3 years - 100lbs

In October 2011, in a desperate effort to change our lives, my husband and I made our first attempt at getting weight loss surgery. We all know that didn't work out, but that's not the reason I'm bringing it up. I'm bringing it up because on that day I weighed in at 374lbs.

Three hundred and seventy four pounds - just in case it wasn't clear.

I'm not proud of that fact, not at all. I'd let my weight get out of control and gained 75lbs in a little over a year. I was tired, feeling sick and knew my life was in danger.

Today - just a little over 3 years later - I weighed in at 101lbs less than that weight. It wasn't my highest weight (that was actually closer to 380 in November of 2009), but this is my largest weight loss ever.

I think the part of it that feels the most surreal is that as long as I don't totally screw things up, I'll never have to lose those 101lbs again. They are gone, evicted, destroyed and will not be missed.

I still have quite a long way to go (ideally another 100, give or take), but it feels like a pretty awesome milestone nonetheless.

Since my losses haven't been as epic as I'd expected (okay, so 41lbs in 8 weeks isn't anything to sneeze at, but still), I'm trying to step back and celebrate where I can. Since I still haven't gotten my hands on a measuring tape, this seemed like a fun one to celebrate.

And because I like visual reminders - here's one to show me how far I've come, how much I needed this and that I may actually be in new territory. That picture on the far left was the goal I was working toward in 2009 and I think I've gotten there. I have no idea what comes after this and that's both exciting and absolutely terrifying.