Vicki ~ Your ticker is just barely above my goal on mine; you hit the nail on the head, it does throw you for a loop to see these numbers in print, and actually commit to it, but BOY is it exciting to see the number drop! Look at mine, I can't BELIEVE I have less than 20lbs to go before I hit my original goal. I think my body may go beyond that, but I'm not going to set an additional goal; just let it do what it's going to do. I'll be SO excited...I'm 203 now, I'm going to do a gigantic happy dance when I break 200lbs!

And BTW, I eat quite a bit of carbs and cheese; the only carbs I really stayed away from are what I call 'junk' carbs -- white, starchy stuff, cookies, white breads, crackers, stuff like that. And I eat cheese almost every day. If any of you are like me, you have 'ideas' of what your bodies 'enemies' are that might end up getting blown out of the water -- like I said, I stumbled into my new eating lifestyle almost by accident. It was just, okay, what do I know is bad for me? Soda. Out of there. Fast food. Out of there. Increase good fluids. Check. Increase whole grains. Check. Increase green veggies and colorful fruits. Check. That was my basic plan. Do you know how 'carb-o-licious' one 32oz bottle of gatorade is?? Like, 56g! And I drink that EVERY DAY. And that's just my main fluid! But what I was doing started working so fast, I stuck with it, figuring I'd see how it went and tweak it as needed. There was no big plan other than the few things above. It has stalled out a little once or twice. And then Karen kicks my a$$ and I pull in and get back to basics, and the train keeps on rolling. I am NOT dieting. I am eating well. I am getting plenty of calories. I am not overloading myself with calories and fats however. I do have the occasional 'treat' -- candy or whatnot. But after a while, you REALLY don't want those things much anymore. I'm also, acording to Dr. Kayla, eating the right kinds of things at the right times of day to lessen absorbtion of the high fat stuff, and keep my entire digestive system trucking along. Again, it was an accident, I just made it all up as I went. But I am never hungry and do not feel deprived. Haven't all along, since October. I allow myself to eat lunch three hours after breakfast if I'm hungry rather than snacking, and am full and sated, then fine until dinner six hours later. I think some of it is a testament to how poorly I was eating before... I've always gotten the food groups, but I've had way too much stuff like fast food and junk food, chips, sodas, stuff like that in my past. And now I am starting to identify if I have a craving for something 'bad' WHY I want it. I sit on it for a while; am I thirsty? Hungry? Sad? Depressed? Lonely? etc...

Like I said, I have NO idea if my way would work for everyone; I had a LOT to loose too. I just know it worked for me, and hasn't been hard. I feel like I'm barely doing anything. But I guess it's like that old joke 'why did I study so hard for the test; it was the easiest test I've ever taken'. I did the hard part way back when I guess; now I'm just riding the train.

I'm so proud of everyone. I KNOW it's hard to really (to use a southwest phrase) 'Cowboy Up' and put the numbers and the truth out there. But that's how we can help each other. With the truth. The truth shall set you free... Do you know how liberaing it is to STAND STILL in the candy aisle and actually decide what I want instead of just swiftly snatching something I know will do and moving on? If I want a candy bar, dammit, I'm having a candy bar. And that's okay. It's a good feeling. Food does not rule my thoughts and is not rules by my emotions like before. Yes, I have my moments when I'm really down and the old demons try to take over (this week: prime example). But I get back on track. Because I now know what the right track feels like.

Wow, I'm getting preachy. Sorry. Is it the opposite of 'getting too big for ones britches'? LOL! I'm really am proud of y'all. Let's keep this party train going!

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