My dream has long been surpassed.. I'm in a size 10 from 26/28.. I'm happy. I take bundles of vitamins.. flax seed oil.. borage oil EPO, multi vits.. hoping that my skin will spring back .. so far.. it seems to be helping.. at least getting better.. I just want to know how normal people eat.. and eat that way.. Ok, here is the truth.. I do not believe that I will ever be "normal" .. I will be like a recovering addict.. one bite from obesity.. two or three bites from morbid obesity.. And it is scary.. I compare every bite I eat to every bite everyone else eats. .. hummm.. is it more.. is it less.. "average?" Then there is the passing of the butts syndrome.. ok, there she goes.. whoever the she is in front of me.. ... is my butt bigger than hers? am I obsessive.. yes, I'm afraid I am.. abnormal? I have no idea.. just constantly analysing everything that is in front and behind me.. I'm starting some on-line classes.. going to get a degree.. up my pay.. and live life a little better.. God bless us all.. Jan

Hang in there we will reach goal if we stick to our diet/exercise program. I have lost 21 lbs since January 1 but it has been a real struggle. Many days I eat NOTHING but protein in order to keep losing. It seems one bite of carbs stops my weight loss at this point. Some weeks I eat nothing but protein and lose 7 lbs but when I go back to eating lettuce, veggies, fruit it jumps back up 3-4 lbs. I still get a net loss of 3-4 lbs. The regain of course relates to the fact that the all protein diet causes some dehydration, so when I add back the lettuce, veggies, fruit again the water weight comes back. We can do this, we can do this, we can do this. Can't we? I know people in my support group who are still losing a couple of pounds a month at 2 years so I still have hope. Pat 410/220/195 (then plastic surgery to get rid of the last 30-35 lbs)

I had a bad weekend too, but I've forgiven myself and got back on track as of Monday morning. I figure this is like twice since I had surgery that I've done anything this stupid. I was taking out old shrubbery and installing new ones in my yard this weekend. I was tired so instead of cooking I went to the convenience store and bought a 99 cent bag of Cheetos. Ok tired is no excuse. Fortunately the pouch limited the eating to about 3/4 cup of Cheetos each day, plus a snack of crackers/cheese that night. The down side is I got in almost no protein and way too many carbs over the weeked. We are human so I don't think we need to beat up on ourselves because we had a bad weekend. Hope you are back on track now and past being upset with yourself.

I am at goal. So my new goal is to maintain my new eating habits and exercise habits for the rest of my life so I can stay here. It is hard some days, but it is so worth it. My life is so much improved and I am so much more active and energetic I just try to remind myself to stay focused and do what I know to do. I try to remember how bad I felt and all the things I couldn't do before I lost the weight. Like you, I sometimes have to say hey, why is that in your buggy. You don't need it and neither does anyone else in your house. Good luck to you on your continued journey to stay healthy and good luck fighting those food demons. It is definitley a challenge we will all face daily. Melissa Taylor -141 pounds 277 to 136

::::sigh:::: that would be most everyone but me. I figure that I have at least 50-60 lbs to go. Lida Open RNY 1/14/04 331/226/170 http://www.candlelightdreams.com http://www.pbase.com/coffenut