10 down, 10 to go

Here I am riding my childhood bike that I got when I was in third grade. It is still going strong, almost 50 years later. My mom uses it during the winter months in her warm location, but I hope to get it back when she is finished using it.
Going through the gradual estrogen loss to menopause, I put on 20 pounds. Luckily I wasn't already overweight, so the added 20 didn't look terrible. It just made my clothes fit too tight or not at all. I had to get size 14 pants. I hated that the most of all. I wanted to keep eating the way I've always eaten. I didn't want to have to exercise (which I despise) and I didn't want to have to think about the pounds that were slowly accumulating. Too bad for me. Weight gain is inevitable for most of us. At least I got to age 50 before this reality hit me. Now my new reality is this:
~I have to exercise every day. I don't want to, but I have to. I've probably been exercising every day for about 5 years now. I started out walking. One summer I did a challenge at work and walked 1,000,000 steps. I wore a pedometer and walked more than 10,000 steps a day. That helped curb the weight gain, but didn't help to reverse it. I joined Curves (again) and went for a solid year. I assume it did some internal good and probably some muscle toning, but I didn't lose weight or very many inches. I quit and joined the Rec Center for $77 a year when I turned 55. Now I do a pilates class for an hour three times a week and lift weights and work out hard on the elliptical or treadmill the other two days. I go with a friend (my secret to success) and I actually sweat. Pilates is kicking my butt (no pun intended.) I can tell a big difference. I had to step up my exertion to lose some weight. And guess what, I lost 10 pounds in the last six months. It was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very...hard.
~I can't eat as much as I use to. I should only eat about 1,200 calories a day. I sit a lot during the day at work, so I'm not burning calories. I have to eat smaller proportions and think about what I'm eating. If I don't like it a lot, I stop consuming the calories. I eat more fiber, more fresh fruits and veggies and drink more water. During the week I don't eat sweets but I allow myself to have some dessert on weekends. I can't eat late at night or drink calories either, although I do love juice on occasion (it's loaded with carbs...) I eat a high fiber cooked cereal for breakfast. I absolutely refuse to drink protein shakes. Tried it, hated it.
~ I don't have anything to prove to anybody. I just want to wear my regular clothes and not get new ones. I just want to do this for me. I do think I have a little more energy, but otherwise I don't see huge benefits. I just know I need to do it for better health down the road.
~My size 12 pants are feeling good now. I really just want to stay a size 12, but I need to lose 10 more pounds to get to a better BMI. I'm still packing that horrible mid-waist mid-life weight.
So, wish me luck. I've signed up for a challenge at work not to gain more than 2 pounds from now until January 3. I'm determined to succeed and then keep working on the remaining 10 pounds after the new year!