Thanks MFP and all my MFP friends!

Thanks for the lifestyle change, not just the awesome support along the way.

This is a before and after pic for the moment even though it's not me at my heaviest and I'm also not done yet and I never will be, because even when I hit goal, I want to work on fitness for the rest of my hopefully immortal life (get cracking on it geneticists and other scientists, I probably only have about 45 years left).

Anyway, it still shows a difference I'm very happy about!:




Now this is me in the store contemplating some giant chocolate cupcakes and deciding nah, maybe another day, but I don't want them bad enough today to fit them into my weekly calorie allotment plus deal with extra cravings later:

(Just pretend there is a picture of me standing over some cupcakes.)

As I stood there I realized that I've made a change I never made all the other times I've lost weight and of course gained it back plus more. I never went and stood over some cupcakes, shrugged, and decided 'maybe some other time'. I either obsessed and ate them or I obsessed and didn't eat them.

Now here is a picture of me testing this out by going to the candy aisle and picking up some marshmallow bunnies, shrugging, and putting them down again, deciding that they're definitely not up to par with cupcakes and milkshakes on my list of favorites, so why even bother?

(Just pretend I was actually goofy enough to take a picture of myself doing this. Of course now I wish I had.)

Low carb does help me with this too, but my allergies make me crave no matter what, and fighting these cravings has been driving me half crazy for a couple of weeks now. Until today. Until I really said to myself and meant it, if I want it bad enough, I will have it. Probably not small treats daily because that will make me crave more and will make me hungry, but if I really want a blowout carb and sugar fest day once in awhile, I will have one. I don't know when, but I will, and then I'll work around it for a week or two weeks or whatever and it will be okay and I will freaking enjoy my life and enjoy being thin and enjoy getting fitter and healthier as I go along. Because it really doesn't have to be about deprivation and misery.

I learned that here, from this site and from my friends here and from all you other forum posters. Thank you so much! :flowerforyou: