For many years, my wife would tell me that she didn’t recognize the person she saw in old photos of me. She said that the person in the photos was not the man she married, and it seemed like that person (in the photos) was long gone. I felt that way, too. When I would look at old photos of myself, I looked at them with a sadness, thinking I would never again be so healthy and fit. Little did I know that at age 48, I would turn things around and get to be in better shape at 50 than I was at 30!

Now, she says she sees me in the old photos. The person in the pictures, who for many years didn’t seem like a real representation of who I was, now seems more familiar. She says that it’s taken a few years, but now she is used to the normal sized me. I’m finally used to it now, too, although I have to admit that from time to time, I still marvel at the fact that I’m back to a normal size. When I pull shirts out of the closet, I often think to myself, “This shirt is too small. There’s no way it’ll fit!” and then when I put it on and it fits perfectly, I’m reminded that I’m no longer 312 lbs.