50 lbs lost in 3 months 8 days!

Hi all. I have been a long time lurker here and can't say enough good things about MFP! I started this journey on August 22, 2011 and today I hit the 50 pounds lost mark. I am feeling fantastic and invincible! I decided to lose some weight this summer after just not feeling great. For the first time in my life I was really tired and realized just how much of life I was missing out on because of my weight. I have been heavy most of my life and I remember being in grade 5 when my family Doctor at the time suggested I lose weight. Fortunately I found a way to be a confident large woman. I owned it so to speak and I worked really hard at maintaining my confidence despite always being the largest woman in the room. However, after summer holdiays I just said out loud to all the people I care about that I was going to lose at least 100 pounds and so far I am kicking butt! I have poured over these message boards and I read at least 10 success stories each day which inspire me always. I have found so much information here that I have profoundly changed the way I view this challenge. I finally get it now. If it isn't sustainable long term, I am not interested in going there. Everything I have been doing to lose this weight I ask myself everyday - "Am I prepared to do this level of exercise for the rest of my life, can I conitnue to eat this way for the rest of my life?" If the answer is no, I move on and find something that is sustainable. I am thrilled that I don't feel deprived. Every single food good and bad is always an option to eat, I just make sure it fits in the calorie count or that I earn it through working hard on my exercises. Recently, I knew I was slowing down and I wasn't seeing the type of losses I was accustomed too. As well, it occured to me that as my daily calorie allowance was getting lower so was my energy. For days I agonized over increasing my calories as so many have suggest on this site. I finally decided to up my calories from 1290 to 1560 per day. Wow! What an incredible difference those calories made. That was 9 or 10 days ago and I have lost 6 pounds since I did that. Incredible. I know that there are so many arguements about whether to eat exercise calories or not, whether to increase calories or not but I can tell you first hand that it works. I just knew that eating 1290 calories for the next year to reach my goal was totally unstainable not to mention that I don't want to get to my goal only to discover that my maitenance calorie count will be incredibly low! I have also started lifting heavy. I bought a kettle bell 10 days ago and I am so impressed with the results. I work with a heavy kettlebell for 10 minutes every other day and already I know my legs and core are stronger. Depsite really working hard on my walks and on my stationary bike, nothing gets my heart rate up like the damn bell! I feel really pumped about the next 50 pounds to lose and I love that not only am I losing fat but I am making my body stronger every day. Thanks to everyone who posts on this site. You are all an inspirtation! If I can lose this weight anyone can! I never thought that in 3 months and 8 days I would be able to experience a 50 pounds loss on the scale. Keep up the good work everyone!