I live in the southern US and am an "over-50" spouse of a guy who works in health sciences. We have 3 canine fur-babies.

Up until the spring of 2010, I'd been sticking my head in the sand, not fully acknowledging how much weight I'd truly gained. My weight was somewhere over 235. My mental image of myself was still at about 130-140 pounds and I did not recognize the fat lady in the mirror. I hadn't faced the facts of what I needed to do to drop the weight and keep it off. It truly had to be a life change.

When I began this journey, I began on Atkins. As I've progressed, I'd say my "diet" is now better described as "low carb, with an Atkins foundation."

For 2010, I lost 55 pounds in just under 40 weeks on Atkins. When I began this WOE, I weighed 235 pounds. At the end of 2010, I weighed 180.

For 2011, I began with a weight of 180 pounds and lost 25 pounds, bringing my weight down to 155 pounds, a healthy BMI.

For 2012, I began with a weight of 155 pounds and achieved my goal weight of 145 on July 11, 2012.

For 2013, I discovered that Maintenance wasn't easy!

For 2014, I tried to hone my Maintenance skills and attitude, fully intending to achieve my goal weight again. I came within 3 pounds of it.

For 2015, beginning in May, I need to get back into control and undo the damage of late 2014 and early 2015. I have over 30 pounds to lose. I haven't abandoned low carb, but I've certainly taken too many liberties with it.

The journey began on March 28, 2010...2 years, 15 weeks and a few days later I made my weight loss goal. That breaks down to 90 pounds in 119 weeks.....or .7563-lb/week.....or 39.33 lbs/year......or 3.28 lbs/month. I lost approximately 40% of my original starting weight (I began at slightly over 235 and there was a scale change mid-journey that indicated my starting weight was higher than I thought).