If money doesn't allow for you to join a gym look for other options, sometimes gyms will offer you free weeks or what not to try them out. The high school in our town has open swim night, where people can swim for $2 for the whole night, what about walking, roller blading, dancing to your favorite songs, hula hooping, cleaning the house, find an inexpensive dance class, go to the Y and see if you can get a cheap rate. There are t hings you can do you just need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get a move on! You need a dietician to tell you what you are supposed to be eating...protein protein protein followed by fresh fruits and veggies, lay off the processed foods and the fast food and the stuff that tastes delicious that we were addicted to prior to surgery (refined sugar, white rice, all the simple carbs that we adore) . There has to be things you can buy on the cheap, they have sales on beans and chicken and ground beef/chicken/turkey you've got to make do with what you can afford. The inspiration you require is within you and you have to bring it out. We're here struggling right along with you, you're so not alone in this. Tomorrow is my day to start on my healthier eating regime, iv'e got my vitamins in baggies so i can grab them and go, i've filled up my water bottles and I'm ready to write down everything i'm eating! I'm going to go to the gym and i'm going to sweat it out. I will be a success and I will do well and i will feel good about myself. What are you going to do to make y our success happen? ANDI

(((((((((((holly))))))))))))) G*D be with you at this time and always sugar! Please take care of yourself, you're the only you we've got here. I just wanted you to know that i've missed you on the boards. ANDI

the scale has been climbing up and up the last few months.. faster over the last month. combination of moving less and eating more and eating more crap. today is a 5 miles bike ride and four water bottles and no coffee today. Kat

Hi again Jennifer well I think you are really brave! There is no way I'd post pictures of me now. You have done a fantastic job with all your weight loss. You need to start looking at the positives rather than the negatives - easier said than done I know at times. Make a list of all the good things that have come out of losing weight - just think back to how it was when you were 88lbs heavier... See, now doesn't that out-weigh what you are dealing with now? Sadly, everything we do has consequences, including not eating right and becoming obese. So whilst we can lose the weight we cannot pretend that we were never obese and wipe away our past. We have to deal with it. Now I could give you sugary sweet compliments and say don't worry honey you look great, but I don't think that's gonna help you. You need to take a good hard look at yourself. OK so you don't like the way you look with no clothes on - then don't look!! Make sure you make the best of what you have now and I guarentee that you look 100 times better than you did obese. I'm only saying this as I am talking to myself at the same time. I am dealing with the exact same issues. I think I look far worse now naked than I ever did when I was at my heaviest...BUT it's all a matter of mind over matter. There is NO WAY we are going back to where we came from. If we continue with negative thinking it will be all too easy to get back to that weight, but if we reform our minds just as we have physically reformed our bodies then we can stay where we are or even lose more eventually. Positive thinking = we CAN and we WILL

me too - there is no way I could have made it through this far without OH and my friends here.