My pas t struggles

I thought it might be worth mentioning that in my earlier years, I really struggled with my weight. I want people reading these posts to know that what I'm doing isn't something that I will be able to maintain for life. It's a challenge for me and a goal I want to reach just for my own satisfaction. You can't live your life happily on a diet such as the one I am currently on.
I grew up thinking I was fat and ugly. I'm not sure where that came from, but I vividly remember hating my body and wishing I could have any other body than my own. Food became a comfort to me rather than a necessity and it only got worse as I grew older and became a victim of peer pressure and all the advertisements out there saying "thin was in." I've been as big as 160 (not pregnant) and as small as 100lbs (I had a bad drug problem way back when, but that's a whole other story that I may or may not tell) and everywhere in between. I wore big baggy sweatshirts and other clothes to hide my body and only dressed up when I felt I was thin enough to look halfway decent. I would diet and exercise to extremes only to end up over eating and having awful feelings of guilt and hatred toward myself. It was not a fun life to live.
It wasn't til I met my husband that I began having a better relationship with myself and learned to love myself. My husband is one of those guys where what you see is what you get. He's honest with all his being, so when he said he loved me, I believed it and my struggle with weight became less and less. Over the last 10 years, I have learned to like my body, to make changes where it is realistic and be accepting where I can't make changes. There are still days where I can pick myself apart, but I try to limit those days and laugh it off. Nobody is perfect.
These days, I exercise so I can have a healthy heart and strong bones and muscles. It's such a wonderful feeling to be strong. I love that I can run up the stairs with my son in my arms or lift a big case of bottled water at Costco with little effort. It's simply a bonus that I fit in smaller clothes and look better in the mirror.
So, there was a little hesitation when I decided to do this competition because it meant going to extremes and pushing my body beyond what is healthy and normal. I don't recommend this kind of diet for someone struggling with body issues because I believe it will just make it worse. It's only because I have a healthier body image and lifestyle that I'm willing to take on this challenge.