10 Weeks, From 330 to 311 lbs. I feel fantastic! (w/pics)

Thank you all for your lovely comments! I absolutely adore the success stories board because you're all such awesome cheerleaders! Thank you thank you thank you. You have no idea how much your comments mean to me!


To answer a couple of the questions -

How do I stay motivated? I work out with my BFF. She picks me up from work and we go straight to the gym. This helps keep us both accountable. At first and whenever I start something new, it's hard and horrible. I think, no way, I can't do this. 4 weeks ago I started C25K and that first day I would run 1 minute and walk like 5 minutes because that 1 minute made me feel like I was going to die, like my lungs were going to explode or my brain was going to explode from lack of oxygen or SOMETHING was clearly going to explode. I thought I should stop because it made me feel so bad, but I chose to give it one more try. I ran one minute and walked five until I could run 1 minute and walk four, then three, and then I completed a full real Week 1 this week running 1 minute and walking 1 and a half minutes. And running those 1 minute intervals doesn't make my chest feel like it's going to explode anymore. I breathe hard, but it doesn't hurt or make me panic.

I remember starting on squats 10 weeks ago and I did 5 total. My knee hurt, everything hurt. By week 3 the pain in my right knee had disappeared completely and by week 5 I was doing 2 sets of 15 squats with added weights. On day 1 I did about 80 lbs on the leg press and today I'm doing 225 lbs on the leg press. How do I stay motivated? I watch the progress. I record everything. I see success every day in different things and I can't help but think if I'm doing this now, what am I going to be able to accomplish by April? By June? By August?

Some days I go to the gym and it feels as hard as day 1 but there are more days I go to the gym and feel like a superhero. I know if today sucks, tomorrow probably won't. Around week 5 when I was doing all these amazing things I never thought possible, I decided to stop thinking about my weight as a negative thing. I can't hide that I weigh over 300 lbs, everyone can tell. I got here on my own and I'll get rid of it on my own. I'm not embarrassed anymore to show my pictures or to look like a basket case on the treadmill because there's no pretending I'm not as big as I am. I decided not to think "I'll do that when I'm thinner" anymore because if I get started now I'll be that much better when I am thinner. It's hard, but it's not impossible.

I guess between my best friend holding my hand and a HUGE change in attitude - everything changed.