The Before

I have been heavy the majority of my life - I have been under 160 pounds twice since age 13: once in high school, during a serious battle with disordered eating, and also during the summer I finished colleged, during an incredibly toxic relationship. Neither were the result of healthy lifestyle changes, improved self esteem, or exercise.

In the first year I lived with my now-husband, I gained about 10 pounds. When we got married, I weighed 185. In the next two months, I was super-stressed, working two jobs, and eating out all the time. We went on vacation to Texas, and ate whatever we wanted. The pictures from that vacation were the beginning of a wake up call, and I started to change some small eating habits. Work became better, and I was able to quit my second job. However, the big wakeup call came in September, when I weighed myself on a work scale on a whim. The total: 199.5. Wow. I went to my first yoga class that night.

Since then, regular Cokes, weekly fried food, and frozen pizza have been eliminated from my diet; greek yogurt, fruit, and even veggies have made their way in. I've run 7 5k races, do yoga at least weekly, and have gone done from a snug size 16 to a 10 (in everything but Lilly and J Crew - that's a 12). But I still have a way to go. I haven't seen 150 since maybe 2003. I'd like to see it again, and stay there.