(I posted this in the forums but I want to keep it here in my blog for posterity)

Well everyone...

I'm just realizing... my one year anniversary on Calorie King has come (and gone, it was actually 4 days ago!). What a year!

If you had asked me a year ago today whether I thought I would still be kicking around this website and whether or not I would have lost as much weight as I have by today (and kept it off) I would have laughed and said "No way".

Well here I am!

In these past 12 months I have:
- lost EIGHTY pounds
- lost TEN inches from my waist, TWELVE inches from my hips, ELEVEN inches from my chest and SEVEN inches from each thigh
- Gone from well into the OBESE BMI range (35) to within the NORMAL BMI range (23)
- Gone from not being able to run at all to being able to run 10K in under 55 minutes
- Gone from couch potato mentality to exercise lover!
- Gone from a size 16/18 to a size 6/8
- Gone from wearing XL tops to XS tops
- Moved from using food as my first way of comforting/rewarding myself to instead using people or exercise as my comfort/reward
- Increased my flexibility ten fold: I can now sit in lightning pose or child's pose and have my butt touch my heels, fully grasp my feet with a forward bend, and have no problem performing back bends

It has been an incredible year. Thanks to ALL OF YOU who have been here for all or part of my journey. It has been a true pleasure and blessing to go this path with each of you, even if just electronically.

I have been a "big girl" my entire adult life. It had gotten to the point where I dreamed of being thin, wished for it so terribly much, but had almost resigned myself to it never happening.

What a great joy to prove that self-deprecating voice WRONG!

Each of us has the power and ability to lose the weight if we are only willing to put our "future better self" at the top of our priority lists.

If I can do this, so can you!

Thanks everyone! Here's to another great year!!!

A year from now I plan to be posting another heart felt message about how I've maintained the weight... keep an eye out for it next September.