I weighed myself at the doctor this morning & was so THRILLED!!!! It said I weighed 208 which means I have hit my first goal of 50 lbs!! (My home scale said 211, but I am definately going to take the doctors scale over mine!!!) Yesterday I went shopping & could hardly believe that I could fit into a size 16 pants. I've worn 22/24 for so long!

Here's what I've learned so far:

1) You will hit LOTS of plateaus. I stayed at the same weight for 2-3 weeks many, many times & then all of a sudden I'd drop 4 or 5 lbs. Don't get frustrated at the scale.

2) Exercise really does work. I joined a gym only because I knew it was the right thing to do. I hated going & was emberassed to be seen among all the muscle men. I could barely walk on the treadmill for 5 min. without feeling like I was going to pass out. BUT....I made myself go & it's been very, very worth it. I'm now a regular & 2 days ago one of the buff women came up to me & said - "I've been watching you the past few months & you've really inspired me. Keep up the great work." Wow! I inspired HER!! That was a big NSV to me.

3) You really do need to follow the bandster rules. THEY WORK!! I had moments of just wanting to do my own thing. But, whenever I went back to taking small bites, chewing my food A LOT, & not drinking after meals I lost more weight!!

4) Patience is important. It took me a while to get this weight on & it's going to take me a while to get it off. I'm not only losing weight, I'm changing a life time of bad behaviors & that doesn't change overnight.

5) DRINK YOUR WATER!! I have never been a good consistent Water drinker until recently. But, I can tell a difference!! I realized that sometimes when I THOUGHT I was hungry, I was really just thirsty.

6) It's okay to eat junk once in awhile. You can't deprive yourself forever!! Friday evening is my free night & I let myself choose something fattening & sugary to eat. ONLY ONE ITEM. I eat it & it's gone. I've never gained any weight from doing this & I am satisfied. If I am tempted to eat junk during the week, I tell myself - "You can have that on Friday!

I don't like to be told NO. If I know it's something I can't have, I want it more. Knowing I can have it on Friday makes it so much easier. Which reminds me, today is Friday!! WAHOO!!!!

Thank you to everyone on here for all the great support & good information. I learn a lot from you all & consider you my friends! I can't wait to reach my next goal!!

Amen Sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOASTING???

Wait till I get to 50 pounds... I might actually boast!!!

You are doing an awesome job and this is a GREAT thread!!! Keep up the great work!!!!

And shame on anyone who complained that you were boasting!!!

Girl, you have every right to shout from the rooftops.

Kick @$$!!! 50 lbs is something to brag about!! You can bet you folks will hear from me when I hit that goal!!

Huge hugs and keep up the great work!!

Excuse me...but isn't this a support board. You have every right to talk about how you have succeeded. SCREW THEM if they have a problem with it.

Woohoo!! Celebrate success! Unless youre running around singing "Neener, neener, neener.. I've lost more weight than yo-ou" then should feel free to sing out about your victory! It's a hell of a battle and everyone who experiences even the slightest victory should be excited and eager to share with all of us so we can gain (or regain) hope for ourselves!

50 pounds is definately something to be proud about and anyone that would complain about you posting it should just skip the thread then. I mean....Heck I LOVE seeing things like this because it WILL help me. It pushes me along to do what I have to do. I actually copied your ideas and habits you have listed and saved them in a file I have here at home on my computer. I want to look back on the successful people when I'm feeling I'm not doing well. I want to be able to peek at their words and goals and dreams and how they did it to see if there is anything there I can use to help myself get to my own goals. I suppose if someone is down and out because they aren't losing, heck we all would be after going through all this, but, if you're not in the mood to hear about someone elses success then just move on to the next thread that tickles your fancy. I just don't get why people get so upset.

Don't change anything, don't feel bad for posting or even worry about what you've said here. You didn't hurt anyone by posting this, heck to me, you've helped more people move towards their goal.

YOU GO GIRL!!!!! Congratulations!

Wow! You look great! Thanks for posting this. You are an inspiration to me & I'm sure many others! It's always good to see what success with the band actually is. Keep kicking butt!!!!