This is why I ask. When I came here in January I had just read YOU on a diet by Oz and Roizen. Loved the book really learned alot about how our bodies work. I had been on this site before but I didn't stay with it.
Then I started reading many many posts. I read Glory's long story. Her story really made me think. I bought the Superfoods RX and Superfoods Healthstyle by Pratt. That changed my life. It also changed the way I thought. Food was now something to keep me healthy and to get healthier.
I most definitely have changed the way I think about food. Now food is not the enemy but my source of nutrition. It can prevent disease and keep me around longer for myself and family.
Has anyone else changed the way they think about food?

Totally. When I first came to 3FC's I considered myself to be on a "diet". Now I just consider that this is how I choose to live. I'm not on a diet anymore. I eat healthy and I exercise and I choose to continue to live this way because it makes me a much healthier person. (and I get the added bonus of looking better too).

I realized that I don't have to deprive myself. For example, today my lunch group walked to get some pizza. If I were on a "diet", I probably would have not gone and been miserable, or I would have went and had the pizza and still be miserable because I ate something that was forbidden. Instead, I ate my slice of pizza and enjoyed every single bite.

For me, a way of eating has to be something I can live with forever. And pizza happens! Once you find that moderation you need to succeed, you realize that you CAN do this for life. That is very liberating.

I had to change my lifestyle or they would be putting me in a "Pizza Box" 6 feet under!! It's either this way or toodaloo.....

I agree. Before it was a diet, such a bad word! Now it is more of a thought process and thinking about what I am giving my body as fuel! I had always thought, too, that if you blew it one day, then you might as well give up. I know that it doesn't make sense, but at the time it sure did. I think reading everyone's thoughts on what THEY could pass up made me realize that I COULD pass up a lot of things too, and make much better choices. And the biggest thing is the support from others. There are so many that have done it already, are in process of making goal, and those that are starting out. It is such a community.

My latest inspirations are the photos that Robin has posted. The thing is that I look a lot like her (ok... I'm older...), so looking at the before and after pictures makes me really wonder what I would look like now at that goal weight that I haven't seen since college. I look forward to that!!!

ive learn that having the support of people around you or in my case, people online on this board is really motivating and no matter what diet you are on.. it will work as long as you have support!

I would say that 3FC has helped to CONFIRM the way I think about food and diets more than to CHANGE it. I suppose I had already changed that thinking when I made this commitment, then I came here and the fantastic support and inspiration -- along with VERY useful information -- that I get here just cemented it for me.

Oh, yes. I couldn't have gotten as far as i have without 3fc and with the mentality that I had in the beginning. I started out with a diet, but I'll be finishing up with a new lifestyle that can and will work for life. Things happen and sometimes even with the best of intentions we forget to PLAN. That is no longer a concern of mine. Because this is a lifestyle and not a diet, I can adapt to the situation and make it work for me. 3FC taught me that, and taught me most of the tools I use daily to make this journey a success.

Oh you just made my day!!!!! You are TOO sweet. I can't begin to tell you how happy this makes me. I thought about waiting for goal to post the pictures and it was pointed out to me, that if I post now, you never know, I just might inspire someone right NOW and get them going. Now I can't wait to see YOUR before and after pics to see just how much we do look alike. And I know that one day I WILL see them. I can hardly wait!!! Definitely something I will be looking forward to.

I was fortunate enough to find 3FC pretty early on in my journey, about 2 weeks into it in fact. I already had a plan formulated. I was VERY methodical about losing the weight this time. I had it all mapped out. I knew it had to be a lifetime commitment, that there would be no going back, I knew I had to elminate the bad foods and ADD in the good ones. I knew I must exericise in order to supplement my weightloss and for optimal health. So I''m in the same ballpark as LisaMarie, 3FC helped to confirm that I was on the right path. It was indeed great to hookup with people who had the same way of thinking that I did. To bounce ideas off one another and to support and encourage other one. And definitely to LEARN from one another. Because I have without a doubt picked up very, very helpful and useful information from this site. Lots of it in fact.

ROBIN!! (not to hijack the thread....I just NOW found your pics!!!) WOW!!!

Now - as far as the post - I am like a soulmate to Sharon - read the same books, and feel the same way. I started this journey on Dec. 29, 2006 - 19 weeks tomorrow, and I have NOT LOOKED BACK! I look at food a fuel - and make my choices accordingly. I will never again eat "blindly". I have been amazed at the transformation my body has taken once I started treating it the way it should be treated. I come here everyday for support, and even if I don't post, I get something. Thanks to all of you!!

EDITED to add ~ it all finally CLICKED for me! I know the secret to being the person I want to be now, and it is so simple!! Eat nutritious food, and MOVE!

Like LisaMarie, my thinking about foods hasn't changed so much as been confirmed since I started coming here. Mostly I'm here for some renewal of hope and resolve, as for me keeping in good health has an obstacle or two that have taken some decades to work out solutions for. I find the diet I'm on right now quite drastic; but it's the only way (short of surgery) I've yet found to lower my weight. I look forward to the time, later this year I hope, when I can mostly eat and exercise like you guys do right now, as my life-long habit; and that will keep me from becoming a fat chick ever again!

Not really, though I certainly can see how other people would change their ideas based on what they read here. This place is wonderful. I have evolved my attiude toward food over many years. I started out thinking that food was the enemy, but now I think of food as fuel. I also think that food should be a pleasurable experience, and have strived to make it that way. I have decided that I will never go on another "diet" for the rest of my life. They are horrible and don't work. I am going to live and eat making healthy choices, learning low fat alternitves, and recipes to favorite foods, and make exercise a part of my daily routine. I also have embraced the no foods are off limits and everything can be enjoyed in moderation. This ideology makes me feel liberated, and enthusiastic about my program. I no lomger feel like I am never going to enjoy life because I will always be on a diet.

Wow...that was a long winded post. Anyway, I hope that everyone finds what works for them, it's truly a great feeling when you do.

3FC has helped me see that losing is *extremely* hard--- I'm NOT a failure or a bad person if I have setbacks along the way. That is priceless.

3FC has helped me change the way I think about diets. I remember when I used to attend a very popular weight loss plan. After our weigh-in and meeting, a group of us would go out to celebrate....with ice cream at the Haagen Daas shop!!! How crazy is that?! Here at 3FC, I have found a wonderful group of people who are committed to creating a healthy lifestyle. As someone pointed out on another thread, this is a group of "serious" dieters. If I ask a question, I can count of honesty. If I need encouragement, I get a ton of it. If I just need a shoulder, I have dozens of them waiting for me. This group has faith in me when I don't have any faith in myself! Best of all, there are successes here at 3FC. Never before have I had a chance to witness someone actually overcoming their weight loss obstacles and succeeding at losing large amounts of weight. This gives me a wonderful opportunity to learn how to do the same for myself.

With the support here, I've been starting to make myself think of food as fuel. Food used to be something to enjoy - I'd eat it just because I felt like it, during sadness, happiness, boredom, etc. I lived to eat not eat to live.

I've always been obsessed with food and the only way I know I can lose weight is to stop using food as some kind of crutch. That food isn't something I should enjoy. It's something that should keep me alive and the better choices I make, the better my health will be.