Ok, so I know that with the New Year many of you (and me!) have health issues you need to deal with, and maybe are avoiding. Whether it's making doctor appointments, seeing the dentist, getting enough sleep, having alone time - whatever, post here when you need to be help accountable for something to improve your health.

For instance, I am so busy taking care of other people, I tend to neglect myself. This is the place to form your goals for your own health and well being. It's like when you're in an airplane - they tell you if the oxygen mask falls, you are instructed to put on your own mask before assisting others. If you don't take care of yourself first, you can't be a help to anyone else.

For myself, I need to attempt to get a good night's sleep every night - that means not being online until 3am. Yeah, you can see when I post. I also have a host of specialists for a variety of health issues that I need to see on a regular basis, and I need to be more diligent about making appointments.

So what do you need to do?

What a great thread.

For me, getting the weight off is key to getting my health back in check. I've never had health issues because of my weight, but had I not started to do something about it, I probably would have.

I started WW in June, and have lost just over 42 pounds so far -- about 58 still to go. I'm doing this for me, and for some reason, feel like this is the time for me to succeed at this. I've done WW before, but it's never clicked that this is for life -- it's not just something I can do until I get to goal.

I've never lost more than 45 pounds before, so I'm excited to see how far I can go with this.

These threads will help me get there...and not being afraid to ask for support is also key for me. I know that I have to do the work, but it doesn't mean that I don't need people in my corner, right?

Best of luck to everyone!!

Wow, you're doing great, auntof3! Keep up the good work!

I need to make and appointment with my PCP. Oh, and I have to make an appointment for my dad to get a chest CT.

So did you make the appointment, Veebs? Huh? Did you? And did you make the one for your dad? I'm waiting?

Oh, and call me Tracie -- it's much easier.

No Tracie, I still nee to do that! Thanks!

Okay, I'm going to join in too. I started out on January 1st at 242 pounds. My goal is to be 150 pounds. I am currently 232 pounds, so I'm 10 pounds down. I'm not following any fad diet, I'm increasing my exercise and following the Canada Food Guide recommendations for someone my age and gender. It's going well so far and I feel good. I'm definitely better at the eating part than the exercise, though!! I need to work on making myself get up and do something. I'm unemployed right now, and a bit depressed, but I'm hopeful of getting a new job soon. I'm hoping that will help to kick me back into gear!

Veebs, I like that analogy you wrote at the top about the oxygen masks on the plane. It is so true..... we do need to look after ourselves in order to be able to look after others. That's one of the reasons that I'm doing this. I'm also hoping to inspire my parents to work on their health more. Both are overweight and have health issues that could be helped by improving their fitness, especially my dad.

Good luck everyone!

Congrats so far! As someone who deals with depression, I can say that along with making sure I take my meds, excercise helps keep the mood more steady, so good for you for trying to do something to stay active...even if it's a little something every day. You can do this!!!

~Tracie

Thanks Tracie, if I may call you that.

You're right about the exercise making me feel better, even if it's just riding my bike for a few minutes. It's a struggle to make myself do it but it always feels good in the end.

You're doing really well with your weight loss. 44 pounds is nothing to be sniffed at! And you're almost past 45 pounds!!

Thanks, and I need to remind myself of it daily, and I'm not always successful. I did finally make an appointment with my primary care physician, but I still need to go to the gastroenterologist, the chiropractor, pain management doctor, etc.

Great job on the weight loss so far, everyone!

How's everyone doing lately?

I'm struggling a bit but down to 230. No job yet, which is the main reason why I'm struggling, but still hopeful.

Veebs - have you made those appointments yet, young lady? *wags finger at Veebs*

I'm inching closer to 50 gone, and to be honest? Some days feel really easy, and other days feel like I'm trying to swim in quicksand.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Why, thank you for asking. I have an appointment with my primary care doctor on Monday, but I still need to make one with the chiropractor and the gastro.

One bad thing about moving - getting all new doctors. I see 7 specialists, but I will still travel back here to see 2 of them, because I really like them, and they are excellent physicians.

That's tough, Veebs. Moving is difficult enough but changing doctors, and that many, must make it a lot more stressful. Are you able to get back easily to the doctors that you are keeping? How easy is it to find a new doctor in the US?

My good news is that I'm at 229 this morning.... although I'm going out for dinner tonight and will be faced with huge temptation! I also got a new, awesome job, which I start next week. I'm really excited about it.

Tracie, I hear you about the struggles. I just try and remind myself that losing weight takes time and I won't always be successful at resisting temptation. I've managed to be in a place now where I don't beat myself up for giving in, but I just start again. Previously, I would just forget about the whole diet and go back to binging. I don't want to sound like Bob trying to do a commercial for yoghurt, but I have found that when cravings are really bad, a small, fat-free yoghurt really does the trick.

Thanks, CCricket. My sister is the Director of Pharmacy at the local hospital, so she has a primary care physician all picked out for us. Most of my specialists have recommended someone in the area we will be moving to, it's just annoying to make all the appointments, (not just for me but my parents as well), then have to tell your life story over and over and over again. We're only moving 65 miles away, so I can stay with my brother when I come to town.

Hey, that's great about your weight. Congrats on the new job - what will you be doing?

I went to my doctor today - blood pressure and cholesterol were good, and I lost 12lbs since mid-November.

Now if they could only figure out why I still feel so lousy....

I saw my gastroenterologist on Friday. Yay, I went to another one of my specialists.

Yeah, Veebs!! That's good news! Except for the feeling lousy part..... I'm sorry to hear about that!

I'm an RN and I just got a job in a new hospital. Same work as I was doing last year but different hospital. I'm really liking the people I work with so far. Much friendlier and more helpful.

Sadly, I have to admit that the diet has fallen by the wayside in the past week. What kind of hospital has a donut store and fast food places in it???? All that temptation in easy reach, combined with little time to go grocery shopping = my butt getting bigger again! lol I haven't dared to weigh myself recently.

^^^Wow, that's as bad as schools with candy vending machines.

The funniest thing is that the donut store always has the longest line-ups, while the place selling healthy alternatives never seems to have any line-ups! The second longest line-ups are at the burger joint!

Can I jump on the bandwagon late?

My biggest health goal this year is to quit smoking. I quit for 2 1/2 years once, so I know I can do it. I started again during grad school (bad idea) and now that I'm done, I really want to quit again. I can go a day or even three, but then something happens and I light up again. A few months back I did a fitness assesment at my gym and was appalled by how bad my cardio health was - even though I work-out 5-7 days a week. Still I struggle.

I admit, one of my biggest problems is that no one knows - my family, co-workers, friends all are unaware. I live by myself so that really isn't so difficult to be a "secret smoker." I hate the addiction, I hate the cigarettes, and I hate the shame it brings.

Today is my quit day. Hopefully this will be the last quit day I make. It would be nice to have a few people, though, that I could be honest with and say, "I made it 24 hours." Or "I didn't quite make it today, I'll try again tomorrow." I'm still trying to lose weight so all the "helpful" tips about smoking and weight gain make it more difficult to stay motivated. I've taken to avoiding those sites because the "warnings" about withdrawal just make me want another smoke. Still, some support would be nice . . . so even though I think most people are here about weight loss, could you help keep me accountable to this?

I know it might take a while still, but I also know that I will do it as long as I keep trying.

Welcome to the badwagon, Brigid!!

Being a secret smoker myself, after numerous failed attempts at quitting, I understand well how you're feeling. I wish you the best of luck with quitting. I have a feeling that you can do it. You've known the freedom of being a non-smoker for 2.5 years.

I have been incredibly bad lately, and not accountable at all. My excuse is the stress of starting anew job. But, really, I have no excuse. I'm disappointed because of all the hard work I put in to losing those first 13 pounds has been a bit of a waste. I haven't stepped on my scale in a few weeks because I'm just too scared too. Hopefully, now that I'm settling in to work, things will get easier. I really can't wait for the weather to start warming up; walking is my favourite exercise and I can't do much of that when it's -30 outside! Brrrrrrr! Right now, the only exercise I get is walking to the donut store, which is way too easily accessible!!

Welcome, Brigid_C! Good for you for your determination. Keep us posted on how you are doing - we won't tell.

Thank you all for the responses and the encouragement. I wish I could say I was doing well with the whole quitting thing, but I'm not. I am, however, making it a little longer each day without a smoke (managed about 21 hours yesterday) and writing down/making notes of what causes me to fail and making plans to counteract those influences. Also noting what seems to help. The most important thing is that I'm not giving up. I keep trying, even though I haven't managed to succeed yet. I'm kinda of taking the same approach with this that I did with losing weight - I haven't failed yet because I haven't given up yet. Each day I get a little closer, and I learn. I won't beat myself up over slipping and I refuse to fall into the mindset of "it's just too hard, I'll never be able to do it." Instead, I acknowledge that I made a bad decision, try to understand why I made that decision, and choose to view each day as another opportunity to make the correct one(s).
Tomorrow is my day off, and if I have to hole myself up in my house with no ciggies and hide my car keys so I can't go get more, I plan to make the most of it by not smoking. Cleaning, for some odd reason, seems to help keep cravings at bay. Maybe its a control thing? This is the one area of my life where I feel completely out of control so that could be it. But whatever, cleaning and wearing my heart rate monitor constantly really does seem to help. On days I smoke, my heart stays around 80-90bpm. When I don't smoke, it stays around 60bpm, sometimes going as low as 52bpm. That's a HUGE difference that I can actually see and measure - I may have to buy a new battery soon, but that is a small price to pay. So, yeah. Here's to another day!
I truly look forward to the day when I can report it has been 24 hours, then 48, and finally 72. Then all the nicotine will be gone from my system. And that will be a happy day indeed.

I just wanted to let everyone know that it has been a week since I have had a smoke. So it looks like I'm finally on my way!
Yay!

Go Brigid!!! You're amazing!

I am hoping by diet and exercise to get off my high blood pressure and high cholesterol medications this year. Both are down a lot already but my doc has not yet taken me off them.

Hey, that's great, BeckiJane! Sounds like it's only a matter of time til you're off those meds.

I am making an appointment at the UPMC Headache Center. I've been complaining about these headaches for years, and my doctor suggested this the other day. WTF? Why didn't she suggest this sooner - I didn't even know the Center existed. And I am usually on top of that kind of stuff.