djay -- I don't know if this will help, but I think there CAN be a balance. I think a LOT more these days about nutrition, and how a food will "fuel" me. But at the same time, I still really look forward to each meal and finding foods that are really yummy to eat. I focus a LOT on portion control, too.

So, food as fuel has been impt to me, but I am and will always be a person who loves delicious food. I just mostly make my daily food as delicious as I can. I honestly think I get MORE pleasure from enjoying my food now that I take some time to savor it, compared to when I would, more or less, shove it in my mouth. In fact, nowadays I try to make ALL my food delicious!

So, don't lose hope!

Well, The up side of having so much weight to loose is that I have plenty of time to develop new habits and adjust my thinking.

I can't say I am there yet. but there is a lot of that type of re-enforcment on this board so maybe it will start rubbing off!

I wish I had been a good cook all along! Making my own yummy food is a challenge...I do ok with spices but I can't seem to figure out, Just how long should I bake a skinless chicken breast to make sure it is done but not dry?

Hopeless I tell ya! I'm just hopeles!

I distract myself from the feeling of impending doom :) I make small goals. like lose one pound this week. or drink all my water TODAY.

The points challenge Sandi starts each month helps me focus on being healthy, not the pounds I've lost/could gain back.

Seriously.. up to a few weeks ago I couldnt handle having a ticker that said '104 pounds lost' because it freaked me out (some fear about seeing a constant reminder about how far i've come and stopping).

Making each day about nutrition like Heather says and really addressing the issues that made us morbidly obese in the first place I think will help us move forward.

What is a points challenge?

One of the biggest surprises I've had during this journey is that I stopped wanting and craving junk food and sweets the way I used to. I noticed one day that all of the sudden I could walk down the cookie aisle without being tremendously tempted. I can go into a coffee shop and not even consider getting a dessert. I never imagined that that would happen. I thought I would be fighting to resist for the rest of my life.

I think that with enough time and sustained behavioral changes, you won't feel like you "have to have more of it." You might want more of it - I know I'm still tempted by certain things - but that feeling of needing it won't be there.

Congratulations on your loss so far, and keep up the great work.

Lisa

Thank you for your response ab my earlier post :) I know Im not a weak person, but I guess since I was always heavy and I used to be shy, some people still think Im this way -- too timid to control her own life. Ugh... but anyway...

I've been at this weight loss thingie for almost 5 years (I lost for two years, more or less maintained for 3., now trying to start losing again). Anyway, although I can still get out of control, I am MUCH more in control than I ever was before. It might not seem like it now, but you will find your desire to binge on certain foods will diminish. There were some foods -- like Entenmann's chocolate doughnuts -- that I could have sat down and just eaten them all (the large ones). Now having 1 seems like an extravagance. You will get to that point too! The trick is to keep a check on your carbs/sugar, I think.