I won’t rest here for long. Sure there may be a celebration in my future, one that I will keep private and under wraps and you will never hear about again on the pages of this Web site. Why? Because I’m not done. I’ve got 30 pounds left to lose, and that is non-negotiable.

When I return to you on Monday, I might have more to say about this milestone, and I will definitely have more to say about my approach to 240. That’s the new 100 pounds, and that’s not going to take 796 days to reach.

But still, I’ll bask in the glow of this for just a little while.

When my accomplishment finally sunk in late Thursday night, I couldn’t help but to go through my old fat pictures, along with the photos I’ve taken as I’ve lost weight. There is a stark difference between that Dan and this Dan. And while I marveled over the before-and-after, I couldn’t actually take them seriously. I couldn’t imagine that it was the same person.

Technically, it is. Not much has changed as drastically as my weight. But the shedding of the weight itself is change enough. It is proof of commitment and want. It is material evidence of growing up and inching closer to becoming the man I want to be.

There was one picture that I’ll always remember. It is of my friend Jill and I at a bar in Detroit right before I began the 100 Days. There’s Jill, beautifully dressed for the Midwest winters, a bright smile with glowing skin. She’s got my hand around her shoulders, and I am resting my cheek against her head. I am smiling too, but my mouth is engulfed in fat. My double chin forms a horseshoe around my face, all the way up to my eyes.

I am wearing my gray button-up shirt because it was one of two that fit me back then. Most of this photo is taken up by my mass. The shirt is a never-ending blanket of material, not worn, but draped over a mushy lump of man.

I am at least three times Jill’s size. The distance from my back to the tip of my stomach easily reaches three feet. I look like zookeepers should be throwing me fish during feeding time.

I am drunk, but I know I wasn’t happy. I know I looked at Jill back then and knew that there was no way a woman like that could ever go for a man like me. Jill had a boyfriend back then, and they are married now. I had a weight problem back then, and I am on my way to eliminating it.

But I look at that photo and I know that version of me is dead. Instead I am here, 800 days later, 100 pounds lighter, a new man looking to change just one more time.