Wonderful thread!!

A few thoughts to share: I grew up in a household with parents who had lived through the depression, and a military father who had served in many Asian countries where he "saw children eating out of trash cans and starving in gutters". This translated to the "clean plate club" mentality at our dinner table where you were required to finish the food on your plate regardless of appetite. This was never an issue when we were kids as we were intensely active.

It wasn't until I was injured as a firefighter that I started to put on weight, I kept "cleaning my plate" but wasn't active enough to burn off all the excess calories. Going from extreme activity to sedentary overnight wreaked havoc on my metabolism, and additionally to help alleviate the disappointment of losing my career, I ate. This started a pattern for my 30's and 40's, gaining and losing the same few pounds, considering myself fat but fit (excellent BP, heart rate, cholesterol, etc.), but never comfortable in my own skin.

Now, at age 51, I seem to have hit upon a workable way to drop weight. Looking forward to getting to a point where I'm finally comfortable in my (now somewhat saggy) skin.