**Dancing a little Jig**

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd share some happy news with you all. I haven't been responding to very many postings because my computer died. Hopefully soon we'll have another one, but for now, we're stuck going to the library to check emails and such. It's hard to get personal when you have all kinds of people around. Ya know? Well, okay, onto the good news. We've been taking Kirk (my fiancee`) every day to occupational therapy to get his finger healed. He was in the hospital for almost a week due to an infection in his finger that moved up his arm and was headed for his heart. Anyway, I weighed myself while there. I am OFFICIALLY a member of the CENTURY CLUB!!! I was so excited. I'm now down 105 pounds since surgery on March 4th. I only have 130 to lose to get down to goal. I had kind of stalled out for 3 weeks prior, then I got my prosthesis and am walking a lot more, so I'm losing again. YAY! It's kind of frustrating though, that I've lost so much weight, yet I'm still into a size 24/26. My stomach doesn't seem to want to let go of the fat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to target wt. loss in that area, or do I need to just be patient and let it go off on its own? Hope you're all doing well! -Naomi 380/275/150

Congratulations Naomi! I am so happy for you - you are doing so well! Good luck to your fiancee' - that sounds like a horrible infection! I've never heard of anything like that happening to anyone I knew before. I hope he heals quickly! As for the sizes, well, I am 253 as of today and am still wearing 24's. In fact, I thought my favorite pair of "tight" jeans that I'm pretty well shrunk out of were 24's, but I looked at them yesterday and discovered they were indeed 26's. I do think these 26's were made before they increased the actual size per numbered size though. Somewhere a few years ago, a real size 26 became a labeled 24, etc. So some of my stuff is the old size 24 and 26. Anyway, off track here. I run hourglass shaped and I still am not out of the 24's completely. I could fit into some 22's, but I'm on the cusp I think. You have to add onto that that you are missing the weight of one leg, and I'm not sure how much that would add on to your frame, but it might be another (guessing?) 20-30 lbs or so. Keep that ratio in mind so you don't get frustrated. As for targeting certain areas (like a stomach) the only thing I know of is to do crunches or something like that. I'm just letting it drop how it wants to right now - I'll figure the rest out later! Dina

Congratulations! That is a huge milestone! The more you lose, the easier mobility will be for you. This will help even out the measurements. You are getting there! Joy

Hi Naomi, You are doing so great!! I understand completely about the middle area seemingly not going anywhere. For so long I felt like I was losing weight, but getting very lop sided in the process. I started out a size 34-36. Now I can wear a size 20 on top, but because of my middle, the bottom of the shirt doesn't fit so I need a 24-26 (depending upon how the item is cut). Over this past month I have finally started to see some movement in the middle. It could be time related, however I have also started working out in the gym, doing a lot of core muscle stuff and machines that target that area more. Another thing I have noticed is the unconscious holding in of the belly. I used to do that years ago, but over the years as my weight went up, I stopeed doing it somewhere. I guess I thought it was not worth it since I was so big anyway. Well, I've found myself doing that again, and it works those muscles more. So it's helpful physically as well as psychologically - at least for me it is. Getting more active now that you can walk again will also help that. Keep up the good work - it will all go eventually! mgm -78

Naomi!! Congrats!!! Woo hoo!!! the century club! what a wonderful achievement! I notice that I am still wearing the same sizes but they fit much better. I can wear some 22s now and my shirts are ALOT better. I was just outgrowing everything I had so now I am fitting into them again. I am stuck on a stubborn plateau but hope to break it soon and start loosing CONSISTENTLY instead of up down up down like a yo-yo! Congrats again and continued success! Elizabeth M