I've started a weight loss regimen to lose as much weight as I can to get back to a healthy state, given various medical problems that I must address.

Hopefully a number of them will finally disappear completely when I'm closer to my personal goal.

I realize I'm not 20-something anymore, and that my loss goal must be realistic, given my age...but I believe I have a head start on many 'dieters' by consuming good, mostly homemade meals in the first place.

Sure, I eat pizza and other 'naughty' foods now and then, but I BALANCE out these splurges by eating very well the rest of the time, and trying to exercise with a moderate walk 30 minutes a day.

Since I unofficially started curbing my intake around mid-September, 2013, I've currently (as of Nov. 19th, 2013) lost 13 pounds...so a little over a pound a week. I think this is a great rate of STEADY weight loss, and I do not feel hungry or deprived at all, given that I continue to eat the foods I enjoy. All I do is note/calculate the calories of all the foods I eat, measure them out, avoid the massive-calorie foods 90% of the time, exercise some, and stick to a limit of between 1700-1800 calories per day. Period. I stick to it since this is realistic (no hunger pangs) 'diet,' and all my doctors are pleased with my progress, as am I.