Hi

I am another looking to join in on the thread and weight loss. I started about a year ago, and it was a yo-yo for me, doing really well, then the weight creeping back on. I am still down, so that is good. The past three weeks I've been diligent with my exercise and watching what I eat - the issue for me is keeping the weight off once I lose it. A few years ago, I reached my goal, and gained every single pound (plus more) back, I hope to avoid that this time around.
We're going on a
Disney cruise in 39 days, and a biggie for me is that I don't want to sit there eating carrot sticks the entire trip, but at the same time, i don't want to un-do all the hard work I've put in to achieve the weight loss I have so far. I am thinking maybe I will wake up early to exercise before my husband and son, and then stick with one treat (or half) a day since it is vacation. I've tossed around the silly idea of "testing" eating a snack a day to see if it majorly messes me up, but I don't think that would work. I did have cake at my nephew's birthday party, but I also made sure to balance it out calorie-wise the rest of the day, and exercised a bit more. I so wish I could be one of those people who can eat whatever they want and never gain an ounce - but since that's not likely to happen, I am going with the watching what I eat and exercising.
Plans don't really work for me - I tried South beach, Atkins, Weight watchers, and ended up quitting. Yes, i lost the weight but ended up focusing on the things I couldn't have rather than on what I could, so I decided to go a route with things I like in a different way, so I can stick with it after I reach my goal, I am hoping it works at least. I know I can lose the weight, I've done it before, I want to lose it and keep it off .. that's where I always botch things up.
When I was at my heaviest, I was 163, now I am down to 146.5. My goal is 125. Since I am not that tall (5'2"), that's still on the "heavy" end of the recommended weight, but I would be thrilled with that.