Join me on a trip down memory lane… my weight loss journey throughout the years. Some of these stories and pics may be shocking. All of them are real.

The year is 1994. Behold, 14 year old Anne. This picture was taken in France, where I felt like the largest 14 year old (and typical fat American) the French had ever seen.

1999: I am pictured below with my high school boyfriend, Don. Our high school experience was this: skip school, eat McDonalds, smoke weed, drink, party, repeat. I barely graduated.

2000: After graduation I pretty much did lots of partying. In this next pic I was probably high on something, and getting up at 5am at someone else’s house to go directly to my first shift job (which I eventually got fired from) on 2 hours sleep. I had some luck with weight loss for about 3 months, and then I forgot that I cared about that and gained it all back, plus some.

2002: Look mom! I’m so coooool. I drink beer and I have money that I spend on beer and drugs! Let’s party!

2003: Here’s a shocking one. All the partying kind of caught up with me. I was depressed and lazy and couldn’t find a decent job. I’m at my highest weight in this pic: 238 (and there’s more of me hidden behind that wall!). Thanks, fourth meal!

2003: I’m pretty big here but at the time I didn’t care too much at this point. I frequently ate two big macs in one sitting.

2004: I decided to do something about it after Don (the high school bf) drove off into the sunset with his new girlfriend. I began to diet and exercise. I joined Weight Watchers. Eventually I was successful. I’m pictured below at about 180, with my cousin Lindsay.

2004: I got down to 142! I was SO thrilled to have lost so much weight in about a year. I was living with my cousin Jesse (pictured) and she endured me crying time after time about how frustrated I was. I was struggling to hold on to 142 with all my might. I tried not eating, I tried puking, I tried Overeaters Anonymous, I wrote down every morsel, I went out with friends and didn’t order anything, I binged all the time, and somehow, she was always there to listen and support. Looking back on it, thank God for Jesse reminding me that I’m normal and what I was feeling was okay and that I’m beautiful and loved no matter what. <3

2004: Woops, started gaining back already. I was really super-obsessed with losing weight, so much so that I dumped Julian (pictured) to ‘focus on my diet’. Yeah, really.

2005: Then I lost and gained over the next few years… down

2006: (pic-me and Kim trying on ‘Grandma clothes at Walmart’)… up

2007: Gaining a bit, but not enough to be too worried about it… (down? up? I stopped weighing myself, so I have no idea what I weighed in these)

2008: And gained more and more! Are you exhausted? I am!

2008: I began dating Tom in 2004 and he witnessed much of this yoyoing. He has been a wonderful support to me through all of it, loving me no matter what I weigh. He’s an amazing guy.

2008: My friend Kate made this purple dress for me for our friends wedding. When I saw it on the hanger when she was finished, I was in awe of how beautiful it was…  but I realized: That’s a LOT of fabric. Surely I’m not THAT big. I had to do something about it… But all I was doing was drowning it in drugs and alcohol.

2009: I FINALLY decided enough is enough and I started again. Only this time it was different. I wasn’t in it to ‘get skinny’ (thought that would be nice). I just wanted to be happy, and fit, and maybe run again. I quit drinking. I got a personal trainer. I surrounded myself with support. And I ran a marathon.

2010: Twitter helped me turn my life around. With encouragement from friends on Twitter and Dailymile, I lost nearly 100 lbs. I’m honest with you and I’m honest with myself. How much do I weigh? I don’t know. I don’t weigh myself anymore. But you can tell from the pictures below, I am HAPPY.

With my sisters Beth and Kim! I can hardly believe I can borrow clothes from them now :)

Finally fit into that LBD! Tom and I on our 5 year anniversary.

Here I am with my Twitter friends (note: I’m tweeting at a tweetup!)