Wheelchair to 1/2 marathon PLUS 1 year of weight lifting

Marie_25

Amazing!! Well done, you are an inspiration. xx

Andrea681

You are amazing!

SaLandrum

You are an Amazing Woman!
One day soon I want to be able to say I did it too!
Thanks for the inspiration!

hap2010

You have an amazing story. You should be an inspiration to many.

marathonmom72

WOW! You look amazing and have overcome incredible odds...great work!

missyfarr

Wow!! What else can I say! Wonderful for you and also the inspiration you are to so many others!! Kudos!!

acastro1574

Truly inspiring, here I am complaining because I only lost one pound in two weeks then I come across your post..I realized I shouldn't complain, other people have it 100 times harder than me and even then they still succeed. Great job, thanks for posting.

m_wilh

I loved reading your story! You look marvelous, my dear. Thanks for sharing!

HotMummyMission

Amazing xx

Serah87

AWESOME!!!!! :flowerforyou:

nikke25

to say you rock is an understatement. I am going to think about you every time I dont feel like working out or get lazy. Thanks for posting

tidesong

You are absolutely amazing. What an incredible, motivational, and uplifting story!

melinda200208

You are such an insperating!!! Amazing!! Thank you for sharing with us!!!

katnord

You are amazing! Your story is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

roran88

As I sit here with one foot in a cast and the other in a brace, I can say that I can relate! You are an inspiration to me that I can and will meet my goals and overcome obstacles. Thanks for posting!

MizCJ84

I love stories like this. It shows me how truly lazy and full of excuses I can be. I need to remind myself that you could barely walk, but you did it anyway. I can walk just fine, so I have no excuses. Thank you for sending such a powerful message. BTW, you look amazing!

DoctorsaubeR

You totally rule.

zumbajheri

Incredible story, many congrats to you Joy!

RM10003

So impressive! I've been trying to teach myself to run, and I need reminders that I can do it (gee, thanks coworker who told me "we're too old"), so thank you for the inspiration!

rosarenee1

Such a great story! Wonderful to overcome all those obstacles.

kmchambers64

:drinker: It is so inspiring to read your story. Thank you so much for sharing as a reminder that it can be done.

zkjmum

Just...wow! Well done!

wikitbikit

A word I don't use lightly: AMAZING. Your dedication is so inspiring! Congratulations on your results! Thank you so much for sharing!

dicoveringwhoIam

Your story is amazing! What an inspiration and a push for me! I have been struggling with MS and a major injury this past Sept. I am hoping to be running by the end of the year and am signed up for a mini triathlon Sept 1st of this year. Thank you for sharing.

blondie_182_182

You are incredible! What a great and inspiring story. Keep up the good work.

pcournede

Inspirational and motivating!

mightymom2

amazing and inspirational :flowerforyou:

LJCannon

So these past 21 months have been crazy. I've posted here before that I had a spinal cord injury in June 2011 (http://www.joyzyblog.com/my-story/) and was in a wheelchair, and then decided to get healthy to prevent reinjury. Over the next 11 months I lost 100 pounds. Now I run a LOT (30-40 miles a week depending on what I'm training for) and lift weights about 2x/week.

I'm posting today to let you know that you CAN do this. Really you can. I couldn't WALK at first and I still made it happen.

I started like this: 270lbs and couldn't walk. (5'8.5" 32 years old, three kids ages 2, 4, 6.)
Before:



I started walking slowly and then running and then 6 months later this is what I looked like at 195lbs the day I started weight lifting.


After a year of weight lifting, I look like this:



Now I'm training for a half marathon. This week my local YMCA had me come in for a photo shoot to put my crazy story and picture in their annual report for the "healthy living" section of the Y's mission. The YMCA has been an invaluable resource for my health and fitness over the past year and a half.
Here's what I wore for the photos:



So I started in August 2011 at 270 pounds, and used MFP to track every single thing I ate and drank for 11 months until I lost 100 pounds. I also exercised 6-7 days/week. I hit 168lbs in July 2012. I've maintained 161-166lbs for the past 8 months, just with running and making sensible eating choices.

During 2012 I ran over 1000 miles. My first half marathon race is in 6.5 weeks and I'm PUMPED! Part of my injury remains. I'm still numb down the back of my right leg and the entire bottom of my right foot. I've learned to compensate for that and now I barely even notice it anymore.

Now I get to wear fun dresses like this


And run in races like this


Thanks for looking. Now get out there and mooooooooooove!!!!!

:-)
Joy

jlmed

Amazing!

araes2102

You are an amazing person and an inspiration. TY!