Before and after pictures

I have to thank my friend Mary for actually taking pictures of me- something that I frequently fail to do. I don't have real full-body before and after shots. I've taken before shots many times in the past, but I never followed through with my weight loss. I didn't take before shots this time because I felt like I was setting myself up to fail by doing so. I had to steal these pics from Mary's blog. I chose related pics so maybe the difference is more evident. My weight loss has been so slow and steady that it sometimes feels like I'm still my old self. I have to look at the scale and my clothes to know for sure that there is a difference. I'm down 28 pounds now since January, and I've gone from a size 10 to a 4/6, although I'm mostly in size 4 as of late. I hope you can all see the difference even if it is subtle. In the before pics, I am sitting on the stool wearing black drinking a beer and eating cake in the second pic. I'm in the middle in the after pic, and I also included a pic Mary took of me with my crayfish from dinner. Mary has a strange tradition of photographing me with food, as you can see.

In other news, I am injured again. My run on Saturday gave me a bad case of shin splints. I attempted a four mile run yesterday, but I had to quit after mile one because of the pain. I am hoping to get back to running by Saturday, but all I can do for the moment is rest and apply lots of ice. I've become so accustomed to working out and running that I had a slight freak out yesterday over having to rest. I called my husband in tears because the thought of not being able to exercise was so overwhelming.