, there you go!  Hello!  My life is nuts, and I want to feel better about it.   Soon, I will be a healthy person.   I'll check into the goals and progress section, soon.

~R

Hey, thanks for the welcome, dude!