I have dieted off and on for many years and had great success only to give it away by gaining it all back.
That all changed pretty dramatically for me on December 28, 2009. After eating dinner at our favorite Chinese place I went home with what I thought was indigestion. An hour later the pain was worse and I was on the way to the emergency room. After an EKG, a nitroglycerin patch and 4 childrens aspirin the Doctor said he did not think it was my heart but wanted to keep me over night for observation and do a stress test in the morning. After a sleepless night in a hospital room I asked the nurse if they had scheduled the stress test because I was on vacation till January 4th and wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. Her response changed my life forever, she said, your not going home, your going to ICU, you had a heart attack.
Well a bunch of needles, IV's, pills, and a heart cathiter later I was laying in a bed in ICU trying to come to grips with the fact that at the age of 50 I had had a heart attack. Fortunately it was mild and did little if any damage and other than the one artery that was clogged the others looked good.
So I have embarked on not a diet, but rather a lifestyle change. I am quick to point out to all my friends, family and coworkers that I am not on a diet, but rather have change my lifestyle. Since then I have lost 25 pounds, which is a lot but more an indication to me of how bad I was eating rather than being unhealthy by losing to much to fast. I eat virtully no fat, very little sodium, and portions are now more reasonable. I walk, have a stair stepper and a weight machine that have had the dust knocked off them and get a lot more use these days.
I offer this story not to scare people but rather as a learning experience that while dieting is good, lifstyle changes are better. I have always been a big guy. I played football into college, I played Lacrosse, baseball, softball and was very active. My weight was all over the board and that took a toll on my heart. My wish for all of you is that you don't look at what your doing as a diet but rather a lifestyle change for the better. Proper eating, exercise, and all things in moderation is my new lifestyle. I hope you all do great things and meet and maintain your goals because if your like me,(and I'm sure you are because your posting on the DIS) you have alot more trips to WDW to take before I leave this world.