What is success?

How do you measure success?  Do you compare yourself to who you were last decade?  Last year?  Last month? 

A decade ago I didn't know how to eat.  I didn't understand the symbiotic relationship between my body and my mind and engaged in very unhealthy eating practices.

A year ago (and some change) I was the heaviest I've ever been, 226.4 pounds.  I felt shameful that I was so huge, and so I started this journey.


A month ago my weight loss was again slowing down, but I was less than half a pound away from 165 pounds.

Most of weight loss is mental.  Eat less and exercise more is easy in theory, but you have to inspire yourself to not eat that delicious cookie and get to the gym in the morning.  This is a journey without specific beginnings and endings, so measuring your own success is sometimes hard.  Success breeds more success. 

Today I have lost over 55 pounds since my heaviest weight, and I am almost 5 pounds heavier than I was last month.  I have two options - considering myself a failure for not meeting my pound a week challenge so far this year and gaining 5 pounds, or a success for losing so much weight and having just 35 more pounds until my goal weight. 

I'm going to call it a success, and inspire myself to lose 1.5 pounds a week to get back on track.