You are blessed that you lost 133lbs for ever.It is a great achievements.You have achieved an impossible task I congratulate you.Enjoy your life .I wish you the best of luck,

Jar - Thank you! Keep on trucking and you will be posting your story before you know it!

Gaswer - Yes, it is a great acheivement, but it is NOT an impossible task. It takes some choices, dedication, some gym-time, a lot of work, yes...but it is NOT, I repeat, NOT impossible! Absolutely everyone can do it. Easy, no. But impossible? 100% not.

Amanda, How did I miss this thread!!! Ok, now that I've read it, I've got goosebumps. I'm so proud of you; you've done a fabulous job with weight loss and I'm sure you will tackle maintenance with the same steady, intelligent way that you tackled weight loss. Thanks for sharing your story.

Amanda: Congratulations on making your goal! Thanks so much for sharing your story with us. I want you to know I have so enjoyed reading your posts throughout your journey. Often times I have heard people describe how a significant weightloss affects other aspects of their lives as well. I don't think we can really understand beforehand how these things in our life change as a result of this journey but you do give some fine examples in your story. i.e. having a clean house because of the inability to cook in a messy kitchen. I am certain there are more earthmoving examples than this one that you have experienced but it made me smile...

I have no doubt you will have continued success as a maintainer There is nothing like an injury to derail even the most dedicated person during their journey. But there you are... going in to lift upper body as your knee recovers. Good for you!!! Just think of it as a time to just really focus on upper body right now. You know, those mirror muscles...I am sure you are going to have some smashing delts, biceps and triceps by the holidays so find something now to show them off for the holiday parties!

Congratulations again Amanda. I am so excited for you and all that you have accomplished. Now, tape that knee up and get back on that elliptical! Just kidding...

You and Robin are two of the people I noticed on here first when I joined -- you were both in the middle of your weight loss, on a mission and nothing was going to stop you!! Thank you -- you are an inspiration, and "larger than life" in a good way!!! I think making your goal on here tends to make you a celebrity -- the heck with the super models of the world -- I think what you did should make you famous -- god knows it takes much more work and dedication. Congratulations and I'm sure we all look forward to joining you soon!!!

Lydia - the clean house thing surprised me, but I'll take it. There are so many other benefits, but that one really strikes me as something you don't think about.

Injuries have always derailed me in the past. This time, I've had two - a shoulder issue and the knee problem - and I made the decision not to let them stop me. It was a tough decision, especially the knee which cut out a lot of cardio for a lot longer. And yes, I get frustrated - unbelieveably so at times. But I have learned to channel that frustration into doing something productive (right after the knee went out, I referred to my UB workouts, which were intense, as "punishing my arms for my knee failing". Healthiest attitude? Probably not. But it did get me through).

Shelby - Yes, I am looking forward to all of you joining me soon too! One foot in front of the other. Thanks!

Amanda,

I've been following your "story," so to speak, for practically a year now. And I'm so, so happy for you. Congratulations... you really worked hard for this, and I'm so excited for you.

BTW, I made your turkey sausage/white bean soup a few weeks ago, and it was DELISH.

Dana -

I love that soup. So filling. So much fiber. And SO tasty with the sausage. It is on the menu for sometime this week, in fact. It is a staple around here.

Thanks for the congratulations!

Oh man, I just realized I never commented on your story before!

Anyway... AMAZING story. I'm an emotional person and it almost made me cry. I think it is so, so cute that your initial weight loss efforts revolved around wanting to be smaller for your ceremony AND that you and Sarah both lost weight together. What an awesome support system, and as I've said before, you both look beautiful.

And of course, I bought the edition of Woman's World with you in it. I never buy WW, but when I saw it finally hit the stands at Publix, I remember saying all excitedly (is that even a word?) to my girlfriend, "HEY! I know her off the 3FatChicks web site!!!" She got excited for me, then told me to use my "inside voice"

I wish you could have told my mother to use her inside voice while discussing the magazine...apparently ALL the women within a 3-checkout-line radius ended up buying the magazine, and got into a lively conversation about how great their kids are and how nice it is when they get acknowledged.

Your story is awfully inspiring also! Thank you!

Thanks for sharing your story. I do love extra long versions of anything. I know you've heard it before, but I got to say it--truly inspiring, motivating, heart warming even. Congratualtions and thanks for being here.

p.s. I am the same about my kitchen Now I am off to hunt up your recipes!

I am cracking up at your mom at the grocery store. That's too cute.

How much weight has your partner lost? She also looks fabulous in your profile picture.

Dana - 100 lbs total.

Ollie27 - I seriously, seriously love my clean kitchen. Shiny sink, shiny counters. Thank you!

Truly, truly amazing!!! Thank you for sharing!! Makes me think that I can do it too!!