500 Days on MFP - 86 pounds lost - pic heavy!

Today I celebrate my 500th day anniversary of joining MFP. In retrospect, this journey has been much easier than I thought. I was not overweight my whole life. After high school, I let myself go, and although I thought I was happy even though I was fat - that's possible, you know! - I know now that I never really was. Having spent the past nearly 14 years being overweight, and the last 5 or 6 creeping slowly into the morbidly obese BMI range, I started to yearn for my carefree (and thin!) adolescent years. Last year in May, just after my 31st birthday, I saw my doctor, and after feeling like I may have lost a little weight, I found out I had actually gained another 10 - in just over 2 months! I came home, sat on my couch, and told my husband I was fat. I was so defeated. I had been in denial for so long, that I didn't even notice how far I had let myself go.

I am 5'4" and weighed 243 pounds. I now weigh 157 pounds.

Even now, people ask me how I feel, and I tell them I feel the same. I never felt like a fat version of myself, and I don't feel like a skinny version now. I feel like the same person I always have been. Although that's not entirely true, because I'm more energetic, I am more open and honest with people, and I don't hide behind my obesity as much. I make eye contact more often and am not afraid to be heard because I no longer fear what others might think of me. I enjoy life more now and do not tire as quickly.

I am more proud of my weight loss than anything else I have accomplished in my life, and I am happy that I have served as an inspiration to my friends, my family, and my mfp family. For those reasons, I am different. I just hope I stay different for the rest of my life.

Drumroll, please.......the pics....


This is a pic from my honeymoon in May 2010. I think I was about 215 pounds then:




This is from February 2011:



March 2011:



And the best of the best, Me in June 2011 (actually about a month after starting MFP, and I had lost 10 pounds already!). I weighed approximately 235 pounds or so. Also, sorry about the creepy picture, I tried to take my husband out, but it replaced his head with part of the cart we were in, apparently!:



And here's some progress pics....

These both are from a couple of weeks ago:



And this is from today: 157 pounds and shrinking...(No politics, please, that's not what I'm here for...I was just too lazy to change my shirt!)





Wow, when you look at it all like that, 16 1/2 months doesn't seem like a very long time at all! I could not be happier for deciding to stick to my plan to lose weight, and I am so grateful my fitness pal exists. I don't know if I could have done it without the apps, and the online support offered by this site.

We are all fabulous people, worthy of respect and praise for making the choice to change our lives. I wish you all the success I have had. I know you can do it because I did.

--Dawn