Frosty's asking: How many pounds melted away?
I still have to lose down to 262 before we can submit to BC/BS for approval.....I have all the other requirements done.....so I'm just working on getting this 10% gone...... I would really like to have the surgery in the next couple of months so I would have some energy back before I go on vacation the last week of May.............by the way, you inspired to apply to work at the YMCA but so far I haven't heard anything .......
WENDY

Juanita ~
Please don't be sad. You have lost SO much and accomplished so much! There are several of you (you, Melinda, Shelia, Susan) who have gone before "us" and paved that path and now you are coming into your home-stretches. I don't want these little mini-goals to become a time of defeat for you. Just keep pressin' on, and lose a couple pounds here, a couple pounds there, or maintain when that time comes. It's all a part of being/staying healthy and successful! And keep in mind that some of our mini-goals are only 2 or 3 weeks, some have been a month - but not all of them. Maybe you'll lose another one or two by Valentine's Day!
So, chin up --- and be happy that you only have one chin!
~ Tara

I signed up for 5 lbs. I lost 4 of that... then got my kidney stone, got pumped full of IV's, gained back 3... and the verdict is still out... However, I don't need to lose any more weight. Laying on the ER bed, I could feel my bones and ribs and it scared me to think that if I ever got sick, really sick, my body would have no body fat to live on. So I decided, its not for me to lose any more weight.
And to be honest, I signed up for the challenge for the wrong reason. I did it so I could feel "normal" among my gastric friends again cause of all the changes that everyone goes through while I just stay at the same weight, etc. This part of the journey has been difficult for me to accept... that there is no more weight to come off. I know that sounds like a copout or even may want someone to say "boo frikkin hoo for you poor baby!" but really it is a very different and hard thing to accept when you are SO USED to doing the same thing, day after day, month after month... learning new habits now in maintenance and even includes upping calories and adding new foods... that plays tricks on your mind for fear of gaining back, etc...
Anyway, my point is, probably after all is said and done, I lost zero.
Melinda ~
I do not think your feelings and sharing are a cop-out. I can empathize with where you are - and anticipate some of that in the future. I'm glad that you admitted first to yourself, then to us, that you recognized your "stinkin' thinkin'"
We all have battled and will have to battle much more "mentally" than physically. My personal opinion is that we all ended up where we did weight-wise out of mental/emotional (and THEN other physical) reasons. Does that make sense?
I really hope that you and Susan and Shelia and Paula and others that are so much farther along will keep being such a vital part and inspiration to the rest of us, We need you and your input and your strength. In a relatively short time, we will all be where you are now and we will need to know how you made it through!
So...
YEA MELINDA FOR MAINTAINING AND NOT LOSING ANY MORE WEIGHT
BUT MOSTLY FOR LEARNING MORE ABOUT HERSELF AND BEING GENEROUS ENOUGH TO SHARE IT WITH US!
~ Tara



