This thread is inspiring!

I've only been at this for three months, but I also notice a big change.
I have much more energy. As with others on the board, I don't hardly have any indigestion/heartburn or stomach problems anymore.
I feel generally happier, and more in control of my choices and life.
I'm heading to the doctors tomorrow to get my bloodwork to see if my blood plessure and cholesterol has been improved. I'm thinking losing weight surely has made a difference.

After almost 3 years, I think I'm still awestruck that it was "easy" ... OK I know that sounds weird, LOL, but I always had it in my head that the "thinner lifestyle" was reserved for truly special people, that I could never be one. Then I got my sh!t together with some therapy and realized that the only one holding me down was ME, no one else cares! So 10 pounds here and there, giving up the 'all or nothing mentality' where i had to make some foul tasting substitute for every yummy food in the world LOL, got a grip on myself and was sane about food -- it was a lot easier to do than i ever thought possible.

Definitely the increase in energy. I'm pretty sure that was key to me actually going the distance -- I just felt so much better and so much more energetic that I didn't want to quit.

I love the increased energy I have now. I'm 49 and feel like I am 30 again. I'm not so sluggish anymore...I'm ready to get up and live my life.
The other morning I woke up and looked in the mirror and all of a sudden I noticed I have collar bones! I can actually buy clothes in the women's clothing not just plus size. Yes it is the largest sizes in the women's dept. but as time goes by the sizes will get smaller. I feel more confident about myself.
The people here at 3FC has given me the motivation to keep pressing and keep at it.

As usual, I want to hop in with a little less sunshine and light, so that people like me, who don't notice dramatic changes in their lives from the first moment a vegetable crosses their lips, don't have to feel like they are doing something wrong.

I wasn't eating that badly (in terms of vitamins, nutrients, and whole foods) before I started my plan - I was just eating too damn much. Perhaps as a result of this, I didn't have immediate benefits like my skin clearing, or my digestion improving, or my sleep getting better, or anything like that.

It took me a long time to really notice any changes - I had to lose 20-30 lbs. before I started feeling any difference in my body (and then only in how my pants fit, not in how I looked), before I noticed that my knees ached a little less, before I felt a little more energetic. And even then, it was only an incremental change.

It was really 50 pounds before I started seeing or feeling any major changes. Once I crossed 50 pounds something really rapidly transformed. I could see a real difference in my shape when I looked in the mirror - but more than that, I started to feel differently in my body - I want to move around more, I find myself more likely to pace or bounce up and down. I don't get tired or achy from just standing.

I have never had the experience of foods I liked "before" suddenly ceasing to be appetizing. It is still a good bit of work to resist temptations when I am faced with them. The difference is that after 15 months and 60+ pounds gone, I really feel I have the ability to resist them and that I don't want to risk everything I've achieved, by giving into them. I still have to work, but the work has gotten a little easier.

I'm with you Carter - I look at a DQ blizzard and i KNOW it still tastes good to me LOL, same with cheeseburgers & pizza - it ALL tastes good! The only thing that makes me a bit queasy are fast food burgers, but that's because of the Documentary "Food Inc" not some switch that was flipped in my body. Fat, salt, sugar, I'm hard-wired to LOVE IT ALL !!!

I've been for the most part, working out daily. I felt like after a few weeks, my body was ALIVE again!!! Like before I was in a coma. I could actually feel myself getting stronger.

The other thing I and family members noticed right off was my skin being so clear

Now that I'm at the half-way mark (almost) there are tons of things to rejoice about, but most of them are not what I noticed "right away".

I feel so much more in control. I really felt my last real weight loss was behind me. I would continue to get BIGGER and BIGGER and tell myself I didn't care. Well I found out I do care. I am still committed and it has been more than six months. I am OK with slow and steady. Even though at times I would like to weigh five times a day and lose something every time. I think the biggest change is that for the first time in decades I feel like I can do this.

My sense of depression really improved within a very short few weeks.
Heartburn was reduced and now it's gone.

I heart you, Carter.

I didn't get improved digestion, hardly ever had heartburn before, and I'm still plagued with back/hip/knee pain. I still don't feel compelled to exercise, though dare I say I am starting to enjoy it. I'm still fighting my head monsters and cravings. Eating a TON of calories every day slows it down some, but I'd still love to eat pizza and burgers and fries and bakery goodies. Some days it is easy to ignore it, and some days it is the elephant in the room. After the first 12 months you would think I could get some sort of handle on this crap, huh?

The most immediate thing I noticed is a sense of accomplishment, pride in a job well done, no matter what the scale says or the mirror shows. That's about it. . .

Since starting my journey in September I've noticed...

I feel more energized!
My joints rarely hurt anymore!
I feel better about the way I look!
My back doesn't hurt as much!
Foods I would have normally eaten aren't even appealing anymore!
I have collarbones!
I have a decent figure!
My husband gives me second glances!
I have more will power than I thought!
I am strong!
I can do workouts I thought would have been impossible before I began my journey!