First, congratulations. Second, and you have to see this coming, talk to us in ten years. Twenty. Thirty. Because losing is the easy part. I dumped 85 lbs 36 years ago. Losing it was easy-peasy by comparison to the daily, second to second, minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day etc. negotiation we have with our bodies, our hunger, our compulsions and all the messaging pushed at us. I am not taking away from your achievement. Not at all. I am just weary of hearing about 100 lb weight losses, and within a few months that person no longer posts. I already know why. The failure rate is close to 100%.

I don't want you to fail. We don't have this in hand and handled...EVER. That's the lie. Losing it was so damned easy compared to 36 years of keeping it off. Nobody wants to discuss that part, which is why I do. I've done it and it effing sucks how hard it is. If someone says all you gotta do is, walk away.

I'm one of the 1%. That's not arrogance. It is hard damned work, and I invite you to set the example. You will have to deal with a changing, aging body, the results of whatever dieting and bad food did to your organs (we all deal with that), and the simple fact that as we age, our bodies need less food. We have to adapt, and that usually means less food, more fasting, and more adaptations that we likely don't much like.

I celebrate your achievement. Talk to us in a year, five, ten and twenty. We're never done on this journey. It really is forever and we aren't there until our ticket gets punched. I wish you every bit of fortune and fortitude.