Hi Eternity. I'm late chiming in, but its great to hear from you. Surgery weight - 239 Goal - To be healthy...and I am...yahoo! Weight goal - 145 Current weight - 140 I dump on occassion still, but dumping for me is just getting crazy tired. I almost never throw up. Just have to stay away from bread, pastas and milk. Keep us posted. Rachel

Hey my running buddy...all awesome news. How exciting...Dare I say you are becoming quite the athlete. My next run is a half and I'm doing that in October. Its the same day I leave for a cruise. Thought it would be a good start for 10 days of decadence! I've been wanting to join a running club...but haven't found one that works with our schedule here in the Quigley household. Keep me posted on your progress. Rachel

Hi Ruth. I totally agree...we have to love ourselves and feel worthy of love no matter what. I have a friend that says if she gains her wait back, she will kill her self...and she means it I think. It saddens me. There is so much more to us than our physical appearance. Its easy to get wrapped up in it though...so thanks for the reminder. Hugs, Rachel

Ruth, Thank you so much! Your an angel!!! I remember that famous line, "You have such a pretty face." or "If you lost weight, you could be so pretty!!" I HATE those lines!!! Even my own parents would tell me that, but of coarse, neither one of them knows what it's like to be overweight!! I swear anytime I heard one of those lines I just wanted to knock the person on their butts!! Well it's ok now, I can walk up to them and say "Now what, I'm pretty, but you are still STUPID!!" Yeah, that'll get 'em!!

Thanks, Beth - I loved a lot of this. Which is why I try to stress in my postings that we were beautiful prior to surgery but healthier now. We as women are so conditioned to disparage ourselves if we don't fit the "norm." Self-loathing, etc. Not a healthy mental image. The nudity is lovely. I think it is so important to us as morbidly obese people to recognize our own beauty both prior to surgery and after. Ruth