Interesting article, rf! I certainly agree about the three-year re-set! About a year and a half ago, I reached a point where I just couldn't manage to lose a pound, no matter how little I ate, though I had just completed a year in which I had lost 67 pounds. I decided to give it time, as I was happy about the previous loss, and thought maybe I should just not worry about it if I kept to a healthy diet.

I am putting a lot of energy into my vegetable garden, eating a lot of salads and spinach, and the pounds are beginning to drop. So far, I'm down 5, which makes me happy. Raspberries and strawberries are beginning to ripen, so I'll add those soon.

An interesting way to visualize a weight loss: butter is fat. When I go to the grocery store, I can look at the butter in the dairy department and see exactly how much fat I have lost, even pick it up and hold it to feel how much less I am carrying around. It really puts the situation in perspective.

Well, I'm not walking as much because I overdid it and aggravated my plantar fasciitis. Frustrating.

But I'm pretty happy that I still managed to drop another 2 lbs this week even though I am travelling.

Fresh vegetables are so tasty--You must love being able to reward yourself for all your work with such healthy food choices.

I love the butter trick. I'll have to try that.

I used to watch The Biggest Loser on TV. I don't anymore because I worry it is a very unhealthy way to lose weight. But I remember one episode where one of the trainers put on body weights to equal the amount of weight one of the contestents was carrying and the trainer said "How are you even doing this?"

Sometimes I pick up something that is about 20 pounds and remind myself that I'm not carrying it around anymore.

It's slow going though.

It's best if it IS slow.

I keep reminding myself that my goal is to be as healthy as possible. And I know that fresh, unprocessed food is healthy. And I know that being active is healthy.

And when I am hungry and its not mealtime, I remind myself that probably 2/3 of this planet's people go to bed hungry every single night, and I should get over it.

The best thing about having a too-big garden is that I stay moderately active all day. I water, I weed. I make a mental list of all I need to do: put netting over the strawberries so the birds don't peck them, mulch the tomatoes, call and see if the drip line for my irrigation is in, plant the zucchini, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes, mark out the location of two more beds, and so on and on. I only go in the house for lunch most days, and was outside until dark this evening.

Hit another round percentage milestone! Pants are falling off. I guess that's good.

You bet its good!

Time to go shopping.

I have a good friend who will say to me, "Susan, you can't wear those pants any more! We're going to the outlet stores." She has a good eye - I have loved the clothes she has picked out for me. And they are never anything I would have even tried on. I'll visit her in August, and hope to be another 20 pounds down by then.

So I say to you, "Go shopping!" And throw those baggy pants away. Or donate them. Just don't keep them.

Don't I have to keep at least one pair for the big pants "after" shot?

I admit I kept one pair of impossibly huge drawstring pants to wear when I paint, usually over my jeans. But now I can't get the drawstring tight enough to keep them up, so out they go.

I just ruined a perfectly good pair of jeans.

New pants arrived today. Woohoo! The slide continues although I am not walking as much because my heel is acting up, so I'm giving it a little rest.

Yay for new pants! A much more exciting milestone than a number on the scale.

I just bought a new pair too, from the Scholarshop. I am in a 16W, and they are comfortably loose around the waist. They look as if they were never worn, Gloria Vanderbilt (from JC Penney). $7.

My garden is a lot of my exercise. Not exactly aerobic, but I'm in constant motion. I go out early in the morning and work until it gets too hot, then back out in the evening.

I hope your heel gets better soon. I hate it when something hurts! It looks like I'm going to have back surgery sometime this summer, and I'm almost looking forward to it. I've had the MRI, but don't know the results yet. Disc, most likely. I thought it was my hip, but it isn't.

Good news and bad news. The new pants are loose too!. I'll see how they are after they've been through the wash.

I bought those same pants at BJs yesterday-- a bit tight for me still.

Sorry to hear about your back. Sounds serious.

The heel isn't that bad--I've had plantar fasciitis for years, and I think that the extra walking has been aggravating it. I'd like to be able to continue my long walks, but I don't want to make it worse. I'm wondering if maybe it's a heel spur. Got a new pair of shoes and have order a few more pair of superfeet insoles. That plus nightly icing--I hope it will do the trick.

Hey, guess what? The tight pants fit now! I haven't been this size since, well I just don't know. Maybe before my 14 year old was born.

The weight has actually plateaued for the last few weeks. But I'll take what I can get.

Congratulations! A happy day when the tight pants aren't tight any more. I am comfortably wearing my tightest pants, so it's time to go shopping for some even smaller ones.

This heat has kept me close to home. I do my garden work as soon as it is daylight, then retreat into the A/C. We are on day 4 of a predicted 10 days over 100 degrees. Today was 105. I may get a clean and organized house out of it, though.

cool. as in stay. that's no weather for outside work.
Have fun shopping.

maybe we should start a pants hand me down service for losers.

What a great idea! An on line swap fest. Not that I really want to announce my size to all. Jodi, CHAS, Big John and Tyler have all seen me "in person" though, so I guess it's really no secret. And many WTFers probably don't follow this thread unless they have a few extra pounds themselves!

What sizes would you like to have? I have mostly fall and winter clothes to give; are there any colors/styles/manufacturers you particularly like?

Lunch today was fresh from the garden: a salad of lettuce (about the last of it because of this hot weather) onion, carrots, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes, with feta cheese, olive oil, and sherry vinegar. I picked kale for dinner; will probably make a pilaf of Bulghur wheat, onion, kale, broccoli, and zucchini. I'm loving eating from the garden!

I've been following here but haven't posted.

I lost about 10 pounds since the end of winter; I'd like to lose a few more, but am happy with what I've managed to do so far. As I get older, it's been harder and harder to keep the weight off. Never had to worry about these things in my youth.

Love the idea of a swap meet. I've thought about starting a thread for "Galt's Garage Sale" (John Galt was briefly my forum nom-de-plume, but I changed to WTG). I have some needlework I've done but am thinking about finding a new home for. I thought I might make it a fundraiser for BeeLady's Montana de Luz. Maybe post pics and do a silent auction kind of thing?

Anyway, the two of you are an inspriation. Keep it up!