HELP...I need quotes from people who have lost over 50 lbs

Hi all, I am working on a project and need some quotes about weight loss from the people who have lost over 50 lbs. Can you help me out please? It can be anything, but mainly what benefits have you experienced as a result of losing so much weight. Also, what has been the most difficult for you? Thanks in advance. It would help me out so much to hear from as many people as will be willing.

I actually plan on getting this as a tattoo on my back when I reach my goal weight...

"Life is full of challenges, happiness shouldn't be one of them"

After losing 55 pounds, my body doesn't hurt every morning when I wake up!! I also don't hear snap crackle and pop from my bones as much (I'm 23, I was realllly heavy)

"Nothing tastes as good, as skinny feels"

"Tell me I can't, and I'll show you I can"

"Don't tell me I can't reach the stars, when there is footprints on the moon"

These are my favorite quotes

Hi! I've lost about 65 lbs now and what has kept me going is to just take it one day at a time. I don't cut everything out, but I try to eat more fruits and veggies, always work out at least 4 or more times a week. My motto has been "everything in moderation" and it's worked for me. I've gone through many plateaus and that's been the toughest part. Figuring out what needs to change to get my body moving again. I'm at a plateau now and it's driving me crazy. I have about 15 more pounds left to lose and I can't get my body to respond. It's very frustrating, but I am not willing to give up. That's the key! Do not give up! One day at a time!

There is no magic pill or potion. It takes alot of hard work and dedication, but doing it the right way will keep it off. There are going to be set back, and you will stubble and fall. The key is picking yourself back up and keep going!!!

This is a process, and it takes time. I was say...slow and steady wins the race.

I was recently inspired by this quote from the book "The Courage to Start: a guide to running for your life" by John "The Penguin" Bingham: "For better or worse, you are the only you that you will ever get. What you decide to do with you is up to you. Tomorrow you will still be you. The question is whether you will move closer today to who you want to be."

As far as your questions go:
"what benefits have you experienced as a result of losing so much weight?"

It sounds cliche but it's true - I have so much more energy and self-confidence, and feel much better about myself than I did before. It's not all about just weight loss for me because I've also been focusing on my fitness and become much more athletic than I have ever been (which is why I love John Bingham, he's all about "adult-onset athletes") and I feel like that's given me much more than just a diet would. I feel and look much younger than I did so that's a big plus too. I can't even imagine how I got around with 70 more pounds on my body than I have now...

"Also, what has been the most difficult for you?

The hardest part for me was getting back on track after taking a break. I started out with Weight Watchers last January (2010) and did really well all year. The holidays were coming and they were changing their program so I figured I'd take a couple months off, just maintain through the holidays and then try the new plan in January. Well, my company didn't end up renewing their "At Work" program so I tried doing the new WW program on my own without meetings and it was too much. So I just winged it for another couple of months and the pounds slowly started creeping back on. By the time I joined MFP in March, I'd re-gained 10 pounds! I wasn't too happy with myself but I was soooo glad to have found this website - what a Godsend! I immediately started losing weight again and have used this program to my advantage, knowing what I know about how my body works. And it's made me feel better about maintaining when I get to goal because I know I won't have to do it on my own.

LOL - I just realized I turned a question about something potentially negative into a positive result. I guess that's just the way I view this whole process. No dwelling on the buillcrap anymore. This is for me and for the rest of my life. If there's a hurdle, I get over it both physically or mentally and move on...

To sustain and maintain weight loss it has to be a lifestyle change - with being healthy as the goal. Diets don't work - or we would have only have been on one in our lifetime!

I would say the biggest benefit to losing 60 pounds so far (10 - 13 left) is for the first time in my life I feel in control of food. The sad thing is I am 54 and it took me this long. Spent my life always feeling fat and unattractive, checking to see if I was the fattest girl in the group, never wanting to wear shorts as an adult, always feeling inadequate because I was fat and my diet was out of control.

Today, I feel in control like I've got this done. I still have a few pounds left and I realize it isn't a race and there is no official END. The finish line is when I take my last breath. That is when it is done. I have relapsed before and now realize that without a shadow of a doubt this WILL BE a lifelong journey. Always journaling what I eat, weighing myself regularly, and always striving to eat the healthiest choices at the time.

There is no fairy godmother, no friend who can take you by the hand, no one magically waiting to pull you through. It is a lonely road and everyone has to find their own way. There are a million ways to do it, you just have to be able to find the way that works for you!

What gave me comfort along the way was knowing that even Oprah Winfrey struggled. She is one of America's richest women. Pick a topic and find the expert and she knew them all. She had potentially every conceivable expert at her fingertips. Whether it was about living life to the fullest, diet, exercise, meditation, fitness, pick a topic and she knew the expert. She could afford to pay anyone of them whatever their price was to take her by the hand and pull her through and she STILL struggled like the rest of us peons just trying to get by with Weight Watchers or reading books, using MFP, or doing whatever. Even the richest woman in America with every advantage that fame and money could buy still couldn't lose weight and keep it off.

If it were easy, everyone would be thin. (stolen)

Steve SIebold is my new found hereo. He is a motivational speaker and wrote a book called "Die Fat or Get Tough". He interviewed 500 fat people and 500 fit people and discovered their differences so he could help develop his Fat Loser program. www.fatloser.com It made all of the difference to me this time around. And it was FREEEE! Following his program practically handed me my own boot straps. All I had to do was give them a tug.

I know I must stay vigilant for the rest of my life or else I will be fat. Old habits die hard and they just wait for that moment of weakness to come back and pack on the pounds and they do fly right back on if I let up for a second!

I started at 178 several years ago. As of today I'm at 124. I've kept it off for over 5 years, just fluctuation by a few pounds here and there. At one point I had gotten as low as 119. Anyway- I'd say you have to never look at fitness and nutrition as "diet and exercise" but as a Iifestyle. Even if I'm not counting WW points or counting and tracking calories- I'm always aware of what I'm eating and how much. Since I lost the bulk of the weight, I switched from weighing weekly, to weighing every day. I make that part of my morning routine so that I'll never find myself losing complet track of things and steping on a scale to find I've somehow gained 20! And I agree with the poster above who said shopping is much more fun!! :-)

Benefits - My overall sense of wellbeing is much better. I feel better through out the day. The hypoglycemic spells are gone and the blood sugar is stable now. The hypertension is gone. I sleep better. I am stronger and more confident. I don't get winded at work anymore.

Negatives - I frequently forgo going to lunch with coworkers because they frequent restaraunts with decidedly unhealthy menus.