Hi Everyone, I'm Sue!
 

Hi Everyone!

I'm new here and looking forward to getting to know everyone. This looks like a great site! :cool: I lost 100 pounds about 13 years ago, and have kept it off (yeah me!) :D :carrot:

The short version of my story, I was successfully able to permanently change my diet and lifestyle. Took me two years to lose all the weight. I'll write more soon. Nice to meet everyone!

I'm working on putting my before and after pix on here, but haven't figured it out yet. :?:

To lose 100 pounds and keep it off for 13 years is a major accomplishment. Please share with us how you maintain that great loss.

:welcome3:

WOW! Welcome and congratulations on being so successful at losing so much and maintaining it! Great job!

Wow! Congratulations -- can't wait to see your pix and hear what strategies you used. I'm not near "maintenance" stage, but I imagine I'll be scared of gaining it back.
Talk to you soon,
anita

Thanks for the welcome! You can see I finally managed to get my pix up! That's me about 14 yrs ago (on the left!), and me last November.

When I began my weight loss, I didn't formally start out on any particular diet. I was in my early 40's, weighed well over 200 pounds, had uncontrolled high blood pressure (even though I was on 2 meds for it back then...none now; no longer have high BP!), and I was feeling the physical strain of those extra 100 pounds with everything I did. I was scared that I couldn't even walk up a small flight of stair without being winded.

At first I began making some very basic changes to my diet, taking a walk every day, and drinking plenty of water. The weight started to come off, about a pound a week, and that spurred me on to stick with the changes I'd made. What I didn’t know, and didn't learn until I'd lost almost all 100 pounds, was that I was eating the Zone Diet! Long story how I found out I'd been doing the Zone all along. But I'll save that for another post. Once I found out, there was no turning back. No one had to convince me that the Zone worked and was a healthy diet. I had already proven it to myself without even realizing as I was doing so. In fact, during the second year of my two years it took to lose the weight, after having my annual mammogram, the facility had contacted my physician's office about a puzzling discrepancy. My physician told me they'd called her fearing they'd confused the records of two patients with the same names, because my newest films appeared to be those of a much younger woman than the previous films. My doctor assured them I was one and the same person, and that I’d changed my diet and lost lots of weight! Everyone was amazed at the extent of healthy changes that had taken place on the inside!

Like I said, no turning back. I've been "in the Zone" even since. It’s enabled me to maintain my wt loss and it's eliminated my need for BP meds, too! Sure, I’ve had my moments, like all of us do. Life happens. Through everything though, the diet and lifestyle I adopted 13 years ago has been there to help me. I’m looking forward to sharing my wt loss experiences here. Hopefully others will able to benefit from hearing about my journey.