[qwcsilvr]

Great advice and great job!

[Sameen]

Congratulations you look great! and you must feel great

[KeepLookinFwd]

Wow, how awesome are you!! What an inspiration! Great work! I can't even imagine how great you must feel

[Kalymarie]

Great Job!!

[derekmarc]

Thank you all for your compliments and encouragements but I have to confess that I am not a happy person on the inside. I've been overweight since I was probably 10 and it never helped me when it came to the ladies. I had a lot of embarrassing rejections in my school years that killed my confidence like you wouldn't believe and today even with the weight loss I don't feel attractive nor do I have self confidence or high self esteem. It's scary because when I was really overweight I told myself all I needed to do was lose the weight and it'd all go away but I did and I still feel like that guy in the before picture. It doesn't help that I have a "sensitive doer" personality. lol

But I'm not looking for pity just trying to let some stuff off my chest. Thanks.

[StephanieM]

I think a lot of us who have been overweight since we were younger have experienced the same thing.

What's helped me is really focussing on where I came from. It's such a positive thing to think about. Not everyone can lose as much weight as you have!

Your an inspiration, you have that to be proud of. Sometimes you have to pretend like you have confidence until it shows up.

100 lbs in a year is amazing, It's been almost a year for me since starting (10 months to be exact) this weight loss journey and I've only lost 33, granted I did take four months off where I gained a bit back.

[Liliann]

Keep up the great work...You are doing awesome!!

[luciddepths]

aww Derek! well you are a handsome guy! One thing that might help build confidence is sports

[derekmarc]

I play basketball every time I go to the gym. I'm a athletic guy but its my own self image problems that do me in.

[luciddepths]

i getcha. *HUG*!

[Natasha1534]

Lemme tell ya something that a wise wise woman once told me. Looks and confidence might be nice...but the one that can make you laugh will drop them drawers faster. LMFAO

And, this might be TMI...but I've found it to be very true. A sense of humor is WAY sexier than confidence!!!

[SeaWave]

You're an inspiration to people like me!

As far as confidence goes... I think we all face that at some point. When I'm confronted with my own fear, I use the 'fake it til you make it' approach -- I pretend! I add a healthy dose of 'if someone else can do it, so can I' to that. Might not work every time, but works better than I ever expect it to. And don't forget -- you've already succeeded at losing 100 lbs, something many people find difficult if not impossible to do. It's an accomplishment you can be proud of!

[ShiningStar05]

You look wonderful!!! It's funny because we really do make it more difficult than it really is. Like you said just take it day by day and be proactive.

[rrjs]

you look fantastic! something to be extremely proud of! very inspirational (:

[TIARA]

wow congrats.. i wish i could stay motivated through out the whole year to accomplish my own goal.. Or even stay focus for a whole month...You look great...