I went in for my weekly weigh in today and took a look at my chart. I started going on 6/17/08 and weighed in at 184. Today I weighed in at 160.6 . I am proud of myself for losing the weight and being so close to a normal weight but am more proud of myself for sticking with it for a whole year without giving up.

It sounds cheesy but I really have changed my lifestyle, the way I eat, and the way I think about food. The most eye opening thing for me is figuring out what foods are high in calories and which aren't. After 22 years of watching my mother yo-yo diet and go from one craze to another, my view of food was totally messed up. I was always among the bigger girls in my highly competitive girls' prep school where anorexia was rampant (my first classmate was hospitalized for it at age 11). Unfortunately, I was also in denial about my size at least during college when I gained about 15-20 pounds.

Now I am very careful about what I eat but I also allow myself to enjoy food. I refused to give up drinking but try to drink things that are lower in calories.

It probably has helped that in the past year, I opened a clothing store and have begun to really think about clothing sizes and how clothes look on different people. I realize now that I'll probably never be smaller than a size 8 but my size 8 can look like a size 4 on a shorter woman.

Even at a size 10-12, my confidence has soared. Very few people comment on my weight loss because I think they know talking about it in real life makes me uncomfortable.

I still have 10-15 pounds to go. I'd like to feel comfortable enough to get a swimsuit that my friends don't laugh at me about (they say the one I have now is matronly)

I am just going to keep doing what I'm doing and enjoy life. Even when I get to where I want be weight-wise I doubt I'll change anything about my eating habits so who knows where I'll end up.

Thanks to this forum for giving me a place to talk about weight loss with people who understand. I don't think I will ever be comfortable talking about weight with my friends and family.

That was a nice post, CFB. I'm glad you've been successful. And if you were from Maryland, I'd swear we went to the same all-girls prep school.

I feel your pain. One year later and here I am still struggling to get to my final goal.
One year later and here I am with only miserable 10 pounds lighter... well, it could be worse, it could be 10 pounds heavier.
Analyzing my journey I found out the reason why I still haven't met my goal is because of many holidays, vacations and special events that has happened to my life.
Every time I get off plan I gain some weight and seems so hard to lose them back... grrrr
But, hey... that’s why life is about and I wont miss good times for the sake of my food plan.
So I just take one day at time and see what comes in the next one year.
PS: I am really concern about next week, when I’ll be going to Spain... and I totally want to try their food, it is part of the experience....
Oh well... God Help me!!! LOL

Good for you for sticking with it all this time. I agree with you, I love coming here to talk about weight loss because for the most part I don't feel comfortable talking to people in person. This website has kept me going. Keep up your awesome work!

congratulations, cfb - that is very inspiring =)

Thanks everyone! You are all very sweet.

Forestroad-- I am absolutely grateful for the education and experiences I got in my all girls' school. I truly had the time of my life and will forever consider it home. It is just really a shame that when the daughters of successful parents are put in one place it creates that highly competitive environment that is a pressure cooker for unhealthy ideas about body image and food.

The ironic thing is that most of my classmates (including myself!) are as thin or thinner now than they were 5 years ago when we graduated.

And a little side note: a lady who is a size 6/8 commented that I am "young and thin" despite my size 10 body! Talk about a confidence booster!