Hope you ladies don't mind if I join in this thread and throw in a few thoughts from the male perspective.
First of all, I almost CRIED reading all your posts. I know how hard it is to be overweight. At my heaviest, I was 352 pounds. I had a 54 inch waist, and wore a 3-4X t-shirt. I really know how difficult it is.
Having said that, it strikes me as very sad that almost all of you are know your weight at specific times! I know my heaviest weight, and current weight, but nothing in between.
I've been reading posts from a lot of you. I usually lurk, but I feel like I know a lot of you. True beauty is on the inside, and each and every one of you is a truly beautiful woman. Don't let your weight control your life. You HAVE to be happy with who you are whether you weigh 150 pounds or 550 pounds.
Having said that, my best girlfriend is trying to lose weight with me. She is having a very, very hard time with it. She's in law school, and most of her focus is on her schoolwork, rather than on what goes into her mouth. I tell her frequently that she really is beautiful the way she is, but like most of you, she just dismisses it. It's hurtful, but NOT for the reason that you might think. It hurts me more, that she is so hard on herself. Give your husbands/boyfriends the benefit of the doubt when they pay you a compliment. My Weight Watchers leader always says: "Say thank you, and shutup!" If I asked each of you to list 5 negative things about yourselves, you'd have that list done in under a minute. But if I asked you to write 5 positive things, you'd all struggle with it, because we all focus on the negative. From now on, when your significant other tells you're beautiful, FIGHT the urge to make a comment. Instead, say thank you, and shutup!!
Mskanga, if your husband thinks 24 pounds is just a "drop in the bucket", make him carry around two 10 pound bags of potatos, and 16 sticks of butter all day. Then ask him what he thinks about 24 pounds.