Hello everyone. I just wanted to say that I am happy. I feel good! I feel in control of my eating for maybe the first time in my life. I have been doing low carb but also working on the mental issues. It was hard in the beginning but then I passed a point where it just started becoming easier. Now I admit I still crave things on occassion but I allow myself a cheat day once a month or so and it seems to work,& I go right back to low carbing. But for the most part I don't need food to be happy. When I am sad I don't eat. When i'm anxious, or nervous or whatever I have learned not to run to the fridge. Food is becoming so much less important. I will admit that when I reach my goal I am a bit nervous that I will slip and get lazy and return to old habits. But that is why the mental work is very important. So I just keep plugging away and doing alot of soul searching and learing to cope in other ways. Anyway what is everyone else experiencing? Have you gotten to a cruising point where it is easier and what is it like when you hit your goal? Does it become a whole new challenge? I know that I never want to go back I've done this too many times before. I want to be free and live as the person I am not hiding under my fat. Thanks for listening.

You are very perceptive to realize what you've been doing, and I'm here to tell you it does change. I was walking to get my coffee this morning, mulling over all the BS that accumulates, as it always does, and I remembered that I never dreamed I'd be wearing these size pants, and how nicely I coordinated my wardrobe this morning. Not that I'm a fashion plate, but having a closet full of clothes that fit can make a big difference.

It is a great feeling to be in control of things you CAN control. But our health, and our eating habits, should certainly be one of them.

Maybe it was silly that I patted myself on the back a little, just for losing weight...but it does spill over into a lot of other areas. Just as when you neglect it, it spills over too!

So take a pat on the back from me, and remember that you are right. The mental work is just as important as the physical.