I wanted to add one more story to this thread because it's most motivational to me. The reason is because it's not about a younger person or a middle-age man still dripping with testosterone. It's about a little old lady that seemed like a hopeless case.

My late mother-in-law fell under her carport and broke her hip, the evening of the opening day of Apollo 13 (I believe the only movie I've seen on opening day, we received the call that evening after the movie). A few years later she had breast cancer and then parathyroid surgery.

Now Lois was always a heavy-set woman, I'm guessing about the same height as my wife (5'-4.5" [163.8 cm]) and at times probably weighed around 230 lbs. (104 kg). She had yo-yo'd most of her life (never thin) and was gaining when she moved in with us in 2008 (she was 68 - born 1940), right about the time we were changing our lifestyle.

The complete weight chart is shown below, with her and my brother included (he'd call in every Sunday from Atlanta.

And remember, the weight-loss began at least a few months before we started charting it, so I don't know what my mother-in-law started at (I know she had lost already as we had).

From the chart, in a year's time she lost 28 lbs. (12.7 kg) and all she did was eat like we were eating and going to the park with us everyday to walk (just going with the flow - bless my wife for staying behind with her at a much slower pace, especially in the first few months).

She went from barely being able to walk short distances (her driveway) to taking off on us sometimes after we parked and were stretching. So it wasn't just the weight loss, it was the energy she was gaining, someone who I thought was doomed (also with bad knees) was getting a quality of life again.

All I'm saying is that if *she* could do it...

++++++++++

Include are a couple more pics, another "fat" cruise and then after the effort (last cruise we took my mother-in-law on, 2009)...