Thanks for the kind words missnla!! This really is a journey and not something I want to give up. I've tried this WOE countless time and lost literally 100s of lbs over the years -- gained them all back. Couple of things are so different this time around:

1) I use to think that once I lost the weight, I could go back to eating like other carb-eating people -- after all these years, I know that isn't going to happen because I'm a carboholic! (You can't change what you don't acknowledge!)

2) I never ever tried to figure out what my CCL was so that I could maintain the weight loss -- this time I will! I want to lose about 3-5 more lbs so that I have "wiggle room" as I slowly increase the carbs (5 per day for 2 weeks, then evaluate the results before I add 5 more)

3) I use to box up my fat clothes for later. Then it HIT me, Holy Hannah I was giving myself permission to GAIN the weight back! That was so stupid. I didn't have enough confidence in myself to keep it off -- NOT THIS TIME. I donated everything to a charity thrift store once it didn't fit.

4) I keep meticulous records of my exercising and eating (I weight and measure EVERYTHING - cuz I'm a bit OCD like that).

5) I know what I am going to eat well before I get hungry - no chances of poor food choices or excuses and I always have plenty of "my" food in the frig.

6) I write daily in a journal where I express my thoughts & feelings, etc

Wow didn't realize there was more than a 'couple" of things... Sorry if it's TMI -- and there are probably more...