I love when people see me after a long period of time. I really do. The reactions that I get when people realize how much I have changed over the years while losing 240+ pounds is great, and it makes me feel proud of what I have accomplished.

But one thing that I find myself saying time and time again is that my wife is not the reason. You see, the bulk of my change has happened since we have been married, almost 2 years ago. Naturally, a lot of people make a correlation between the two events, and I suppose that’s fair. But what people forget is that I did lose 100 pounds years ago before we started dating, and during the beginning of our relationship.

I love that my wife has been with me for almost all of my weight loss over the past 4.5 years, but one thing definitely should be made clear. She didn’t make me lose weight. If I hadn’t any interest in losing weight, it wouldn’t matter how much she tried, I would find a way to binge on unhealthy food just like I used to do. While we were dating, there were many times when I dropped her off at home, and then went to the store to buy a bag of chips on the drive home, or stopped at Mcdonalds to get a meal as a “snack”. The drive from her place to mine was an hour long, and I always used to go pick up something to eat on that drive.

Over the past almost two years of marriage, if I had wanted to continue that trend, I guarantee that I would have. There’s nothing that would have stopped me from eating whatever I wanted at work, or sneaking food wherever I could.

I made the change in my life because I wanted to do it for me, and that’s that.

She doesn’t count calories for me every day, or make me stop eating at certain times, or get mad at me when I eat something unhealthy.

Do you know why? It’s because she loves me.

She loves me for who I am and what I was, and am now. Of course she wants me to be healthy, but she wants me to be happy as well. She is proud of my accomplishments and encourages me every day. She makes delicious and healthy meals for dinner, but she also makes incredibly calorie heavy and mind-blowing desserts and snacks too. She’s quite the baker. She wants me to enjoy life and have wonderful things to eat, and sometimes that means we have candy for dinner.

She doesn’t restrict me in the things I eat, and often even has to encourage me to be unhealthy once in awhile. I love her for that because it keeps me grounded. I know that I am the one putting restrictions on myself, and she sees that day in and day out. She knows that I am the one weighing my food and measuring things that she makes just so that I can continue losing weight. She is also the one who tells me to go eat ice cream, or to have another piece of the delicious baking she has just made.

I’d say she plays the role of healthy provider vs unhealthy temptress quite well!

I lose weight because I have finally made the life change that makes it so. I want to be healthy for her and our future children. I want to look good, and I want to feel good. I love my wife and am grateful for all that she does for me, and I would like to make sure I get to spend a long time with her.

But change will never truly happen unless you do it for yourself, because you want to.