So here's to making some changes

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For the past two years I have focused solely on survival. Make sure we eat, make sure bills get paid and make sure everyone does what they have to. That was it. No opportunity for my brain to push me to do more, to do better to trying more. I kept making attempts to start walking regularly, it works in small doses as I have two bum Knees, Osteoarthritis and RA and a few other issues that pop up and make exercise very difficult. I try to push myself on days that I feel good just to push myself and try to convince myself I still have some ability. Now it is time to actually make diet changes, I have built such a wall against my emotional distress( I could tell a million stories and maybe I will) that I truly failed my own health, I was energetic, slightly overweight, in basic good health, now I am quite overweight, my blood pressure is erratic, my pain level is at an all time high I am prediabetic and my emotional status is better and worse. I have learned to live with the grief, I have learned to live past being widowed, I have learned that I can have fun with my kids and friends and family and that I can make it on my own. At lot of that is fine and dandy but my health is getting worse not better. Time for real change, about 10 days ago I decided no more diet soda. This is a total addiction for me. I drink it the way I should be drinking water and I know that it actually hurts my stomach, yet I kept doing it, Now it has been a few days, at first I changed to diet tea, and crystal light lemonade. I realize that I must not have that either. I must drink water, I can enjoy coffee or tea but need to leave out the fattening creamers and sugars and just add 1 and 1 for a little flavor, if I don't like coffee so much I need to add all that stuff , perhaps I should give that up to. So that is my big change. Then last week I decided no more white bread, I eat a lot of sandwiches so I figured this is a good place to start. I still have lots of pasta in the house and white rice so it will be a gradual change there as finances are at an all time low. So I feel like I have made a couple of changes that I know I need to make permanent changes and I plan to change each positive change every week, switch from something bad to something good and just not change back. I figure by next year this time, I will be fairly healthy , hopefully not prediabetic and hopefully I will have lost enough weight to feel good about myself and my changes. What are some of the things you all have done to help yourselves? What small simple changes really helped, like when you have a birthday or event that you would normally have a sugar filled cake, what did you substitute and enjoy as much?