Sassy! It's about time your de-lurked, you know.
(we've PMed a bit and Sassy knows that everyone's welcome here
) Besides, if we don't give Ilene - our official greeter - something to do, then she's off hitting the Margaritas on a Friday night and oh man ... it's just not pretty ...
On a more serious note, your comments made me think a bit (always dangerous). I understand what you mean about Maintainers being the Winner Circle - kinda like a goal to strive for - but getting to goal really
isn't the Winners Circle, though I sure used to think it was. To me, 'Winners Circle' implies that the race is over and in reality, it's a lot more like the race has just begun. I don't think there will ever be an end - a Winner's Circle - where I can rest on my laurels, as they say.
While I was losing weight, I intellectually understood and parroted the line about how this has to be a lifestyle and not a diet.
But I didn't emotionally grasp the fact life AFTER goal looks almost exactly like life BEFORE goal (the 'while I was losing weight' part, not the fat part). I really thought that something would be different or that I would be changed in some way (aside from wearing little clothes, which I'm very happy about
).
The reality is that I wake up every morning and do the same things and deal with the same issues that I always have. In order to maintain, I eat the same foods, count calories, weigh and measure, journal, and do the same exercise as the year that I was losing. I still crave the same (bad) foods and still want to binge eat at times. I guess it comes down to - I'm still the same Meg that I always was.
When people ask me what's changed since I lost weight, I tell them everything's changed but nothing's changed. If that makes any sense?
What's different (and this is a huge difference!) is that I also wake up with the knowledge that
I know exactly what to do to keep the weight off for life. I'm confident that I have all the skills and tools and knowledge that I need to maintain a 120 pound weight loss. There's not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that I am in total and complete control of my weight through all the many choices that I make every day. Nothing and no one can make me fat again except for me. Maybe THAT'S what the Winners Circle really is??
Sorry about the rambling ... it's Sunday morning and the coffee's hot and the gym isn't open yet ... so look what happens!
Hello....
looking forward to the day i earned the privilage of associating with them. 
their constantly striving, reaching, aiming, broadening their horizons or fields of vision. winners arent lazy. their go-getters, on the ball, know what it takes and arent afraid of what it takes. 
...... Hello Mel 
coming out of lurkdom!!
!! 