YW. I keep hoping the same, but understand how they can be shy. I hate my fat body, but putting it out there makes me want to lose weight more. I can't hide and run the group, so I'm out. Moreover, I need to record everything to keep me honest. I will cheat myself if I hide my food intake. I may be posting daily, but you, Dot, are the one who recommended this diet diary. TY.

@EdEarl Likewise, this board helps keep me honest when I start to falter.

I did basically the same diet last year, from June 12 to the last part of October. At that point I drifted off loss and went to maintenance mode. Initially I just got lax with the diet but continued monitoring my weight so when I saw an uptick, I tightened my belt for a few days until it was back down. I decided to continue on maintenance until after the holiday season as it was just more than I wanted to deal with. Nov-Dec have been a bad time of year for me for years and I figured I needed to learn to maintain almost as much as I needed to lose more weight right then.

The hardest part was kicking back to loss mode and it didn't come until the anniversary of my first diet. Through all this I kept a journal of my intake and weight but had no "support" beyond my neighbor, who I did tell I was dieting. She was supportive but not so much this year as she thinks I should quit dieting now. She is 95, rather hard of hearing and sometimes a bit forgetful so I don't discuss it with her a lot other than to assure her that I am eating plenty, just not as much as I used to. I still keep track, now more on an online app where I can track my intake/output and other things and I have a whiteboard where I write down my weight so I can easily see how it is going.

Although there is not a lot of activity on this board, I find that posting here is a motivator when I start letting my food tracking lag. It's odd, given how many people post utter BS online, making up things and lying about themselves, but on here I feel some kind of obligation to be honest with the group and thus, myself. I do a lot of things in life on my own, I am a solid introvert (crazy, right? I spent 30 years being a social worker) and very independent and self-sufficient. In some areas though, it is nice to have some back-up. This has proven to be one of those areas.

Occasionally, I worry that others may think "silly woman, just wants to chatter all the time about her eating habits and what she did today" but I remind myself that the members here are all people who have (presumably) struggled to one extent or another with weight in their lifetime. That commonality I think reduces the tendency to be judgmental. I do suffer from the typical social worker-savior complex that led me to my career choice, so I often find myself hoping that my posts might motivate, encourage or support someone else in their daily challenges.

@DotLewis It was you who got me to start posting my daily diet. And, I think I read all of every thing you write in Battling Obesity. You have valuable experience and good advice.

I've never been one to lie, I forget them and get in trouble. But, I agree that it is sometimes difficult to resist fibbing, even though I doubt more than one or two people read my posts. In the end, it is for my benefit and I try to be truthful. I'm not a super man, I have weaknesses just like everyone. If someone reads my post and laughs at me, so be it. I'd like to be liked by everyone, but that's not going to happen. That's life.

I like your rambling posts, and I like you. The world would be better off with a few more people having "the typical social worker-savior complex."

Keep on truck'n.