Thanks. It's too cold to hit the pool. In the summer, I attend water arobics 2-3 days a week. That's what my dr told me is the best for me
in my physical state. It's an excuse I know. Thanks for the encouragment!

The best thing is to follow what your doctor says to do because of your own health issues! One thing that helps me to get my exercise during the winter is to join with my girlfriends. They hold me accountable, and likewise, I hold them accountable. Plus, we have fun during workouts and actually feel better and more motivated to more closely monitor our eating.
Rosemary

Hi patty smith.  Maybe my story will give you some incentive to lose the weight you need to though I have no secret formula for such achievement. Back in 1983 had a heart attack and my pcp recommend a local cardiologist that I went to see. After we talked a while, he sent me into the exam room and shortly he followed.  I have never seen a Dr’s exam room with a scale in there, but he had one in each exam room.   To my surprise , he weighed me. A couple of weeks later I was discharge from the hospital, and I was in his office and again he weighed me. And then we talked.  He said I didn’t want to say this to you earlier, but you need to lose weight.  I was 162 at that point and I am 5 ft, 2 inches.  I asked where do you want me and he said if I could get down to 140 he’d be happy. I said, my orthopedic surgeon wanted me to be at 119, and he said I’m being realistic,  at 140 I’ll d be happy.  He didn’t want to see me for another 6 months but I was seeing my pcp regularly. In between.   So I went home and several times I started to diet, for a day or two.  I happen to have worked for a protein chemist several years earlier so I had books that tell you nutritional data. Knowing that when I estimate what I’ve eaten, the body on the other counts every calorie. I learned about a cardiac rehab gym locally and starting going there.  On day one my way there, I thought wouldn’t it be great if I could get down  to where I should be, 125 pounds, and weigh more than the last time he saw me. So I started counting calories as precisely as I could. I still have all the records.  This happened to be over Thanksgiving and Christmas to boot.  But it was working with eating between 1100--1300 calories per day as I remember. I ate good food, little junk food and at rehab they had a great system set up and you actually wanted to go there.  Their gym was set up so you had no waiting to get on equipment.  They had a lounge with a  frig full of juice and  carbonated water which you mixed to alleviate any thirst. As you worked on the equipment, alongside of you were others that were alongside for the 40 minutes of working out and you met people that became friends. And they had parties on holidays.  The owner of the gym hired doctors that were studying for their cardiology boards or were cardiologists looking for some additional income. Some just brought all their journals and sat in a corner and read their journals unless needed.   But some mingled with the patients.   I never told anyone what my goal was including my pcp! When I had to write down my current weight I always put down 162!  No one questioned it!!!!!!  The workout was moderately strenuous.   You were on a monitor so a nurse was watching and when you needed to increase the workload, they would tell you.  The weight was coming off so systematically that within a few months I knew exactly what day to schedule my next appt with the cardiologist.  Then came the day!  As  predicted, he started to weigh me. My face must have looked thinner so when he started to raise the weight to the right on the scale bar, he was wondering what was going on. He went back to my chart and said, “ How could you have gained 7 pounds when you are doing so well in cardiac rehab?”  I said don’t worry about it Dr E, I can lose this weight any time I want! He said sure…….. I’ve heard that line before.    But I responded but I bet you haven’t seen this before as I reached under the gown and removed 30 pounds of scuba diving weights that were on a belt on my waist. After he laughed he got real serious and asked why I was wearing those weights……for exercice?   He went to get his associate who was with another patient and he told the story and they were both standing there laughing and the associate asked the same question as to why I was wearing the weights that were now just sitting on a chair.  I guess no one ever plays practical jokes on doctors!   I had borrowed the scuba diving weights from a friend above what I already had of my own.    I doubt if your doctors weighs you themselves, so sorry you will have to come up with your own practical joke, but if indeed they do weigh you, you are more than welcome to copy mine.  I currently weigh 133 which is my current goal and what I weighed in college!  Good luck.  Keep up with the 2 pounds at a time!!!!!! @gailfaith