UNDER 200!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, Lyn, how sweet for you to say that. I really am just working hard to make changes like we all are. Heck, I am not perfect, by any means and still fight the snacking and starch demons - (and I don't always win). I continue to have to monitor my eating. My big thing now is to the exercising. I absolutely love to work out - especially on the days that I can lift weights! I feel so good after a good sweat and work out! At over 300 pounds, you never would have seen me wanting to sweat!!! Thanks again and God bless, Andrea

Congratulations, Andrea. I'm still fighting that last few pounds to join you under 200. It just wants to hold on so badly. My goal is to hit 200 by next Thursday. I'm afriad I won't make it but will try my hardest. I loved that you actully undressed to get below the magic number Dixie

Dixie, Thanks for the congrats! I thought for sure that you would be there by now. Take a look at what you are doing and see what you need to change to get those last few pounds off. Are you doing the same exercise? You made need to switch to something else for a while. Are you getting in your water? I know that you will be there by Thursday and expect for you to let us know. By the way - your profile doesn't say what you started at. How much have you lost? I'm sure that we will be celebrating with you soon! Who would have known that a denim skort would weigh 1 pound? At lease I wasn't "nekked" (naked) on the scale! Thanks again and God bless, Andrea

Ya, Andrea, I was VERY hesitant to admit my weight back then. No way would I put it on the Internet! However, I can now admit that I started at 342#. I'm now hovering around 205 and am happy to be there. I will not tell my husband my weight though, nor does he have any idea what I started at. At some point I will tell him but certainly not until I am smaller than he. I think he is around 190 so that's getting close. I intend to find my wedding dress today & just for grins & giggles, try it on. I doubt if I can get into it yet. It was a slim skirt & really short! My saggy thighs will show. I weighed 50 lbs less than I do now but I am getting realy close to the sizes I wore back then. Thanks for the suggestions. I have been kind of lax lately concering snacking. Yesterday was horrible. Today is a new day & the beginning of a new effort. I do exercise & it's varied. That's part of my problem. I have so much muscle in my lower legs. I can't see how they will ever get small. I walk, use my Gazelle on days I don't walk, do a bunch of lifting & carrying while doing chores everyday, I work with weights at the gym (just started increasing the amout I work with because it quit hurting) and go to a water exercise class twice a week. I think that is really making a difference. I have noticed a difference in my shape so I know it's working. I keep reminding myself that muscle weighs more than fat but, you know, I am a slave to the scales, like many of us. Those numbers mean so much. Just like you reaching 200. Do you think if I quit doing calf chores, the muscles in my calves would get smaller? I'd be willing to give that "wonderful" activity up! (I hate feeding calves!) But seriously, that is one time I can really tell that this surgery has done it's job. I used to have to stop & sit down after feeding just one 5 gallon pail of milk to 7 calves so I could catch my breath & so my back would quit hurting. Then I'd go back & finish the jobs. Now I carry 2 5 gallon pails at a time(approximately 40# each) with no back pain & I don't have to sit down. I was always drenched in sweat, it actully would get my glasses all smeary & I'd feel it dripping down my back. This year I only got a little sweaty on the hottests days. At our last support group meeting the speaker was the owner of a fancy new spa in Cedar Falls. Her talk ( an advertisement) was sort of a waste of time but I have decided that when I hit a certain goal I will reward myself by going there & indulging myself a bit. I haven't decided what the goal will be though; less than Al weghs, 200# or 150 # loss. We'll see. Congratulations again. You're great! Dixie

Wow, Dixie, you have lost soooooooooooo much!!! Congrats to you! I think that you should celebrate when you get below 200 - go to that spa and indulge!! Don't wait for 150 or even to be less than hubby, heck, you deserve it now!! For goodness sakes, don't quit feeding the calves just so your calves will get smaller (tee hee hee) they'd be bawling all night long!!! Isn't it amazing what we can accomplish now that was a real hard chore before??? (As I sit here at the computer ignoring dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc................................) Our 10th wedding anniversary is coming up on October 8th (although we've been together 17 years). I want to get my dress altered and renew our vows, however, my seamstress, (also my second grade teacher and friend of my mother's) is working on dresses for a whole wedding party and doesn't have time. I was so big when we got married, probably well over 350, that she could not even find a pattern for me. I think that we started with a size 30 and then altered and changed and added from there. Needless to say, my dress is an original work of art. I think that I at least need to get pics of me in the dress so I can compare with wedding pics. I bet that your dress will be fitting really soon!!! And, don't worry about those thighs, I'm sure that they don't bother your hubby one bit and he's the one that matters, right?! Besides, usually, they are worse in our minds than in the eyes of others. Now, expecting to be hearing from you soon that you are getting glasses all smeary from being at the spa, ya hear??? God bless, Andrea

Hi Andrea! WOOOO HOOOO!! Congratulations! I am so happy for you! Keep up the FANTASTIC work!! Sherry Open RNY 02/04/04 (Proximal-75 cm) 294.5/181.5/150 -113#

Thanks for the congrats, Sherry!!! God bless, Andrea

I am so excited for you........I was so happy to get under 200, so I know how you feel!! You are doing so amazing....I wish I had a tenth of your willpower/endurance/go getterness....whatever you wanna call it!! I know you will do so well with this surgery for the rest of your life.....I wish we lived closer so we could work out together! I am gonna bring my digital next time we are together, you have got to see a pic of yourself and compare it to your old ones......YOU LOOK AMAZING! I wish nothing but the best for you, you are truly an amazing woman who deserves nothing but the best, I am so fortunate I can call you a friend! Take Care and talk to you soon!!!! Jesi

Jesi, you are going to make me cry!! I think the same about you, just can't put it so eloquently. And to think - you even saw me weighing in in my undies!!! (sorry, had to throw in the comic relief so I don't cry!) Still won't believe that I "look amazing". Besides, you look so skinny now yourself!! Hugs and blessings, Andrea

My face is green with envy - LOL!!! How wonderful for you. I have 47 pounds to lose to see that wonderful 1 on the front of my weight. How thrilled you must be. I know I haven't seen that number in way over 40 years - more likely 50 years(I'm 52 now)!! I don't even remember being under 200 - and no report cards to check like you. Many congratulations - you are a blessing to everyone on this board. Carol & Lester