I was thinking about all those wonderful success stories and everyone complimenting the maintainers on hos slim and marvellous they look, and that's great.

But that doesn't mean you look horrible while you're still fighting the battle. I guarantee that everyone will have a picture of themselves somewhere, still overweight, that someone will have told them they look beautiful in - and they meant it.

This is about self-esteem, really - yes we're all trying to lose the weight and better ourselves, but we can still be gorgeous creatures! I want to see some pictures, girls!

You're so sweet! What a lovely thread idea!

Something I've noticed is that we don't feel like we deserve to feel beautiful until we hit goal. Well, I'm brave enough to say I've been really happy with my appearance for about the last 50 (yes 50!) pounds! It's been very amusing to look back and remember how wonderful I thought I looked at 200, 190, 180, etc. It's an amazing thing because I hated my appearance so much at 235. It has been such a joy to celebrate each and every decade's worth of changes.

Rock your beauty at all weights! I've also learned that the eyes of others are even more forgiving (by far!) than our own!