The Weight Loss Journey In Pictures

This is me in August 2005. I get disgusted with myself every time I see this picture. It was taken at the Housewarming Party that my sister gave me when I moved to New Hope. This picture can tell 1,000 stories. For one thing, you can tell by my smile that I was not very happy with myself. Also, I was having a terrible hair crisis. But what hairstyle is going to look good on a face that twice the size it should be? You can't see my shoes in this picture, but I remember the exact ones that I had on. They were terribly ugly, but wonderfully comfortable... and when you're carrying around that much weight, comfort is the number one priority, and yet nearly impossible to find. Comfortable shoes are a non-issue now.
This one was taken in November 2006, close to Thanksgiving. We were at my aunt and uncle's house having a family portrait made. At this point, I had lost around 45 pounds. When I bought that dress, everyone referred to it as my "hott mama" dress. And it was at the time. It no longer fits...
Me and Becky this past Christmas. A loss of 50 pounds. Size 16. At this point you can tell that my smile is brighter, and my hair looks better. I had way more self confidence and much cuter clothes and shoes by this time.
Me and Becky again. This was taken in February of this year at Katie's Sweetheart Pageant. The shirt is a medium (vs. X-L), and the jeans I had on are size 14. This was the night that Becky's father-in-law told her mother-in-law that Ex was stupid for letting me go and even more stupid for not having begged me back by now. That was funny.
And this is me just last week. 75 pounds later. Those are the jeans that I bought just before I lost the first pound. They are a size 20. I'm still wearing the size 14's, but a few more pounds and I will be trading those in for size 12's. In the top picture, I probably weighed about 245 pounds! I'm not at all sure how I ever let myself get to that size, but that's where I was. In this picture, I weigh 170 pounds. Twenty-five more pounds will be a total loss of 100 pounds, and then I'll be searching plastic surgeons for a tummy tuck!

It's amazing the things that you don't think about when loosing that much weight. This weekend my parents took me on a mini-shopping spree. I no longer had the "staples" of a wardrobe. I got a new pair of denim shorts and a new plain white shirt. Those are both things that everyone needs, and I found myself without them. I got several more shirts of various colors and styles, a new outfit to go walking in, and a new swimsuit. Also, I got a new pair of tennis shoes. The pair that I had were too big. I bought them 75 pounds ago, and had to buy them to fit the width of my foot, not the length. Since my foot doesn't spread as much now, those were much too big. Also, I've recently had to buy new panties and a new slip because the ones I had were too big. I knew the day was coming for the panties, but the need for new slip was a surprise. It made for an interesting morning when the elastic wouldn't hold up my slip! My wrists have shrunk. My favorite bracelet is way too big now. Also, the size of my fingers has shrank as well. The one ring that I wear all the time flies off my finger if I'm not careful. When I got the ring, I wore in the ring finger of my right hand. Several months ago, I had to move it to my bird finger. Now it's beginning to slip and slide on that finger as well. My favorite part of the whole thing is going shopping. I now get to shop in parts of the store that I haven't seen in years, and everything fits and most of it looks great on me. I can't wait to see what the next 25 pounds does for me!!!