In 2009, at 22 years old, I weighed 205 lbs.  (As reference, I'm 5'6").  I was a size 18 (ish).  I was in a very unhealthy abusive relationship.  I was in a brand new city with absolutely no friends close by.  I was completely stuck.  There was no such thing as progression in my life.  It felt like every day was just another step, on a very autopilot destination to "somewhere else" though I had no idea where that somewhere else was.
On July 31st, I wrote a blog about a new "fad diet" my coworker was doing, that I decided "well why the hell not".  The diet was called HCG, and basically consisted of a mind blowingly low caloric intake (500 calories a day.... a DAY!).  It was a tough battle, but of course being on that restriction made it so I lost weight.  Drastic weight.  In about 51 days of that diet, I was transformed to 155 lbs.  (Might it also be noted that I weighed 193 when I started, as I'd managed to drop about 10 lbs on my own just by not eating out for a few months previous when I was buying my house.)  I was a size 10.  I hadn't been a size 10 even in high school.  This was the "smallest" I'd ever been since most likely junior high or even elementary school.
Five years later, I'm finding I'm still healing my body along with my soul.  I've had a very poor body image my entire life, and I've been putting a lot of work into reversing that over the past five years.  Today I hoover around 140 lbs (though honestly I try to not weigh myself as I go off of how fit I am, and how my body feels) and a size 6.  I do a lot of yoga.  All of the hobbies I've adopted are pretty physical in nature (try seeing how hungry you get after an entire day of snowboarding, or after biking for 30 miles).  I am living my life so colorfully.  I don't have to say no to trips climbing or kayaking because my body just isn't capable.  I'm able to say yes to so much "living".  It completely blows my mind when I look back on where I was, and can appreciate where I am today.  If I was able to turn my life around when I was in a place of such darkness, it makes me stoked to see what I can accomplish when I'm in such a healthier spot.
Five years ago I decided to take a shot at taking my life in a new direction.  Five years ago, my life was changed completely.