Looking Back

I know that it is not always healthy to look to the past, but sometimes I like to do it in order to remember how far I have come.  I find when looking at this picture, although not even my heaviest, I am filled with both pain and pride.

The pain comes from a place filled with years of not taking care of myself, trying one fad diet after another and not realizing how unhappy I was in my own skin.  However, there is also a lot of pride in the changes I made, the hard work I have given to this journey and the things I have accomplished.

As I return my focus to the path I laid out those years ago, I felt a quick look back would be good.

This is a picture of me after losing approximately 40 pounds in 2007.  I gained a bit of that back before starting this journey in 2008.   At my heaviest, non pregnant weight, I was 315.  Although it fluctuates, I am approximately 130 pounds less than that now.