to stay motivated. For the last 20 years or so I've been on this yo-yo roller coaster thing with my weight and my body. As you all know it goes like this... loose 20 or 30 pounds, get to feeling really good about yourself, start sliding back just a little, then a little more, then start slacking off the exercise, then the next thing you know, you are UP 40 or 50 pounds. Well I am at the lowest I've been in several years, but just by a pound or too. I can ALMOST clunk the weight bar over from 250 to 200. I can ALMOST fit into my jeans (which I might add are well over 10 years old) so close...

And this is where I always get into trouble. I start feeling confident that I can make it that little bit more, then some, and I start thinking well, just a little of this won't hurt, or a little of that, or I'm tired today, I'm not going to the club.Please, please, help me stay motivated and make me answer to all of you if I start slipping, and most importiantly, if I go for more than two days without posting send me a PM and tell me to get my act together!!!

I am bound and detrmined to not only be able to clunk that weight from 250 to 200, but on to 150 !!! But all of a sudden I'm getting scared. All of you know the story, you've always been a fat person, so how will you act as a thin person? Debkay & Jiff and Alvin are all facing the same deleima (sp) but they have the tool and the support of their surgery groups, you are all I have.

Thanks for your concern, and I'm more than glad to do the same for any of you.

I"M WITH YOU!!!!!!! Feel the same way and it's soooooooooooooo frustrating. just have GOT to really want this. we can keep each other on track

Barb..... we can all keep each other on track! Trust me when I tell you that you are sooooooooo not alone!! I am right there in that leaky old boat with you...... I'm certain, tho, that the life preserver we all call LC at 3FC is strong enough to hold us all! You've got my IM addy..... use it! and when I see you online, I'll use yours! Together we CAN do this!

I think that is why i am stuck where i am fear. i am working on it and trying to not think of the scale to distract me (fear)

OH yes! I KNOW that if I didn't check in every day then I would lose myself to the carb monster! Keep yourself accountable Barb--set a time everyday (for me it's the morning) to have a cuppa coffee and read and post. Even if it's only a little bit, it's worth it because it helps you focus your day.

don't give up!!!! you've been doing so well. and you're heading into a brave new world with the jeans and the lower weight and all.

yes, we have a tool, but we have such serious consequences when we cheat. i wish with all my heart that we hadn't needed this step, but we did. and we can make it work.

and you can make yours work. you have lots of other tools available to you: 3fc, family, friends [i hope], posting menus, keeping a journal, posting your weight, focusing on yourself for a while.'

while old alvin definitely leads the pack around here, i've been following your own weight loss, and it's been impressive..

you can do this!!!!!

Barb, keep both hands on the wheel, honey! I know how easy it is to get comfy. I think we have all been here! You can stick to it. Next time you look at that big old plate of carbs, remember how hard you have worked to get to where you are. Life only gets healthier and better for you! Are you planning yourself 'splurge meals'? I know this weekend we can go out to eat, and I am counting down the time until we get to go! The only hard part is trying to decide which restuarant we go to since I can only choose one! Sometimes I feel like I will NEVER get to my goal, but each time I see another teeny loss on the scale, I get a bit encouraged. Keep focused Barb, you're gonna make your goal and you are going to be so much HEALTHIER! Don't look back!

Barb - I wish I had some profound words of wisdom for you, but I don't. All I can offer is that each day we are given a new chance. Try to take it just one day at a time, and do the best you can. I remember a quote from Mary Pickford "The failure isn't in the falling down, it's in the staying down."