Good morning FTS forum friends! I stepped away from FTS for the last 6-7 months, thinking and telling myself it was just too difficult to keep up with the lifestyle changes. On occasion, I would peek back in, seeing what others were posting, thinking to myself again, its just not for me. Too hard to work around all the circumstances of my life. I need the easily accomplished "diet'. Well.... in the last 6 months( or so) I have gained almost ALL of the weigh back and  I have NO energy. 
Last week, I  attended a work related conference. Pictures of me were being taken frequently and then shared with me. I  looked at them, saying inside "Who IS that?? That CANNOT be me!!", but it was and it is! I am that overweight woman in all of those pictures. Seeing the proof right in front of my eyes helped OPEN my eyes. I was able to compare those pictures with ones taken during my earlier FTS lifestyle. The difference was astonishing. Even though the actual number of pounds lost was not my final number, the inches were distinctly noticeable. Of course this made me rethink where I am and what I can do about it. You know what they say about hindsight??? Well, immediate thoughts of FTS filled my head. I began to really focus on what changes I had made and the effect they had had. Only did the occasional thought of "it was too difficult" come to me. Mostly, I recalled how simple it was to avoid eating in  my old style and how with planned  preparations (having the right kind of foods on my shopping list, pre-making a few items for quick grab meals, etc) I was able to lose weight but I also recalled how phenomenal it felt being successful in  the FTS lifestyle. I can say in all honesty that the ONLY program I have ever seen results such as those I was experiencing , was through the FTS lifestyle. I have tried many methods in my lifetime. Not one of them ever made me feel like I was accomplishing my goals!
So , I 'm back! I'm back on the FTS lifestyle. I'm back on the forum. I'm back to becoming the person I know I can be!

Two and a half weeks ago I was in my local library when from across the room , a bright yellow book caught my eye. The librarian had created a display with dieting books of all sorts. Once I was closer and could read the title, I thought to myself..."If only!" I picked up the book, flipped through the pages, saw that it was easy to read, thought to myself, "Well, you've tried everything else there is, why not this one?" Even as I was checking it out, I was thinking, this is just another failure ahead of me, why do i keep setting myself up for failure???"  I got home, read a page or two then life called and i put the book away for three days. We were planning an out of town trip, so I took the book along to read as we drove.  Once I began reading, I found myself agreeing with everything Doug had to say! I also found myself saying, "I think I can do this!". Yesterday was my weigh in day for two weeks...I was shocked and amazed to see that I was down 9 pounds!
Thank you Doug! Your book has set me on the right path! I haven't felt this good about myself in a very long time!