(click image to see bigger pic)

"In the summer of 2009, I weighed 197 lbs. I was sickened by myself. My doctor diagnosed me with PCOS. He told me I needed to lose weight. In the winter, I took a semester off school to travel. When I came home, I had dropped to 178 lbs unintentionally. My weight loss had begun. From there on, it's been a slow journey. I plateaued every 5-10 lbs and it's tough. I spent too much time worrying about the number on the scale and I knew that I needed to stop. I never realized that the hardest part of losing weight would be gaining acceptance with your body. Looking in the mirror, I still can't see a big difference. I get complimented on and I feel 'normal' but the problem lies in the years that my self-esteem took a beating.
Sure, the weight loss has helped but self-love seems to be a bigger struggle. I know that the fact I lost weight so slowly helped me become more comfortable with my body but sometimes I still feel like an alien. I can only hope that eventually I'll come to a place where I'm happy with myself inside and out. But for now, I'm definitely grateful that I managed to come as far as I did."