Dieting Sucks!

Dieting sucks!
How many times have I started a diet? I don't know. I'm on one now and it seems to be working(I myself am surprised). I've started diets that lasted a day before I'd give up. I'd diet for a good week and give up. I'd start and lose 5 lbs and give up. I always got to a point where It was too hard and seemed like such a huge task. I don't just have 20 lbs to lose, ok.... I have 100(plus). To be on a diet for that long is ... hard to see an end.
I'm hungry. I'm hungry all day. I've been hungry since March, when I got serious about this diet. It's hard to imagine feeling miserable for that long. I have moments of relief... I have a snack or a meal and for a while I'll feel ok. But, the amount of food I'm getting means that feeling wont last. I have some snacks that it only takes the edge off. Cereal is one of my favorites because I don't feel hungry afterwards. Some of the Lean Cuisine meals that I eat are such small portions that I feel hungry before and still feel hungry after eating.

A few reasons why I'm having success:
I'm doing things differently now. I'm doing my research. I knew before, that exercise was important with diet to lose weight. So, like many things (I like to do things on my own) I never followed a plan I just tried to eat 'healthy' and exercise. I remember one attempt to get fit: I would walk at a good pace and Jamba Juice would be my destination, I would get a Jamba Juice and walk back home. Knowing what I know now...The Jamba Juice that I bought everyday had twice as many calories that I burned when I walked. I just thought being healthy was enough.
Even recently I thought I was doing good ordering the Taco Salad instead of the burrito... the salad has more calories than the burrito!
I'm really trying to pay attention to calories now.
I started riding my bike and at first a 20 minute ride was strenuous for me.
People don't realize it's not just peddling...my leg is having to go around and around, but because my stomach was big when I started this, my leg was lifting alot of pounds of stomach every time my foot came up to move the peddle around. Not only that but I couldn't put my legs in a good peddling form. I had to keep my knees pointing outward to avoid most of my stomach and because of my thighs being large.
I remember thinking that It would be easier to start with yoga. I tried and it was harder. I couldn't reach around the back of my knees to hold my leg into my body. I just got out of breath and decided that I had to try something else.
I stuck with the bike. It was easier on my feet than walking. I definitely couldn't run yet. I started biking to work a few times. It was a good distance to start with...took me at least 20 minutes when I first started. 20 minutes was about my limit back then(and I was sweating like crazy after any exercion)... little by little I added more time on the bike and went a bit faster and started feeling better. When I was able to bike for an hour I started noticing how sore it was to sit for that long and ordered a gel bike seat. and when I was riding more than and hour I ordered padded bike shorts. That made a huge difference. I felt like I was accomplishing something. I started logging my bike rides. I was amazed when I rode 13 miles. And then again when I rode 16 miles. I rode 20 miles 2 weeks ago and again 20 miles last week.
I asked my husband for a bike computer for my Mothers Day gift this year. For the last 2 weeks I've been able to keep accurate info about my rides. It's amazing how I've been able to keep this up.
I've now lost 40 lbs from my heaviest weight at my doctors office 1 1/2 years ago. 25 of that has been from this diet from March until now...(Last year I'd lost 5 here, 10 there... with out gaining it back but not keeping it up) I'm proud of myself...It's the hardest thing I've done. Hunger is not easy to handle. There are so many people eating horrible food infront of me at work and I smell everything. I walked past Round Table yesterday and smelled the Pizza....It was torture.