My life before WW and running

I will never forget the day I looked in the mirror and saw a stranger staring back at me. "I don't know who you are," I said to the face in the mirror. This photo is that face. Believe me, I didn't want to post this picture, but I need to remember where I've come from and what I've accomplished. It is my driving motivation to keep setting new goals, and to push my body to its limits. I weighed 274lbs in this picture, and I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Despite normal blood levels, I felt like my thyroid problems were still there and would never go away. Dozens of diets and thousands of dollars on programs, books and supplements yielded little or no results. Sure, the diets worked for a while, but I got tired of plateauing and eventually gave up, eating what I wanted since it didn't seem to matter anyway. In my reading, the concept of wheat sensitivity kept cropping up. A large percentage of those with hypothyroidism have also been diagnosed with gluten intolerance. It was worth a shot. I could give up wheat for one week, maybe even one month. In three days, my sleep apnea went away (ask my husband - the snoring stopped). I didn't wake up once with my heart racing and me wondering if I would make it until the morning. In one week, I had lost 10 pounds. Amazing. Maybe this was the ticket to health and wholeness. But the truth was, I also had eating issues. I tend towards addictive behavior, and obsessive compulsiveness, both of which I needed to get under control. It wasn't just what I ate, it was how much I ate as well. When a friend at church starting going back to Weight Watchers and having success, I decided to join her. At the first meeting, the Teri, the leader, was talking about excuses - making excuses for why we can't lose weight. She even mentioned hypothyroidism as a possible excuse. I immediately raised my hand and said, "Well, I have hypothyroidism (she probably thought I was going to get mad at her), but I'm not going to use it as an excuse anymore. It may be harder for me to lose weight, but I will do it this time." And I never looked back after that. I got up to exercise, even when I didn't want to - no excuses. I passed the desserts, even when I didn't want to, and I haven't eaten wheat since, (except the tidbit at communion). I wrote down scripture verses that would motivate me, and I prayed everyday that God would give me the strength to see the race through to the end. I started hiking on the Appalachian Trail, a stone's throw from our house, and the rest is history. I lost the weight in one year and four months. Some may say I traded one addiction for another - running. Perhaps, but it's more than that - I feel transformed from the inside out, and I've been given an opportunity to encourage those who face their own obstacles, whether it be weight or anything else that life throws at us - we can overcome, we can do more than we ever thought possible and we can all be winners. God speed.