How will I stop?

You will stop when your body and your diet let you.  I finally stopped at 145.  That was too thin for me.  Several months later I bounced back to 155 where I looked and felt OK and stayed for a few years.  This morning I am 161, which feels too big to me but everyone says looks fine (stoopid menopause).

You won't die from malnutrition unless something is seriously messed up.  So ride the ride until it comes to a full and complete stop.

Audrey

Don't try to stop on purpose. You'll run out of steam, and stop even if you don't want to.

Really, you want to be 20 pounds below your goal. Because I would bet my car that you'll be 20 pounds heavier at the end of year 2 than you will be at the end of year one.

If you eat more to stop your weight loss, I can practically guarantee you'll be back in a year or two, asking desperately how to get rid of the 30 pounds you put back on.

Do you have a good car?

I have two mediocre cars . . .

I get it Grim.  You always give good advice.  But how do I buy clothes?  Right now I buy a new pair of pants and a week later I'm donating them.  I want to reward myself with a new wardrobe.  Do I base that on my target, my 20 lbs under target or my 30 lb weight gain?

I am buying ;)  I figure I am spending my former food money on clothes now.

That's a good way to look st it. A dinner out is a new pair of pants.

If you need to have good and well fitting clothes for work, buy the minimum you need as you go along. Otherwise, try to wait as long as you can.

I bought fewer clothes as I went along than most people, but it was still too much. And I was convinced I would never lose past a certain point, so started buying a bunch of clothes as I reached that weight. I ended up losing another 35 pounds, and never wore a lot of those clothes more than once. Some, not at all. I wish I had saved the dough.

Grim when your body starts slowing down as you get closer to goal do you cut back more on the calories and carbs or what? How do you get the 20 pounds below goal when you slow down is what I am asking? 

Just keep doing what your doing and just be mindful of the 'creep'... the further out we are we can naturally eat more and most foods agree with us.... the last pounds could be very slow, but that is OK. This is not a diet, it is life. You can't predict either, After my one year I lost practically nothing for 3 months, a little for another 2 months, and then boom lost 10lbs in a month. No rhyme or reason...

And 20lbs 'below goal' depends on where you set your goal. If you are setting it the low end of what is good for your height/weight you are not going to get 20 below.