[I am Tab]

Hello Everyone...

I am not new here but I have not been to this site in a long while. I too come back here for motivation when things are getting hectic in my life. I started my weight loss journey several yrs ago at 252Lbs I am now holding 150lbs. I think that this is my bodies weight. I can go below 150lb but I have to fight and starve myself to get there and stay. And when I do go smaller people are telling me that I look sick and that I am not healthy. Go figure that one out. And I have found that it is not worth it.

I eat about 1200 calories a day and exercies 90 min everyday. Exercise is one thing that I do not skimp on. I may eat that extra bite of something but I know that I will not cut my workout short. I run 4/5 miles a day and do yoga or pilates in the evening. And I lift weights (very light) 3 times a week. I have learned to love to exercise. I was the biggest couch potato that ever was. Now...I hate not to be doing something. And the gym I joined is only 2 minutes from my house. So I have to go past it everyday no excuses. And I have meet alot of wonderful people ther. Even my husband (That is a whole different story...*smile* with a happy ending). But boy when my body needs time off it lets me know. I used to ignore it but I was not accomplishing much cause I was just too tired to workout so now I listen to my body. And I have come to realize that just because I don;t workout 7 days a week I will not gain 10lbs and that was another thing I had to come to terms with. I just knew that if I didn't run or get to the gym I was going to gain 5lbs cause I had a cookie. Big thing that I have overcome.

Another thing that I have come to do is and this was a hard habit to break. I only weigh myself one time a month...yeah...that is right once a month. I used to weigh my self daily and sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. And that just stressed me out totally. Believe me when the day comes that I know I am getting on that scale it still stresses me but when I step on and it is the same I am happy....sometimes I am even down a few pounds...and that is more awesome feeling...but I do have the times when it goes up...but I have given myself the 5lb flexibility....as long as I dont go above 155 I am OK (well I freakout but I calm myself down and get back on track...it is not easy) ....if I get close I start to eat more carefully and then the next month I am down.

I am not trying to sound like I have it all under control...but I think I got a grip on it. I think.....*smile* I have a new goal now....i have been married for a little over 2yrs and it is time to think about having a baby. I was actually scanning the boards looking for any preganancy forums and came across this thread so I thought that I would share my two cents.

[KellyQ]

Weight loss is probably the hardest thing I’ve done. It was years before I felt like I was accomplishing anything regardless of what the scale said. No matter what, it moved too slowly. I’m finally down to a size 13/14, but there were several years when I had no idea what size I wore (and didn’t want to know.)

I’m with the “no deprivation” crowd. It didn’t/doesn’t phase me to trade a meal out for a piece of cake although I don’t do that every day, or even weekly. (I can make a box of Almond Rocha last for months.) I’ve been on the Weight Watcher’s home program twice, and the points really helped me. Another thing that has helped is that I’m not a snacker or a big sweet eater. Somewhere around a year ago I pretty much switched to Dr. Phil’s plan, but I still keep the points in my head, especially if I’m eating out.

In a couple days here if I can keep my weight under 175, I’ll be reducing my daily points down to the next level, and I’ll have to alter my eating again.

[lovtolaff]

Well first of all WOW to I am Tab for

I started my weight loss journey several yrs ago at 252Lbs I am now holding 150lbs.

That's quite an accomplishment. I too should weigh probably around 150 and can't even think about getting that low. Gosh, if I weighed 150 I would be one HOT MAMA! A few years ago - when I weighed 200lbs I wore a size 14 jeans and I thought I looked pretty dang good!

I don't think I could survive on 1200 calories a day. Right now I range anywhere from 1300-1800 (mostly towards the 1800). I try to vary my calories daily so that I don't get stuck in a rut or get bored with what I'm eating.

Secondly - I am so with you KellyQ on the "no deprivation" thing. Depriving myself is a sure fire way for me to lose all motivation, willpower, choice, whatever you want to call it - and start eating like a pig again. So I suppose I've made my choice to lose slowly - by not depriving myself. Still - it's hard to not get in a hurry to lose. I will probably always struggle with that.