My 100 Pound Anniversary

Today is a pretty special day for me.

On September 22, 2006 I started a life changing journey. I stepped on the scale at 250 pounds and decided I’d had enough.

250

I was tired of being fat. I was tired of being unhealthy. I wanted a change. Less than two years later on August 10, 2008 I stepped on the scale at 150 pounds.

143

I had reached my goal of losing 100 pounds! It was one of the happiest days of my life. I’d been determined to lose the weight. I saw immediatel progress and that inspired me to keep trying to lose weight.

I had set backs. I experienced many plateaus in my journey. I clocked in too many hours to count at the gym. But I never regretted a single moment of it.

These two pictures were taken over the weekend. I wanted to update my “Fat Pants” photo. Those pants are a size 24W–the largest I ever wore.

Putting those old jeans on this weekend was awkward and weird. Not only that, I had Michael take the pictures of me. I felt vulnerable stepping back into those 24W pants. And it was weird for Michael to see them (for me). He never knew me at 250.

I am happy with my journey. I did not have surgery. I did not do fad diets. I did not join any “clubs” to lose weight. In retrospect, if I had struggled to lose weight I think I would have joined Weight Watchers for the support system.

But I did it all on my own. I counted calories religiously every day. I wrote them down by hand in a small notepad. Eventually I upgraded to an iPhone App that tracks my calories and exercise.

The day I weighed in 100 pounds lighter, Michael took me out to dinner to celebrate. I’d stopped eating pizza for almost 2 years (one of my trigger foods) and he took me to the best pizza place in Portland. That slice had never tasted better!

When I was 250 pounds, I NEVER thought I’d become an athlete.

• I ran my first 5K race (Run Like Hell) and the Shamrock Run (8K).

• Michael and I participated in the Reach the Beach bike ride. It was a joy to train for it. It was an exciting adventure the day of the race. And I completed 55 miles on my bike–even though my bike broke the last 10 miles!

• I wanted to challenge myself further. I joined a team for Hood To Coast (a 200 mile relay race). Hood to Coast is approaching fast and I’m excited to be a part of it. I’m excited that I am ABLE to participate!

Now, two years later, I am still weighing in at 150–100 pounds less. I’ve had some ups and downs in those two years, but I feel like I can confidently say, “I lost the weight and kept it off.”

My hope is that this blog and this post inspires other people to lose weight and get healthy.

Here’s to another year of weight loss! 🙂

Thanks for reading!

QUESTION: How are you going to change your life for the better?