Like many of you, I have battled with my weight the bulk of my life.

In 2003 I hit 272 and I was very unhappy. I started a diet in June of 2003 and by the following year I was down to 177.

The good news: I have managed to keep off 50 of the pounds for 11.5 years!

The bad news: I have spent the past 11.5 years bouncing between 158 pounds and 220.

I managed to stay around 175-180 for about 9 months, but I moved across the country due to my husband's job (at the end of the summer) and I have worked my way back up to 196. I have been stress eating and having too much sugar. I do not want to hit 200!

I would be pretty happy to get back down to the 175-180 again, but my goal is to get back to 160 because that is the ideal high weight for my height.

I do like to exercise, so I am trying to focus on that. When I did my first big diet 11 years ago I counted calories and that really did work.

Goal 1: Hit 180
Goal 2: Hit 160

Welcome to the forum GigiBee! (I like your member name. Cute!) Congratulations on keeping a lot of your lost weight off through the years! (Wish I could say the same!) Best of wishes on losing the remaining!!

Welcome back! I can't say your name without thing of two things: jujubees, the candy, which I used to ADORE, and also the line in Tom Petty song, Honey Bee, something about "her juju beads are so nice, she kissed my third cousin twice", love that song. I will now have to go on youtube and listen to it a dozen times.

That weight swing between the 150s and the 220s that you describe... I'm so familiar with that territory, I've lived ALL over it! I can so relate to the struggle to stay at the low end of that spectrum!

Congrats on keeping that 50 pounds off, that is MAJOR!

As for the rest of it, you can do it!

Welcome back! I'm a fellow calorie counter and it's the only thing that is working for me. I hope it brings you as much success as it has brought me! :-)