40 Pounds of Basset Hounds...

As of the end of January, I hit 40 pounds lost!

I finally have momentum going and that is exciting. I'm slipping into jeans I havent worn in years and piling up my "fat clothes" to go to Goodwill.  But the MOST exciting part is that I can see the difference in pictures and my friends and coworkers are noticing, too.

I absolutely loooove a good before/after photo... so here are a few!

Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of me at my heaviest (more on that in the next blog...).
But here is one from my sisters wedding in 2011.

And October 2012, after I lost 25 pounds....

And in January 2013 after losing 40 pounds....

[Note: I need to prepare for my weight loss photos better instead of taking them when I'm headed out the door for a run.  I'm wearing no makeup and have crazy hair...hence the headless horseman photos. ]

 But hopefully, dear reader, you get the point. 40 pounds... gone! 

I got to thinking...just how much is 40 pounds? What does it equate to? I did the research, blog readers!

That super morbidly obese fat cat from Sante, Fe New Mexico is 40 pounds!

An average sized 5 year old! I carried a 5 year old around for years. (Whoa.)

 4 - 10 pound bags of potatoes.  That's just math, people :)

Okay, this one is better.
An average sized basset hound...Imagine this little guy on my back, day in and day out. Pretty adorbs if he's in one of those baby snuggie things... but also, pretty exhausting!

TWO car tires.  That gives new meaning to the term "spare tire,"doesn't it? 

This crazy big fish also weighs 40 pounds!  Less cute than the basset hound.

Imagine that strapped to my middle! (Stinky.)

One of those huge 5 gallon jugs of water!  Have you ever lifted one of those? 

And finally, this 40 pound dumbell weighs 40 pounds! duh.

The day I hit 40 pounds lost, my trainer had me do 40 squats holding this 40 pound dumbell.
I dont think I'll ever forget how heavy that weight was... or how TIRED my legs were as I did squat after squat! I started complaining that I couldn't do it... I was too tired.

My trainer said something that I'll never forget.

"You don't stop when you're tired. You stop when you're done."

40 pounds lost.  40 to go.

I'm tired, but I'm not stopping.  I'll stop when I'm done...

Humble Beginnings

Every story has a beginning. This is mine.  I was 32, and more or less, a couch potato. I've always carried an extra 30-40 pounds but it didn't bother me (much). Sure, I would secretly day dream about wearing a bikini, but I wasnt unhappy. Then, in 2010, I gained almost 50 pounds in under a year. Suddenly, I was closer to 100 pounds overweight, tired and completely miserable. 

Determined to slim down, early in 2011, I joined Weight Watchers and started exercising. Month after month, I was devastated to see that I wasn't losing any weight... in fact, I was still gaining! After seeing a dozen doctors, I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that makes weight loss very difficult. I was started on thyroid medication and over the next 12 months, I only lost 12 pounds.

Frustrated, in June of 2012, I fired my endocrinologist and got a new doctor. She increased my medication and FINALLY, I'm losing weight!   I've lost 19 pounds and I'm feeling better than ever. But, I need to lose a lot more to get into that bikini I've been dreaming of.    

So, last month, when my friend Amanda mentioned training for a triathlon, I said YES without hesitating. I believe the training will help me shed the weight and give me a concrete goal.

I have 9 months.  What have I gotten myself into...?