I am very proud to announce that I made the halfway mark today, 80 pounds lost, 80 more pounds to go. There are lots of photo's and reports on my personal blog about the journey.
It's wonderful. Here are the basic improvements:
1. I can breathe better, move easier and have more stamina in all that I do.
2. I finally recognized myself! At my top weight I could not see me at all in the mirror. It was very disturbing to feel so alienated by my own image.
3. Personal hygiene, the topic no one wants to admit to when obesity prevents the best attempts, but I can now say that is no longer an issue for me.
4. I can see the loss (it took a very long time before I could) and see the changes in my body shape.
5. Clothing is beginning to become an interest again. I have more choices than before. I have more selection than "what fits". Also, clothes feel better on, not restricting me or making me feel huge.
6. I no longer feel like a freak in public. It's not a statement against obesity, it is more about not having a good sense of self, I felt such embarrassment when my huge body would be knocking things over as I passed by, or fears that a chair would break, or that people felt the need to direct me to their sturdy furniture, how employers would look at me when I walked into an interview...the list is too long to go on about. For the first time in my diet journey, I feel as though I am on the "almost" normal side of obesity, that people are not as shocked or disgusted when I walk into a room. This is important to me as I try to find a sense of self again.
The down sides (because losing weight can have down side too) are:
1. I have lost a lot of my hair thickness. It is much thinner overall. Thankfully the hair loss has been slowing down. And yes, I have been faithfully taking my vitamins.
2. I have loose skin to deal with. Not pretty.
3. I will never look young again, and this messes with what I think my body will look like at goal. The last time I was at goal, I was in my late 30's, now I am 54.
4. Doctors love to harp on obese people that there will be improvements with a weight loss. Well, it has not changed the amount of pain in my hips from the arthritis, which he claimed would lessen with weight loss....NOT. And I am STILL pre-diabetic, if not full blown diabetic.
5. I still have urges to binge now and then. Even after a full year of dieting, the monster still raises his head when i least expect it.
Weight loss does not make problems go away or cure all medical issues, it may not even make a difference in relationships or make one look prettier. But what it has done for me at the midpoint is make me feel so much better, so much healthier and that all by itself is worth all the times I said no to eating and kept to my diet.
I am looking forward to what the next 80 pound loss will mean to me!
it is such a great accomplishment! 
way to go!
