I love this site because it keeps me accountable. I love hearing from others who share their experiences. It makes me believe that yes, we can do this. I like the fact that sometimes we can agree to disagree and thats ok. Mostly I love the way we are like some big extended family around here

The holistic view of weight loss this site offers is helpful to me. There's a lot of talk about the emotional component, which gets left out so often in more mechanistic views of wight loss. But there's also a lot of plain talk about food choices & food preparation & about exercise. The whole lifestyle required for maintenance is all laid out for me & I have no illusions that it isn't a lifelong effort.

Also, yeah, it's very much more valuable that there is no "one true religion" or one prophet of weight loss whom everyone follows. No one's getting the money & keeping all the dissenters quiet. I'm not supporting some corporate entity here. This is a grassroots effort by people who are doing it all for themsleves, along with some smart checking of references & educational sources. If a guru doesn't work, they seem to leave him or her behind & keep seeking the truth.

Also, it's such a relief to be among people like me, people who "get it." This is the only place where I've ever "heard" some topics discussed, particularly the very personal & embarrassing ones. I feel safe here.

And finally, there are some very smart, insightful people posting here. A lot of weight loss stuff I've read or heard preached at me seems to be aimed at a dimwitted girl scout or a would-be Cosmo girl. No one posting here is like that. At all. The diversity I find here is very comforting. It always feels like it's about real people going about real lives, dealing with time pressures, jobs, social lives & the limitations of their local grocery store.

interesting thoughts everyone! i also agree that obviously there are a lot of people who join this site, "fall off the wagon", and stop posting. it's still really amazing/inspiring to see how many DONT though.

in my short time here, like many of you i'm sure, i have felt a sense of "freedom" that i didn't have before. first of all, it's much easier to talk to people about embarrassing problems online than in real life. i love reading other members posts about chafing, stretch marks, not being able to cross your legs, and the million other *small* annoyances of being overweight. it makes me think, "ooooh FINALLY someone gets it!!" i also feel comfortable posting my weight, which is not something i would shout about at a dinner party.

its interesting to me how many of you mentioned the ideas of maintenance and REASONS (emotional or otherwise) for overeating that are dealt with here. i wonder why other diet plans don't focus more on that? i suppose when you're dealing with a company, once your weight is off and your money isn't going to them any more, they don't really care about making sure that you don't regain the weight.

i just want to say that seeing so many motivated, successful, "every day" women who are losing/maintaining without the aid of expensive plans really gives me hope. its inspiring. when i see a celebrity losing weight i have a tendency to think "yeah well, she has a chef/trainer/etc". seeing all these women who are like me lets me know that if they can do it, i can do it!!