With book release right around the corner, there are multiple new delights and surprises on my plate.  

For example,  I've gotten emails from healthy living seekers from all over the world who are excited about and have just pre-ordered Journey.  

This week pre-orders have come in from Jakarta, Indonesia and nurse from Estonia!  (I know, I had to look it up too!)

On to today's topic...

If we've known eachother for some time, you know that my weight was a longtime struggle for me.

As someone genetically predispositioned to easily gain and have trouble losing weight, I have paid my dues with decades of wild weight fluctuations and  dietary acrobatics.

You also know that all this changed almost twenty years ago when I dove into synchronizing the three pillars that form the core of my success.

In truth, in the first photo in the photo history above, dated 1998, I was already down about fifteen pounds from my high weight of 189.5.

 
Yet often when I meet people today, they tell me they find it hard to believe that I ever had a weight problem.

Once we engage in conversation, or they read the My Journey chapter from The Plant-Based Journey, or more about my story in Fit Quickies, or in the article My McDougall Diet Failure,  we form an instant connection.

Another way to connect personal weight-challenge histories has been through the photo history (above) that has been a longtime reference point on this website.

Yet Jill’s email today (read her letter  in the full article here) pointed out to me that this photo history is not easily found in this latest incarnation of my website.

As a matter of fact, when I went to find a link to the photos to send Jill, I couldn’t find one and simply attached the images to my email reply.

That is what inspired me to republish these photos today.

And to sit down and talk with you about it.

Jill’s letter is the third of three events that synchronized this week that have given rise to our conversation here today.

The common theme of these events – sustainability when it comes to weight loss – hit me over the head like a ton of bricks, though it took me a few days to see it....