And she did it.   Just one achievement after another.    Good going.....

I have had a crazy day and I am dying to snack on all the candy we have in the office, but I am holding out for 30 more minutes and eating my apple that I didn't have time for at 3 p.m.

Hooray willpower!

Wow, 60 lbs, that iwould be a  lot of weight to lose by February. You would have to lose 3.5 lbs a week.  I know from experience that if you set your goal to high, that you have the tendency to get depressed if you don't achieve that goal.  Besides if you lose too fast, especially with no exercise, you will have sagging skin.  It is a daily regimen, like brushing your teeth, and if you fall back on brushing your teeth, your teeth start to decay, and then you have to have extensive and expensive procedures to bring them back to healthy.  2 lbs. a week is plenty, along with exercise to keep your body firm as you lose excess fat.  Exercise sculpts your body as you lose. At least you are at an age where you can lose and firm as you go.  You would be surprised at even 40 lbs. loss how great you would look.  Probably as good as if you lost 60 lbs. and it would give you the confidence to continue on and reach your ultimate goal.  40 lbs. is a reachable goal and you can do it.  It won't be easy to change your habits, as isn't bad habits what got us there in the first place.  Sit down, get a piece of paper and write down all the negative habits you have been living with on the left side of the paper, then write down across, on the right side of the paper what you should be doing to correct it.  Then ACT on it.  We aren't perfect human beings, we have flaws, but we are smart enough to realize that we are also capable and strong enough to overcome our failures.  The first step is to recognize our weak spots.  We all have Will Power, it's there in the back of our brains somewhere, we just have to nuture it and bring it out to the surface.  One small goal at a time......We all can do it.  Positive thinking.   We have to make choices and changes, besides isn't that what got us to this point in the first place, by making the wrong ones.  The weight we carry now is like a comfort zone, it's easy to stay there, we don't have to do anything, just keep eating the wrong foods, too much food, not enough exercise, and no will-power.  We have to ask ourselves, "how's it working"? 

Hi. I am 38 but my anniversary is Feb. 18th, I would love to weigh about 40 lbs lighter by then maybe we can be buddies

Hello, my name is Sabrina.  I need to lose about 50 pounds.  I am completly new to Slim Fast, but it seems like a good program, so I thought I woud try it.  I am a HUGE junk food junkie.  Seriously, throw the Turkey off the table at Thanksgiving and get right to the desserts, I'm a closet junker!  LOL!  I am 42 years old with to very young children.  My main reason for losing weight is I will be "older" when my chidren are still children so I need to get in shape in order to be here for them.

I am excited that SF has a forum for us all to chat!   I "plan" on sticking with this, but I would be lying if I said I am going to struggle when is comes to sugar!  Exercise I do not mind at all, but I want to celebrate with apiece of pie.  Okay, now you get the picture.

Any suggestions??!?!?

Thanks Daisy! This was a great message! I need to figure out how to make you my buddy so I can get these directly when I log in.

My small goal right now is to lose the 6 pounds I have gained since our engagement party on the 10th. That is something I could definitely do by November. I am back on track at work and staying away from the sweets and sticking to the plan. The weekends are trouble though. I had a baby shower on Sunday and that didn't help, but I just am committed to being back on track for this week.

I need to start getting back on the exercise train. There is a YMCA that I belong to write in my building at work so I could walk on the treadmill at lunch on days that I don't have meetings or events. I have the firm videos at home that I like to do when I am there and I usually try to hit the gym on nights where I go to my fiance's house. He keeps saying he wants to join the gym, but it is mostly all talk, I don't know if he will actually do it.

I think 2 pounds per week is reasonable and that is what I did the last time I lost weight, sometimes it is more but I try just to count on the two pounds at a time.

I want to get a new pair of boots so that is my incentive if I can lose the 6 pounds.

Hi Elizabeth:  My name is Daisy and I read your post and I am sure that with support from each other and helpful hints to rid ourselves of this excess weight that we can achieve our goals.  By the date that you have set, there shouldn't be any problem to be at your desired weight by that time.  I know you will.  I am a lot older than you so it will be much harder to reach my goal but I will do it somehow.  I can understand what you mean about work, I've been there, done that.  I did somewhat remedy that problem by telling my co-workers that I was a vegetarian (which is half-true) that I don't eat meat, and don't like sweets.  Actually it worked pretty well, as I would bring my healthy snacks to work, and even if I didn't eat them all there, they didn't bother me or entice me to eat, and you could bank on  food for any occasion at work, and it worked great.  Mainly because I wasn't about to let them know that I failed at my committments.  Eventually they (whether they felt guilty about eating junk food or failing in their goals ) started to turn around and be conscience of eating healthy. 

I worked in Social Services and had went to the head boss and ask if we could use the empty room, where they stored a TV to use for exercise on our lunch hour or breaks.  That worked out great.  Everybody contributed workout tapes to use in the VCR.  Where you work, does the facility have anything like that there, an empty room not being used.   You know Elizabeth, reaching ones goal is half psychological and the other half is eating healthy and (of course) exercise.    I was watching TV years ago and can remember a Psychologist saying that overweight people should think like a thin person.  We automatically see a fattening food, and before we eat it, we think, o'boy I'm going to gain 5 lbs if I eat it, and sure enough, we usually do.  It is a continous realization that we have to work at it.  It's like brushing your teeth, it's just something that you do everyday, eventually it becomes a habit. 

Sorry, I am so long-winded.  Guess I am so happy to have someone to listen to me and to give feedback to help them that I have stored up so much to say.  Don't worry about all the clothes in your closet that you can't fit into, just work on small goals with the clothes that fit you now, that they will get a bit too big for you in no time.  2 lbs. a week is a good goal for me.  What do you think for yourself?  If one loses too fast, and you have a day that brings you back up 5 or 6 lbs. you have the tendency to feel sorry for oneself and binge.  Anyway, you think small goals and it will work, that is what I am going to do too.  Have a great day.  Daisy

I am looking to lose 60 pounds also. Our timing is similar. I recently got engaged and we are planning the wedding for May 2011. I've done Slim-Fast before and have been very successful, but I never got to my goal and then I gained about half of the weight back. I am entering my busy time at work and this is when I historically pack on the pounds because I'm a stress eater.

I am busting out of my clothes right now and have a closet full of great outfits from when I had lost the weight before. I would really like to get back into them. I would really like to start trying on wedding dresses and I've gone one time but they didn't have to many dresses in my size.

I noticed that Slim-Fast has all new products so I am going to put in an order today!

My name is Elizabeth by the way.

I would like to find a buddy that needs to lose around 50-60 pounds.  I am 68 years old and just once, I would like to get to weigh less than my husband.  Our 25th anniversary will be Feb 11, 2011 and I would love to make my goal by then, sooner if possible.  I really need support and I am willing to give support back and stick with it.