Introduction

My New Year’s resolution, like over half the population, is usually to eat better and exercise. In 2006 I started my resolution a couple months late, but it was the first time I ever kept it.

On 12/31/05 my two best friends announced their engagement. A short time later I was asked to be a bridesmaid. The thought of walking down the aisle in a dress at my current weight mortified me. I was also on the verge of a weight related health crisis (infected gland). Without a lot of thought, I set my alarm one night for twenty minutes earlier than usual. I got up in the morning and took a walk. I ate a piece of plain toast and fruit for breakfast instead of cereal or a poptart. For lunch I had salad and fruit, and dinner was chicken and vegetables. Without a lot of thought or planning, I was changing the way I lived my life. I stopped heading toward the Burger King drive-thru after work. I grabbed a banana for an evening snack instead of five handfuls of potato chips. I took a walk whenever I felt my mouth watering for something chocolate. I was not on a diet. I told myself, and everyone around me, that I was not on a diet – I was changing my lifestyle. I was being healthy. I was going to lose weight before my friends wedding.

I had not weighed myself in years. I was astonished by the number I saw when I finally stepped on the scale, but I opened a blank Word document and typed it and the date at the top – 258 pounds. Every few days I weighed myself and recorded the date and number. I counted the months to the wedding, and once I knew how many pounds I could average a week, I set monthly goals for myself.

After one month I had lost 8 pounds. Two months passed and I had lost 16. I managed to maintain an average of 2 pounds a week by walking for 20 minutes a day and sticking to a sensible diet of fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish, whole grains and water. I ate yogurt instead of dessert with my lunch. Raisins and almonds became a delicious, healthy snack. After three months I added 10 minutes to my morning walk. June arrived and I had lost 30 pounds. I was starting to get comments, and I had gone from a size 24/22 to a snug 16.

Every year, I always wanted to be thin for my birthday. I wanted to look and feel good while celebrating another birthday. With November looming, I added fifteen minutes onto my morning walks and started taking a second, shorter walk in the evenings. I lifted weights a few times a week and added other aerobics from time to time. By my 26th birthday I had lost 70 pounds and could wear a size 14.

The holidays were a dreaded time. I had lost close to 80 pounds by Christmas, but I knew it was going to be hard not to overeat. I increased my morning walk to 60 minutes and tried to average 30 minutes in the evening. Between Christmas and the middle of January I only lost a couple pounds, but by the end of February I had lost 90 pounds.

My friends’ wedding date was getting closer. I wanted to have lost 100 pounds by the wedding, and on March 24th, the day of the bridal shower, I had reached my goal. I was wearing size 10 jeans and weighed 158 pounds. It was rough to continue losing with all of the wedding activities and the food/drinking that went with them, but by the day of the wedding I was down to 153 pounds.

Standing on the altar with my friends was a celebration of their relationship and future together, but for me it was also a celebration of 12 months of hard work. I was 100 pounds less of a person than I had been 1 year ago, but so much more whole than sI had ever been. I felt good, confident, and happy. I was overjoyed for my friends, for their new marriage, for their friendship – and for giving me the motivation to be healthier and happier.

Although I can say I’ve lost 100 pounds, every day is a struggle to keep that off and continue toward my ultimate goal.