Hi everyone! I know this may seem long but please take the time to read this.

About a year ago, November 28th to be exact. I started taking Alli knowing it was the extra push i needed to make changes in my life. I felt great about myself. In as little as 7 months I had dropped 50 pounds and felt on top of the world.I had tons of compliments and support from my friends and family.My confidence was soaring and I was positive I would not stop until I reached my weight loss goal.

I was wrong

After dropping the 50 pounds I still had close to 90 more pounds to lose. And the weightloss stopped. The exercising and eating correct came to a dead end and alli was a thing of the past. Im not sure as to what happened to me but i could not get the motivation back into my new healthy life style. I have been off alli for 3 months and have gained 25 pounds back. Yes, you read that correctly 25 pounds in 3 months. Im not sure how it happened, I did not eat as terrible as i had in the past and I still exercised about 2 or 3 times a week. But the scales do not lie and I cant deny the weight that i allowed myself to put back on.

Im so discouraged about gaining half of the weight back that i tried so hard to lose that starting again seems almost pointless.But i know that i am strong enough to make neccessary changes in my own life. I could just use a little encouragement.

So, today is the day. The day I quit acceptin life in a fat suit and do something other than sit on my butt watching everyone around me waiting for me to fail.Today i was actually told by a mean and,quite obviously, an evil coworker.. 

"oh youre starting that again, how long do you think itll last this time?" and she kinda smirked when she said it. like she knew sooner than later I was going to fail.

its comments like that that make this journey so much harder, but make the prize so much sweeter.

I could def. use some encouragment and an extra push not to give up.any tips would be great. and anyone who have gone through something similiar please give me advice on how you pushed through it...

 well, i guess it comes down to how  bad you want it..you are the only one that decides what to eat and how much to get moving..... you dont say how old you are, but it took me until i was 55 to decide that i was done being fat..i want to say that i am in better shape now than when i was 30..my knees dont hurt ,my back feels better and i  can keep up with my grandkids..it is worth it..i kind of chuckle when my boyfriend calls me "hot stuff"..who would think that  at my age i could look hot?? but, i gotta say, i fit into  size 8 jeans nicely (much more attractive than xl sweatpants that were getting small) and xl tops..i look and feel great..start a chart.. measure yourself in several places once a week and weigh yourself..i needed to SEE progress.. sometimes it was the tape measure rather than the scale that showed the progress.. write down what you  eat calorie and fat wise..stick close to 1800 cals and 19 fat grams a meal for a while..when you lose enough to move down a bit in calories, do it..get moving..i have to say i admire the fat people in the gym.. i was one too. and its hard to go and work out..get a workout buddy if you can. if not get an i pod or some tunes and just go anyway..fake it until you make it.. make yourself stay 30 minutes and if you  are done then go home.. i bet you will find you will stay a bit longer.. keep your eye on the prize and realize that it is NOT magic..now that i have attained my goal weight. i dont take my alli any more because i can maintain just fine with my new eating habits and my excercise routine.. yes. i still do work out.. maybe only 4 or 5 days a week instead of 6 or 7,  and they are a bit shorter, but i still do.. and one more thing.. once you lose enough weight that you outgrow your fat clothes, get rid of them... every 10 lbs or so buy yourself some nice new underwear or get a manicure.. treat yourself.. you deserve it.. and when you get there, you will be glad you did..oh yeah, one more thing  dont talk about your weight loss unless some one asks.. just do it.. if you have any stubbornness in you.. use it... its the perfect use for it..fat was not gonna beat me..(i tried the same thing to quit smoking years ago.. ) i was using my stubborness to stop smoking too.. and i did.. you can do this!!get a move on.. today is a good day to start..ok.. i will cut you some slack and give you tonight to get your head wrapped around it.. tomorrow is your new start day..good luck.. and keep me posted on your progress.. kathy

Great response, Kathy, I needed that motivation too.  Smithan, I have slipped off more times than I can count.  The main advice I can give is, don't give up.  If you do, you will gain it all back, plus some.  At least make some permanent changes that are not much of a sacrifice.  Switch to all non-fat dairy products and use sugar substitutes whenever you can.  I'm sure you can find a brownie recipe that uses applesauce instead of butter or other fat.  You can cook with Splenda, and you can use egg whites instead of whole eggs.  See, there are ways to get through these stumbling blocks.  I buy sugarless, fatless chocolate pudding packages and make it with nonfat milk, almost no calories and still tastes great.  (I like the kind you cook, not the instant.)  I still have big trouble staying on plan, weekends kill me, but I will not give up, this track leads to gloryland.  Stay onboard with us.

Judy

 smithan8

i read your post and thought this is me.i started alli in 6/07 when it came out and kept at it with frequent fall off the wagon.but i always came back,then last fall i had a really big stress in my life and stopped taking the alli and gained back about 25 pounds that i had lost.i screwed around losing and gaining the same 5 pounds for a year.then my wake up call came my younger brother had a heart attack and the doctor told him it is probably hereditary.im still 90 pounds over weight and that scared the hell out of me.so in august i started back on the alli and im down 6 pounds since then.is it easy NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.every day is a challenge not to eat junk.where i work there are 2 candy bowls that are filled every day.since i started back i have only eaten the candy once.people in my area bring in junk food all the time and i just have to think is it really worth it.

Failure to me is stopping and not starting again.i dont care if its 20 times i stop and start i just never give up.

I keep coming back because i post with a group of ladies that give me so much support and love.They are there for me every day if im good or bad.

I hope you will keep posting and i will check to see how you are doing and will let you know how im doing.

Linda

 Kathy, I realize that this was not written to me, but how inspiring.  You said so many things that I was thinking. I started Alli today, and am thankful for the opportunity to have what I consider to be extra help as I begin this journey.  the 10 pound prize is something I am adding to my plan and I think that the notion of using my stubborness for me instead of letting it work against me is brilliant.  Thank you and happy Monday to everyone!

Kathy is a great inspiration to me too!  If you want to have support from a great bunch of girls like Kathy, come on over to the 50 Somethings group.  We are a bunch of great girls, and we are always there to help anyone with getting through the tuff times.