See that girl up there? Yep, that was me, just last year.

This picture was taken the day my mom and I joined Weight Watchers (read last week’s post).  I was at my heaviest and to say that my weight was out of control would be an extreme understatement.  As soon as we came home from our first meeting I asked my mom to take a picture of me.  I knew that in the future I would want to look at this picture to remember where I had been.

When at my heaviest I never allowed full length pictures to be taken of me; I never wanted to admit that I was as big as the pictures showed. When you are that overweight your mind plays tricks on you.  I’d see a picture of myself and I would pretend it was just a bad angle or that I was having a bad picture day.  I would actually delete any picture that made me look….well life-like.

With each season’s  change,  instead of trying on last years clothes, I would just buy new ones.  I allowed myself to get bigger and bigger while making excuses for it or pretending it wasn’t happening.  Along with my denial, I feel that my outgoing personality held me back.  Instead making changes to my lifestyle, I would make light of it or even joke about it.  While my high self esteem never wavered at this weight, it definitely made me more comfortable than I should have been which allowed my weight to continue to climb.

When I finally took the first step of getting healthy I had to take a long hard look at myself.  What was I doing to be this weight?  What obstacles were in my way that needed to be removed? What were my excuses that were keeping me overweight? Only after being honest with myself could I truly make the needed changes.

Two BIG changes needed to happen in order for me to lose weight; I had to eat less and exercise more.  Not one or the other or just a little of both but instead a full fledged decision to make healthier choices throughout the day.  Instead of sitting on the couch I got up and moved.  Instead of eating the plate of spaghetti, I chose to instead eat a lean protein with lots of veggies.  Each healthy choice that I made made me stronger both inside and out.

Today, I’m down 95 pounds and still going strong.  I have much more to lose but I’m excited to see what more my body can do.  I hope you stick around and continue with me on my weight loss journey and perhaps start your own.  I’d love to continue to lose with you and hear your own story.

Feel free to leave a comment below!