Pat you are amazing!
I have an addition for all your great posts:
Remember that
muscles burn more energy than fat! What does this mean?
It means that if you exercise regularly and keep in shape, you will actually loose weight much faster than if you didn't exercise, exercising will in it self help you be healthy and loose weight, but even when you are sitting on the couch you are spending energy and if you have muscles instead of fat, you will use more energy = burn more calories. It's what we call "a good circle" because the more you exercise, the more fat you burn on two levels!
Have you heard of step counters? (No clue to what they are called in english)
For many overweight people it is very hard to get into the exercise rutine. So buy yourself a counter and start walking. Your goal is 10.000 steps a day
And try to walk briskly when you walk the long stretches - get a little sweatty, that makes the result even better
I hope I got the point through instead of sounding like I am opposing Pat!