Yeah, I thought weighing 100-120lbs was a bit much too...a bit TOO thin. I want to be relatively healthy...but I know what my body looks like at 160...and 155...and 145 at my height and I would be perfectly happy with a 150 body type at the end of this road  :)  I know it's still overweight for my height...but I felt I looked pretty at that weight and could do ANYTHING I wanted to do at that weight. I walked (and walked and walked and walked) at that weight. I'd do upwards of 10miles some days at that weight  :)  I was rarely sick or fatigued...sure, I couldn't run far or fast...but I was happy.

As far as questions go, how often/how long do you exercise?  Also, what type?  Your diet, I'm very curious because you reference carbs and whatnot in your other post...how do you work your nutritional intake throughout the month?  Also, I tend to notice a standstill the week before my period  :)  does this happen to you or am I probably taking in the wrong foods for that time of month?

I just accepted your friend request, when I first started coming around this board there were quite a few women on here that inspired me, they all had lost BIG weight without the surgery, most of them have moved on, But i want to be here to be that encouragement to whom ever I can be. You know, one of my best friends is 5'1" and she and I walk together through out the week, she has lost about 35 lb's and has another 20 or so to go, but if a dr. told you at 223 that you still had another 100 to 120 lb's to go,  I think that is CRAZY! really, I mean seriously? that seems like a bit much to me, do you have a goal for yourself? I am 5'8" and a large frame, I also have a lot of muscle so for me, my goal is 170 lb's then at that point I will look into having the excess skin removed I have heard from friends that have had that done after massive weight loss that that will take any where from 10 to 20 more pounds off depending on how much excess skin you have, and that for me is still up in the air, I may or may not even have tht done, but i would like to look at my options. Let me know if you have any specific questions, i'd be happy to help!

welcome to the non op board! you have done a wonderful job already!! at under 200 lb's would you even still qualify for WLS? how tall are you, if you dont mind me asking? My story has some similarities I was enrolled in classes to have WLS and at the time was sitting at about 317 lb's (highest known weight was 322)  I had gone to the introduction class and was on a waiting list for the weekly classes to start, at the time I had kaiser and the 6 months of classes are madatory, so I was told that it was about a 6 month waiting list to get into the weekly classes then another 6 months of classes before I would be approved to schedule surgery, so I knew I had at least a year or more of waiting before I could even do the surgery! That is when, like you something clicked mentally, at the time 2 of my close friends were having RNY and rather then feel envious of them I used there surgical weight loss to motivate me to do it without surgery, I searced books and natural NON-DIET approaches, I completely changed my view of nutrition and I started exercising more, I always had some form of exercise in my life evan at 322 lb's, but I became more diligent and disciplined with it, I also started a program called Isagenix that is a nutritional cleansing program and had great success very quickly with that, this was all in Feb of 2009. What clicked in me was that I would no longer entertain failure as an option, I started studying nutrition and how it effects our bodies and became an avide learner of all tings natural, at one point I wanted to even go to school to become a nutritionist specializing in natural foods and remedies (that may still be on the back burner somewhere). I lost about 90 lb's fairly quickly then I seemed to get stuck there, like you I dealt with some depression and also with some personal and family problems that derailed my weight loss for a while, during this time, it was very spiritual for me and God really showed me a lot about my life, my beliefs and who I really was, which was NOT a fat girl! I continue to learn and heal and let go of a lot of stuff that hindered me in the past. The journey contines. By the time the 6 months of classes opened up to me, I opted out of taking them, at that point i was confident enough in myself that I had found the true path I was going to take to reach my weight loss success for good. I do not regret my decision, like you I was terrified of the possible complications and haveing 3 childrean and a husband to care for was a huge factor for me as well. Whether or not you go ahead with the surgery or continue on the path you are on, I wish you all the luck on your continued journey to success! thanks for your comment on my weigh in post as well! feel free to ask me anything, or send me a friend request if you would like to see my progression pics or anything like that. Take care!              

First, I'm new to this section of OH...I generally read/post on the RNY forum as that's the surgery I've been considering (and preparing for) for around 2yrs now.

CONGRATS! Not only on your most recent loss, but your overall loss which is very good for non-surgical weight loss. I'm very impressed, AND encouraged by you!

Since you want a bit more action I'm gonna post my story and see what input I can get!

Yay it's Monday and I'm back home from SC. Easter weekend with my husband's family was stressful. I ate way too much. Part of it was poor planing, poor self control, and a big ball of stress being there. I over ate everyday. As a result it's been so hard to eat normal today. I keep telling myself "I am control." I weighed this morning and gained 2lbs. Its upsetting, but I'm going to work hard this week to work it off.

I am so happy to be home and back here where I am in control of my eating and workouts! What plans to you have for the week? Goals? Thoughts? How's the weekend go? Any non scale victories to report?