Saw a 1 and the sun shined down...

This morning I weighed in at 199.8. It's the first time I have seen a "1" in 8 years. Granted, it's a slight 1, but a 1 nonetheless.

It has taken me exactly one year to lose 37.2 pounds. I have 23 more to reach my goal of 177 at 5'11. It might take another year, and for a while, that bothered me. I love MFP and especially love the success stories - I do a silent fist pump for every success that MFP users have. Actually, I love everything about this site - even the 1000 posts on low-carb, atkins, holy-moley-you-think-what?, I'm only losing 2 pounds a week, should I eat exercise calories, coconut oil is akin to God, etc.

I love all of it because I love that people CARE - no matter what it is they care about, having purpose and passion is a beautiful thing.

Some weeks its hard to revel in my .2 loss - and there might have been a time of two where I sigh when I read that others have double-lapped me in their weight loss over a year. But those feelings quickly dissipate for the following reasons:

1. A year ago I was obese for the first time in my life - miserable, lost, ashamed and filled with self-doubt
2. A year ago I committed to MFP, myself, my family, my health - and I have succeeded
3. Every single day that I wake up I say thank you for what I have achieved, where I have been, where I am headed, and most importantly, who I now realize I am - a person with purposes and passion

Thanks to all of you for sharing your purposes and passions with the rest of us - you never know, it might be your post that reminds someone else that absolutely anything is possible.