I was always pretty fit, physically, till I got a computer in 1998. Then, with only eyeballs and fingertips moving for hours every day, I began yoyoing. In 2001 I was at a "lower" weight of about 145, which on my 5'10 frame was usually estimated at 120.

Then I got married, to a man 14 years older and 120 lb heavier than me. Instead of continuing the more active pursuits I enjoyed, I became more of a computer-chair potato, always waiting for him to feel well enough to join me in more active activities. So in 10 years I packed on 75 lb (and he gained 50).

In 2010 my husband had a brain tumor removed; from there it was a three year decline, till he died, April 17 2013. From April to September I did nothing but sit in the house moping, eat fats and carbs, and drink - beer, wine, liqueurs.

By the beginning of 2014 I weighed 230. They say there's no way through grief but THROUGH it, and everyone deals with it in their own way, at their own pace. It took me ten months (or three and a half years, depending on how you look at it), and I've come out the other side.

The picture is me at 220 lb, yesterday February 17 2014.