Here's The Skinny Part 2

Last time we talked, I left off with the cliffhanger of a lifetime. It had been a month since I quit drinking alcohol and started my sugarless dit. I stepped on to the scale and was pretty much astounded. I had weighed as much as 315 pounds...I now weight almost 280. For those non-math majors, that's 25 pounds. I on' know what took over me, but from that point on, I was sold and I was hooked.

The days stated flying by, along with the pounds. I had a trip planned to Las Vegas with some friends in March and my goal was to weigh 250 pounds by the time we got on the plane. Lofty goal, considering I only had a month and a half to get there. But, that was the goal I set for myself and I started to visualize it coming true. February finished and we got on the plane out to Vegas...and I weighed 265 pounds. I hadn't reached my goal, but I ad lost almost 50 pounds in just over 2 months. For whatever reason, I wasn't satisfied.

I went on the trip, enjoyed myself (sometimes a little bit too much), and when I got home, I got right back on the weight-loss train.

To cut a long story short, after 9 long months of alcoholessness and nearly no sugar, I hit my first true goal: I had lost over 100 pounds. I weight 215 pounds.

You don't know the true feeling of redemption and validity until you truly accomplish something that you never thought was possible. Never in a million years did I think that what I had done was even possible. If you had told me in November of 2009 that within the next year, I would weigh less than I EVER weighed in high school, A) I'd probably have been too drunk to comprehend that statement and B) if I had been able to process those numbers, I'd have told you that you were an idiot.

I sit here now, reminiscing about the self control, patience, discipline, and oftentimes feelings of weakness and wanting to give up that it took to make a complete 180 degree lifestyle change on the snap of my fingers. And like I had said before, I have never considered myself to be an inspiring person. But thinking about the 100% life change that I have progressed through over the last year and a half...it astounds even me.

I don't write this to "toot my own horn". I don't write this to show off. I don't write this to gain your respect or your admiration. I write this to just pass the message along to someone, anyone, that you can truly do anything that you set your mind to. If you want something bad enough, work at it, commit to it, and BELIEVE in your cause and yourself, you can make anything happen. Take it from me, it won't be easy, it will be painful at points and you'll have to make sacrifices that you never imagined. But, if it's worth it to you to think about making changes, all of those things will be worth it in the long run.

Be thankful for what you have, the people that have supported you along the way, and that each day, you get to wake up and choose the way you want to life your life. And, as always:

Peace Be The Journey.