Triple digits...and I don't mean the weather!

Today has been a very emotional and very incredible day.  Over the past couple of weeks I've been slowly inching towards this huge milestone...at a pace that would irritate a turtle.  But someone must've had a chat with my scale about behaving and today it finally rewarded me with a number that I've been waiting for for a very long time.

How many girls do you know who will post a picture of their weight online!!! haha.  I've gotten over my shyness of it and now this is a number that makes me SO happy.  With this number on the scale, I have now lost 100.4 lbs total.  That's almost both of my daughters combined!!!  My mother heard me scream from upstairs as I realized I'd finally hit that milestone.  I'm glad someone was home to celebrate with me :)

My parents are in town visiting and they had promised me that if I hit 100 lbs before/during their stay...that my mom would take me shopping for new clothes (which I need...badly.  I'm rocking the homey G look for sure with all my baggy pants!)  So of course, that added to my excitement.  Who doesn't like new clothes?  Honestly...I never used to.  I always hated clothes shopping because it just made me feel fat and ugly and bad about myself.  But today it was just FUN!

Remember those jeans I bought myself when I passed 250 lbs and how I was so excited because they were a size 20?  Today I came home with all size 18's and even a size 16 skirt!!!  The girls at the store were probably thinking my mom and I were nuts hugging each other and giggling.  I was just so freaking happy.  My parents are amazing.  They have been so supportive through all of this and I am truly blessed to have them.  Though next time I need to gag my mother so she doesn't tell everyone we meet how much weight I've lost :P hahaha.

You know what else is cool?  I'm now "light enough" (HA!) that my husband walked up to me and picked me up the other day!  Just grabbed me and hoisted me up!  I was like WHOA!  PUT ME DOWN!  YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF!  I've never had a man pick me up before.  Ever.  And it scared the crap out of me.  And then it just became another thing that made me happy.  It's funny how the littlest things can feel like such a big deal when you've spent most of your life as big as I was.

I don't want to sound like some pretentious actor accepting an Oscar, but I really do have to thank people who have helped me to get this far and who I know will help me lose the rest of the weight that I have to lose. (100 lbs is great, but I still have a long way to go).  My amazing husband Nathan has sacrificed nonstop for this journey of mine.  He's suffered through the changes in my diet (and the contents of our fridge) and suffered through all my emotional ups and downs as the scale has fought me for every pound.  I am grateful to have a husband who encourages and supports me in this.  I love him so much.  Even my kids are adjusting to the health changes in our house and they've been such troopers!  My 13 year old has had to babysit his sisters more than he'd like to just so that I can go to the gym.  I should probably start paying him for that huh? haha.    My sisters have also been extremely supportive and have been my cheerleaders through all of this, but especially Heidi.  She is my own personal Jillian Michaels and without her help, I'd probably still be on that year long plateau.  She helped me figure out what needed to change and she pushed me when I didn't want to move forward anymore.  Thank you Heidi Goo :)

But honestly, the people who have helped me the most are my family of Jilly's Losers.  Especially Angie and Amy who have literally kept me in check every single day and picked me up when I fell off the wagon.  But the group as a whole....members past and present...is what has kept me from giving up and kept me reaching towards new goals.  I can only hope that I have helped them as much as they have helped me.  I never thought that starting a little weight loss group could make such a difference when I had tried every other diet in the world.  But it turned out to be the thing that flipped the switch in my brain and for almost 2 years now, the family I've made within...has been my inspiration.

I can hear the music playing to tell me my time is up, but there are so many people in my life who have played their role in this long, exhausting journey and that's overwhelming to me.  I never knew so many people cared.  It's very humbling.

Next goal...heading into One-derland.  I haven't been below 200 lbs since I first met my husband in 1999 and I would LOVE to be there again.  And I finally realize that it's possible and completely within my reach.  Man life is good!!!