As I near the end of my Weight Loss Journey...

[SouthernSleever 228]

Good for you! You have done amazingly well and you look like you weigh 150 and not 185. I swear I thougth you were 5'8" because you look so small. Over the last month I have been very lax with my carbs having a little here and there. I even had a coke a few times :X I lost well at the start of the month because of Bonnaroo but now the scale is showing a 2lbs gain. Now I know, (in my mind way back deep) that I didn't eat enough for a two pound gain, but I also know that the slide to my old habits is a short fast one. So with much love I say to keep checking in and more than watching your weight, watch your habits. You have done fantastic and you look AMAZING!

[thinoneday 445]

Lil Diva, AMEN!!!!! I have been at this point since January 2011. . . I am really happy with myself, and am so very grateful I have this sleeve. . .I know in my heart I will never again weigh 350 lbs. . . I know i will never again let myself get so out of control that i have to resort to drastic measures. . . I am happy and I am healthy! I love life and all that comes with it now (except the ohhs and ahhs of men lol!!!) but i now am done with my journey and know good habits and put those into play as needed. . . good luck

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Irene, we are is a very similar place... Im not in a 10, (5'8" 190lbs-size 14) but I am losing around 5 pounds a month, eating a variety of food, and pretty happy with how I look/feel. I would like to lose some more, but hope to be able to keep up around 5 pounds a month for a while longer...maybe 4-5 months. It is also important to me to not feel like I am dieting all the time, and have a normal feel to my life. I pretty much have that right now. I still want to be careful, because I know that regain may happen, especially after the 3rd year. It sure is a learning experience! and yes, a roller coaster at times too. Still love it though.... good luck to you in your new mindset!

Well I think what I'll do for awhile is still participate in the Weight Loss challenges. I have changed my goals to lose about 2-4 Lbs per month. That's plenty right now and it will also give me a chance to really realize if it's a good place to really stop actively losing. In this time I'm hoping to be able to re-learn a new relationship with ALL foods where I don't beat myself up for eating certain things. It's a really tough decision to make. I'm knowing I'll battle with it for awhile.

Hugs to you and wishing you well !!!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Oh No, Irene!!! You better add a few extra carbs or you're gonna have to go topless....lol!!!!

So glad to hear that you're gonna stick around. Enjoy your posts on a daily basis!!

Haaa!! Actually what I'm really hoping will happen is I can have some padding redistribute to my top and tone up more on my bottom. I really don't want to lose anymore of my booty and dang it, my chest looks like Skeletor... LOL!!

Good for you! You have done amazingly well and you look like you weigh 150 and not 185. I swear I thougth you were 5'8" because you look so small. Over the last month I have been very lax with my carbs having a little here and there. I even had a coke a few times :X I lost well at the start of the month because of Bonnaroo but now the scale is showing a 2lbs gain. Now I know, (in my mind way back deep) that I didn't eat enough for a two pound gain, but I also know that the slide to my old habits is a short fast one. So with much love I say to keep checking in and more than watching your weight, watch your habits. You have done fantastic and you look AMAZING!

Hi SS!!! Miss you around here! I know I can easily go up and down on the scale a few pounds at a time, especially around TOM. But then I start losing again and it's always a big drop. Well, I'd like to muffle that big drop to but a few Lbs.

Lil Diva, AMEN!!!!! I have been at this point since January 2011. . . I am really happy with myself, and am so very grateful I have this sleeve. . .I know in my heart I will never again weigh 350 lbs. . . I know i will never again let myself get so out of control that i have to resort to drastic measures. . . I am happy and I am healthy! I love life and all that comes with it now (except the ohhs and ahhs of men lol!!!) but i now am done with my journey and know good habits and put those into play as needed. . . good luck

This is a really nice place to be, I won't lie!! I'll really need to learn how to balance my workouts so I'm not still losing too much too fast. I honestly do really love running and calorie burn via cardio. I've heard a million times our bodies will stop losing when it is good and ready, and I totally accept that. But, maybe I can convince my body we are VERY close and it is in our best interest to keep the curviliciousness. Hahaa!!

Irene, we are is a very similar place... Im not in a 10, (5'8" 190lbs-size 14) but I am losing around 5 pounds a month, eating a variety of food, and pretty happy with how I look/feel. I would like to lose some more, but hope to be able to keep up around 5 pounds a month for a while longer...maybe 4-5 months. It is also important to me to not feel like I am dieting all the time, and have a normal feel to my life. I pretty much have that right now. I still want to be careful, because I know that regain may happen, especially after the 3rd year. It sure is a learning experience! and yes, a roller coaster at times too. Still love it though.... good luck to you in your new mindset!

I do think that is what scares me the most... regain. I think in all of this, that is the main factor in me *not* totally giving in. I just need to coast to a landing really - I'm just not ready to totally stop. However as long as I don't gain, I believe I can be very happy here.

[juliarh 35]

As I said on FB, yep, yep yep! I've been there for about a month -- not wanting to do the "diet" thang. It doesn't mean that I won't eat well or exercise (when I get permission from the dr.) -- but I am not going to stress over the last 4 to 6 pounds that I have till I reach goal. I mean, seriously, I weighed 304 pounds -- 4 pounds a year ago would have been like swatting a fly! So, I'm taking it as it comes now. And I'm sooooo much happier for it. I think I will also lose more than my goal, and that's ok. But there is no stress that I need to lose it NOW. So hooray for you!!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Amen Sister! !

[Rev Me Up! 75]

"I can't explain the feeling you get once you decide to "let go" of dieting."

I think you hit the nail on the head there. It sounds like you are wanting to get away from the mental hoops you are jumping through, regardless of whether or not you will continue to lose weight. You will continue to lose, because there just isn't enough room in your belly to take on huge amounts of food. But, I think it would be really healthy for you mentally to take it easy. We still each have to make a choice every time we eat something - that won't ever change. But, you can't live on a "diet" forever, I think we all have learned that over the years.

You are such a success and have been a wonderful inspiration for so many of us. I, personally, wish you nothing but the best and I hope you can find the happy medium :-) Make sure you post about the experience, becuase there are a lot of us creeping up on our goal that will need your guidance!

Congratulations!!!

[mnbsleeve 87]

Irene, I will eco what others have already said here: you are such an inspiration on this board and you're doing it again! You have such a positive and realistic attitude. I think that where you're at is where a lot of us want to be: healthy, confident, active. It's not about having unrealistc expectations. I think looking at the entire picture of health, not just a scale, is what makes sense. You are so active and you seem to have learned so much about a healthy life style, I just can't see you doing anything but great!!! BTW, regardinn BMIs, a friend got hers measured accurately by doing those underwater tests! I think she only paid $50!!! And it tells a very different story. Her BMI was MUCH lower than the tables calculate by just height, age, weight etc. It truly measures the proportion of fat/muscle etc. I was planning on doing one when I get close to goal. I'm a lot like you. When younger and lighter, I was always thought of as weighin much less than I did, at least by 50 or 60 lbs. My surgeon wants me to go down to 115 to 120 at 5' 3 1/2 but I did not weigh that since I was about 15 and I was a rail! So we'll see. Another reason you are trailblazing here for me!!! LOL Thanks again for your posts and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

[sasicas 194]

AMEN! It's a great place to be. I never really got into the whole counting carbs or anything else for that matter but I find myself eating more carbs and not feeling the slightest bit of guilt. The BMI scale drives me crazy! My goal weight still leaves me on the overweight part of the scale but ya know what?! I don't freaking care! I get comments all the time of people asking how in the world I expect to lose more, like you I weigh more than people expect. I still wear a 12-14 in the bottoms but no one believes me lol. It's such a great feeling to be ok with where we are

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

I am so happy for you! You are an inspirations to all of us on the site. Where you are now, we all strive to be.

About your height / weight - have you ever been weighed underwater to determine your body fat %? It must be super low. Don't mean to be nosy - I'm just curious Me, I'm the opposite. I have high % of body fat - although it's got to be lower now that I've lost 70 pounds.

Again - congratulations on achieving peace of mind and easing into maintenance.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Thank you all so much You all "get it". I mean, I know what I need to do - however if I want a 1" square of cake... why can't I have it? That's pretty much all I can eat anyway, or I'll get that yucky sick feeling. I was so strict on myself and when I would trail off course I'd beat myself up about it. Well... that's just NOT healthy and I'm NOT going to do that anymore. In fact, we are going to my favorite Mexican restaurant tonight for my SIL's BD. Yay!! Can't wait... heehee Am I going to feel like a failure if I eat an enchilada and 2 bites of Beans and rice? Mmmm nope.

Let's face it, I do workout a lot. I'm even having to tone it down a little bit because every single day I burn of way more than I'm eating. Yes, I will more than doubly likely continue to lose weight. But, I'm pretty much okay with 3-4 Lbs per month instead of the 10. I worked so hard for last month's 10 and I began to wonder why? I'm fitting in normal clothes... my health is above par... I've reversed my HBP and Hypoglycemia (couldve turned into Diabetes as it runs in my family), I can run long lengths without even sweating or breathing hard, I can walk faster than most people around me (get outta my way!!! ) I can just plain do SO MUCH MORE than I really imagined I could even from a year ago. In fact it was exactly one year ago right now I was being scheduled for the first in my knee surgeries. I'd messed them up something terrible being so heavy for so long. Now? Nope, no pain at all (even with all my exercise activities) and I'm so glad I decided to cancel the knee surgery and schedule the VSG!!!!

I do fully plan to have one of those tests, but its with some lovely ladies on this board. We're going to do the Bod Pod test. I'll let you all know how it turns out. If I still feel like its off (which it shouldn't) then I'll try the underwater test. Or maybe I'll just do both and compare!!!

Lots of hugs!!! ALL OF YOU will be here if you aren't already someday. The sleeve couldn't have been a better sidekick for ultimate and permanent weight loss!!!

[wannasleeve 10]

Good for you! That is why I am having the sleeve surgery because I don't want to worry about all the crazy diets anymore. Just live normal and eat very very little of the things I love.

2 THUMBS DOWN FOR DIETS!!!!

Working out like you said is awesome and glad you will stay with it is so much fun and stress relieving.

Good luck and God bless! I am so glad for you, it seems like you have found some peace with yourself. It's feels good when we finally learn to love ourselves again.

Laura

[sleeve 4 me 910]

That's exactly what mindset I got in as I was fighting to get into maintenance. You can do it chickee, and you'll do fabulous. If you lose a few more pounds here and there, so be it. I lost about 23lbs over 4 months getting into maintenance, and I promise I wasn't trying. So, the body does weird things. You're a lot more diligent about working out so I bet you'll see a big loss of inches and redistribution of skin and any residual fat you may have in the coming months which is awesome for clothing ! ! !

Keep rockin' it chickee! ! !

Hi Tiffykins,

This post actually scares me...I'm really really content with my size right now and do not want to lose anymore. I've already had to wash some of my 6's in hot Water and dry on high to shrink them, and it's worked.

So far, so good for me though (knock on wood). I bounce from 148 to 150 and back to 148 since hitting goal on May 25, 2010. Do you think I'm good as far as not losing anymore? Fingers crossed for now...

[MINI-Me 196]

Hi Tiffykins,

This post actually scares me...I'm really really content with my size right now and do not want to lose anymore. I've already had to wash some of my 6's in hot Water and dry on high to shrink them, and it's worked.

So far, so good for me though (knock on wood). I bounce from 148 to 150 and back to 148 since hitting goal on May 25, 2010. Do you think I'm good as far as not losing anymore? Fingers crossed for now...

I had a very different experience than Tiffykins when I went to maintenance. I sorta hit my "magic number" and have stayed there. I bounced down to 123 for a few days, but really bounce between 125 - 128.

Full Disclosure ->Today, I am at 130. Trying not to freak out - I know I haven't done anything different & my TOM just ended. I hate going out of the 120's though - plays with my mind. Ugh! I guess I'll battle that for ever - but at least now have a sleeve to make sure it doesn't stay at that number (or higher).

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I had a very different experience than Tiffykins when I went to maintenance. I sorta hit my "magic number" and have stayed there. I bounced down to 123 for a few days, but really bounce between 125 - 128.

Full Disclosure ->Today, I am at 130. Trying not to freak out - I know I haven't done anything different & my TOM just ended. I hate going out of the 120's though - plays with my mind. Ugh! I guess I'll battle that for ever - but at least now have a sleeve to make sure it doesn't stay at that number (or higher).

Thanks Mini! OK whew good to know.Today I went to the 6's and there was a tiny petite gal in the 4's it kinda blew my mind cuz I'm big boned and I was wearing my wedge shoes which puts me at about 5'9ish...I seriously felt like a giant walking towards her, I just do NOT belong in 4's LOL!..I really like the size I'm at. AND I do NOT want to end up in jrs. with the low rise type bottoms LOL! SO UNCOMFORTABLE plus I will have muffin tops for daaaaays LOL!