Stephen: "Going to an amusement park with my kids for the first time in 15 years."

CJ: "And getting on the rides."

Steven: "And getting on a ride, a ride that I actually could sit in and not be embarrassed about sitting in the seat and, 'Oh, we can't seatbelt you in.' So that's a thing of the past. You know, sitting in a restaurant in a booth, at a booth table and not having to worry about sitting in, finding the chair tables, or being embarrassed by telling the waiter or the waitress, 'No, I can't sit there; I need to sit over here.'"

Teresa: "With me, flying for the first time in a long time, not having to ask for an extra seatbelt to put across me 'cause, I was very embarrassed about that. My last plane experience… getting on the plane, it was great. I had like this much room from the seatbelt and I was comfortable in the seat. I had two other people around me and it was a great feeling."

Karen: "I was also very embarrassed when I would fly because I would always be concerned about who the person was going to be that was sitting next to me, and what size they were gonna be. Because I knew if it was a person who had any size to them whatsoever that I would be hanging underneath, I would be squished underneath my seat… my hips would be. And I would be so concerned, you know, like with, with the arms coming down, that I would be touching that other person, and like, either bothering them or whatnot. So that was a great moment for me, the first time I flew and I actually sat in the seat, and I didn't touch either side of the… either side of the arms… and I clearly remember that day. Exactly. And I could cinch that buckle and pull that thing across, and it was just like, it felt great, it felt fantastic."

Steve: "I can relate to all of those, but even just something as easy as going to a movie and sitting down on the seat and, 'This is what it's like to have extra room on the sides,' you know, and being able to just sit down, and not having to sit down and back into the seat so that you get between the arms. But so, just little things like that… that you don't think about."

Melva: "I guess my appearance. I've always been a real outgoing person, but I was kind of hesitant about just going into social situations because of my size. I always felt like I was being judged based on how I looked, and going somewhere, and then actually being complimented and being told that they could see the outer me changing. And people actually accepting me now because of my size being a little smaller."

Teresa: "My kids love to play games. One of the big things with my kids is they always want to play Twister. Well, when Mommy was 266 pounds, Twister wasn't happening. And my little one and me are very close, and he couldn't understand why I couldn't play Twister. Now that I've lost all the weight, I can do anything with my children. Playing Twister is not a problem, I can get on the ground. I can sit Indian style and read a book to them. So life has changed for my children, you know, a lot, and I think, you know, I'm hoping they appreciate… appreciate spending the time with me, and, you know, it's great."

CJ: "My, my daughter is 13 and we're at that age she's, I mean she's, I'm tall, she's tall, and so with that age where she's borrowing clothes, and it just kind of amazes me. It's really nice to have that, you know, kind of something special with my daughter, that extra bond with her, so I'm really enjoying that."

Melva: "I remember making excuses to not do things... just when we would go on vacation. You know, we traveled a lot and incorporated a lot of things that had to do with a lot of activity, a lot of walking, hiking. And I remember him always asking me, you know, 'Let's do this,' and he had that look on his face 'cause he already knew my answer—I was gonna avoid it. And I think it brought us a lot closer, because now I'm able to, to fully participate and not just sit back and watch him or, you know, my family members. I actually participate with them now and look forward to it. And sometimes I'd leave them behind 'cause I'm moving too quickly, and that was something that I didn't do, you know, two years ago."

Karen: "Another thing that works well for me is if I'm having a couple days where I'm not doing real well, I can pull out a picture of myself at 300 pounds, and in one second I can glance at that and say, 'I don't want to feel like that again.'"

Teresa: "I think with me attitude-wise, when I was a lot bigger I didn't have the self-confidence. I was very negative. It was really hard. Now I have a great attitude. I wake up happy every morning smiling, and it's nice to know I have the day to look forward to, and I'm gonna be there with my kids and know that I'm gonna be here for a while with my children."