Nice job! Since you went about this the "slow and sure" way (averaging 20 pounds a year from what I can figure from the info you included in your post) I think you will keep the weight off with no problem.

Your reaction to the realization that you met your goal reminds me of that episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show where Rhoda loses the weight she wanted, but still felt weird about it. She was suddenly without the weight she felt had been holding her back all her life, and now she was like: "Okay, now what?" It was exhilerating and frightening to her all at the same time.

Congrats!

P.S. Thanks for all the great laughs from your Survivor recaps. Can't wait for the Amazing Race.

That doctor sucks! I'm not as extreme a case as you, but I was about 55-60lb overweight at the beginning of last summer and have lost 40lb of it since then purely through dieting. And I changed my eating habits permanently too! Also I agree, it is weird to be so much smaller. When I hear a truck driver or construction worker yell out some "Hey chickie pie, mwah mwah" comment, I still don't realize it could be me they are targeting. Weird. Anyway we will see if the weight stays off, but I think it will since I simply cannot eat as much as I used to! Congratulations and enjoy the new you. Also, I heart the Survivor recaps. Stinks that they dragged the show out on you like that...but good news for all of us!!

Good for you! I gained about 20 pounds in college and recently lost the last of it. Took me a year of slowly changing my approach toward eating and exercise, but like you said - it was totally worth it. We are too focused as a society on weight loss and not enough on proper nutrition. When you eat right, the excess weight WILL come off. And if you decide that it's a lifestyle change and not just a "diet", the weight will STAY off too.

And, IMO, life is really not worth living if you can't consume an entire container of Ben & Jerry's in one sitting once in a while without dying.

Wow.... If I could high-five and send a drink from long distance I'd do it.... you go girl!! that is some of the best M-F-ing news I have heard from the '89 crew, or anyone I have known from 'back in the day' Hard work pays off.... way to work hard and succeed!!

That is wonderful. I know how hard a road it is, the whole weight loss thing. You totally rock for sticking to it and doing it your way.

And not all doctors are like that one, mine actually discouraged me from getting the surgery when I asked him.

Congrats!

Just wanna add my congrats, too. I've lost 45 lbs myself in the past year. My favorite stupid comment is when people (who are mainly jealous a-holes) hear about it and make that tired comment that "Oh, everyone I know who's done that diet gained it all back when they went back to eating normally."

Well, that's a much easier thing to say than actually getting your fat ass on a diet, now isn't it? Let's think about it: Diets are a change of lifestyle, not a temporary change. Of COURSE if I go back to eating the way I used to, I'll get fat again -- that's how I got fat in the first place and needed a diet!

Whether you're going weight watchers, low-carb, liquid diet, etc, etc.... if you go back to McDonald's and Pizza Hut, you're going to gain it back. Speaking of McDonald's, I love their fries.

Well done you!! The doctor that suggested personal responsibility is not the way forward sounds like he needs his head read!!
Good on you for taking the time and doing it right!

Good for you! I've been losing weight, too, through diet and exercise and I get so frustrated when I hear stories about doctors that actually encourage their patients to gain weight so that they can have the surgery. That just seems counter-productive to me.

Congratulations! It is truly an accomplishment to be proud of, keeping it off even moreso than losing it. Way to go.

Way to go girl. One ather reason to keep you on the "women I idolize" list.

Signed,
2 years to lose 67 pounds, and its all off still 5 years later

Yay you!

I just want to chime in here, that I lost 45 lbs over the course of about a year, through diet and exercise changes. I've kept it off for a year and a half now. I don't feel deprived or hungry or anything, because I really did make a lifestyle change. I hate people like that doctor. Don't presume to tell me what I will and won't do.

I wanted to pile on the heap of congrats. That is a truly amazing accomplishment. My weight has yo-yo'd my whole life, but over the past year I've lost quite a bit (no idea how much since I won't get on a scale, but suffice it to say I'm six dress sizes smaller). And I did it the exact same way you did - by trying to change my lifestyle to a better one. I feel like getting my act together in this part of my life has led to me doing so in other parts too, so overall I'm much better off. One thing though, not to rain on your parade or anything, but isn't it weird that people treat you differently? Sometimes I want to grit through my teeth, I'm the same person I've always been.

Very nice!

Well done! I know how hard it is just to lose 10 lbs., so I am duly impressed with people who achieve significant, healthy (no crazy diets), long-term weight loss. Have yourself a martini on me! (Since you still can...)

Congratulations! That's a remarkable accomplishment. You are inspiring me to get my own butt out of the office and into some walking shoes this afternoon. Billable hours be damned.

My mom has lost almost 60 pounds on Weight Watchers since last summer. Slow and steady wins the race, as the saying goes. She eats balanced meals, cut out the junk (and she's not much of a drinker) and swims and rides her antiquated exercise bike, and she looks and feels great. My uncle had gastric bypass and the aftermath was really difficult for him, so it's not the miracle everyone thinks it is. Congratulations for doing the work and sticking to it!

props to you! My aunt lost 125 pounds on weight watchers three years ago and it's scary to think what would have happened if she hadn't... we weight has sort of yo-yo'ed (good word, Vic) all my life, but i can't say that i've ever been as dedicated as you have. good job!

Fantastic job! I agree that doctor is an idiot. I just saw a documentary on Discovery Health Channel last week about a British woman who was in a car accident, gained 400 pounds, and lost 309 of it (!) on basically the Atkins diet. The documentary is good and I recommend it, but I am sorry to tell you that they called it "A Trash Can of Skin" because she had to have 35lb of excess skin removed after her weight loss. Yow. Point is, that doctor you saw is a freakin' idiot and just wants to hawk his damn stomach-snipping wares. Keep it up! And enjoy the fresh margs!

Wow, nice job on the weight loss. I lost about 50 pounds 2 or so years ago, after changing my diet and started running (aka getting off my fat butt). The most irritating thing I found, even to this day, are all the people out there who are surprised that I have kept the weight off and ask stupid questions like "still running?" like it was just something I picked up only to lose weight. These people just don't get the idea of LIFESTYLE and cause and effect. People finally quit asking me "how'd you do it?", because I didn't want to answer and when finally pressed, I said "eating less, exercising more" which was the very very last thing most people want to hear.
Great work! Weight maintenance is such an easier road - enjoy it!

Good for you, Miss Alli. Losing weight is such a tough battle--hats off to you for doing it successfully.

Linda--as one who's done almost the very same thing (dropped 105 over two years), let me add my congratulations, and god DAMN, don't it feel good!? And yeah, Vic, people do treat you differently; it's astonishing how many people look right through you when you're fat. Regardless, all respect and pride to you, girl, and if I can offer any advice for keeping it off, it's this: the past is over. All that matters is who you are now, a fit and beautiful woman who watches her weight by being careful in between Amazing Race parties. God bless ya, rock on.

That doctor is full of crap. I stopped eating meat in the fall of '02, dropped 20 pounds, and none of it has come back. Of course, he'd probably say that that kind of lifestyle change doesn't count or something.

Anyway, good on you.

Way to go! You are awesome in so many ways!