Hi Annie! I am so glad to see your post-I had actually jumped in at the end of the thread you were referring to, and I was amazed at the progress that you guys made, and how great it was for you all to have the accountability and support. I am a school librarian, so I am out for the summer, and I'm able to get on here every day, usually multiple times a day.
I enjoyed reading your story. I saw the old picture you had up, and you look so beautiful in your purple dress!! That's so AWESOME that you went from a 22 to a 14! I was at a 22, then lost 86 lbs. I went down to a 12. Then I gained back my 86 plus some. I'm at the biggest weight I've ever been, and I'm 27. So I am motivated to get the weight off to be healthier.
I agree with you, it's very easy to do a diet as long as you're sticking to it, but that one time you go off, it's hard to get back on the bandwagon. I think that's what made me get so off track. Also, I hadn't really been on a diet like this one that taught you about healthy foods that you could eat. I would've never gotten into eating plain oatmeal, for instance. And even though I love brown rice, I never bought it! I just never thought about things like that.
I know you can reach your minigoal and your big goal!!! And just think, when you hit that 50 lb. mark for your birthday, you will be maintaining and not losing!! That is such an amazing feeling! I have a lot of weight to lose, and I really don't know what is a reasonable goal to set for myself. I know I'd like to start with something small, so I set a goal of 10 lbs. in 2 weeks. I mean, I have heard of people losing 10 lbs in Phase 1, but I don't want to get my goal too high and then not succeed. I know that I've been 100% dedicated to this program, and I will continue that as long as I can!!! Your family vacation sounds awesome!!! I know I just got back from Watercolor, Florida, for my brother's wedding, and I felt like I couldn't 100% enjoy myself because of my weight. So on that note, here are my 5 motivating factors (they seem to be almost identical to yours)...
1) My health-I have gotten to that point where I'm 27, and I am thinking that the older I get, the more susceptible to weight-related health problems I'll be.
2) Ditto on your #1-To feel good about myself and comfortable in my skin -- confidence
3) Ditto on your #2-To not let my weight to get in my way-I'm tired of feeling like there are more things I could do if I weren't this big.
4) My WEDDING!!! I am getting married April 25, 2009. I have all kinds of pictures and stuff coming up and I'm tired of worrying about how I look in them-like looking at each one to see how fat I look and only keeping the ones that are "good"!!
5) To go into a period of my life (my 30's) where I do not feel like I'm having to LOSE weight...but just life a healthy life and maintain weight I've lost. I've been fighting this battle for the last 5 years and I'm tired of it!! I want to enjoy my life and not make this the biggest part of it!!!
Wow! This message is long! I tend to be a talkative one, though, so watch out!
Have a great night all, and I look forward to hearing from all of you!!