Eighty Pounds and Counting

The first time B. the Sadist weighed me, way back at my first training appointment in February 2009, I weighed 222.8 pounds. The number has never left my memory.

Today, I weighed in at 142.8--exactly 80 pounds lighter than I was on that first day of training. I'm also stronger, more confident in my body's ability to move (I'm a gazelle!), and I can kick a little butt on a two-and-a-half-mile run (except when I reach the end and see a very large and thankfully, very dead rattlesnake in the grass right next to the sidewalk. Then I'm not strong and butt-kicking, I am arm-flailing and squealing).

Just for comparison, let me start with a before picture. Here's Meg at 222.8 pounds (or thereabouts)...

And blonde! I still sometimes to a double-take at how light my hair was.
My natural color is so much darker.

And here is Meg at 142.8...taken about five minutes ago. This is my going-to-choir-rehearsal look.

Those jeans are size 4, by the way. How do you like them apples?

When I turn my overly critical eye to the picture I took a few minutes ago, I see the belly flab and the "problem" areas. This is something I'm working on. I have to constantly remind myself that anyone who can zip up size 4 jeans (I'm still a solid 6 in most everything else, but in Sweethearts, I'm a four, and I'm sticking to it!) is not big. And that the crazy workouts M. the Reasonable has me doing are designed to further tone my muscles and burn the fat off, as does the running. The smart choices I make in the kitchen help. I can smell the 130s and I can't wait to get there.