A Weight Loss Milestone!

This week I hit a major milestone in my weight loss.  I have been working so incredibly hard in the last year to get back to a healthy weight after having my second daughter.  I have done this all before, and last time I worked just as hard for just as long.  The thing about this time around is that I was carrying a few extra pounds than last time when I started my journey.  I had fallen into some bad habits after an emotionally difficult year, and I am continuing to pay for that mistake.  But this week I hit a really big goal.  I have now lost of total of 40 pounds - the same amount of weight I had to lose last time I had a baby.  I can't believe how far I've come, and I am even finding that clothes I wore before I got pregnant are too big on me now.  I am only 15 pounds away from my end goal, and I have to say, I am incredibly proud of myself. 

I find it difficult to believe sometimes that I weighed over 200 pounds a year ago.  In this picture, I had just had my daughter weeks earlier, and was at an all time high in my weight (not including at the end of my pregnancy).  I felt like I was drowning in my own body.

I couldn't walk up the stairs without being winded.  I ate everything I saw.  I was low on confidence and self esteem.  One thing I did know though, was that I could lose it all.  I had done it before.  So as soon as my body had recuperated enough from giving birth, I got to work. 

Now, I can run.  Now I  can do high intensity cardio for thirty minutes, forty minutes, fifty minutes.  I can lift weights, walk long distances and run around with my kids without needing to sit and take a break.  I am not where I want to be just yet, but I have now hit that major milestone of forty pounds.  It's a really significant thing for me.  I lost the same amount of weight after my first pregnancy, and now that it's gone, I feel completely motivated to continue to push myself and get rid of the rest of it.  Here is a picture of me today, in my sweaty workout clothes, 40 pounds lighter.

I am incredibly pleased with what I see.  I no longer feel like I'm drowning in my body.  I feel like my body more represents who I am inside, and I am so excited to lose that last fifteen.  I think it's an awesome way to start a whole new decade - at a healthy weight and feeling great.  I totally stoked!