I figured I'd make one of these (progression pics)

So I've been incredibly obese nearly my entire life. I always thought it was normal to gain 30-50 pounds a year as I was growing up. I was 12 years old the last time I was under 200 pounds. I was about 13 the last time I was around my current weight (~255 pounds).

This is me in my Junior year of high school:



I could barely fit into most of the desks at school. Walking from class to class made me start sweating (and living in Florida doesn't help either).

I continued to gain weight throughout my senior year.



I remember going to get my senior picture taken, and them having to cut open the back of a tuxedo for it to fit me. I loathed myself, and I just wanted to go home and be done with the picture. It didn't matter what they did. I hated how I looked and how I felt.



While going to community college to get my A.A., I rarely weighed myself and avoided getting my picture taken like the plague. I remember stepping on a scale at one point and being nearly at the 400 pound mark.

What made me want to change my life wasn't a single event, but there is one that stands out in my mind as the breaking point. I was walking to a music store in the mall to get a CD (I hated the mall, but I really wanted the CD). While I was walking by some cell phone kiosk, the guys behind the counter were giggling. As I walked back past it after I got the CD, they said they could "put me in a drawing" if they could take a picture of me. I was fat. I wasn't stupid. I remember being angry and utterly sad when I drove home. I was tired of being treated like a freak show for being obese. I was tired of it being an ordeal just for me to walk outside. I was just f***ing tired.

I had half-assed the Weight Watchers program before. I knew how it worked roughly, and when I got home, I looked up where to attend a meeting. Early October, I weighed in for the first time at 384.6 pounds. These pictures are the ~30 months that have followed.














I've hit some plateaus throughout the past half a year, and had some gains as well. My lowest weight has been around 240 pounds. I'm currently at 258 and on my way downward again.





I still have a ways to go, but my life has changed dramatically now. I used to barely be able to walk a mile. Now I run 5Ks like nothing. I used to be afraid to leave the house because I'd have complete strangers laughing behind my back. Now I actually enjoy going out with friends. I didn't mean for this to get so "bloggy", but it's been pretty cathartic. I hope this can give someone a kick in the butt who needs it, and to know that it's not impossible, and it is worth it!