I can.

I've been working out and losing weight for a while. I walked with my mom picking up trash on our street (a total of 3 miles per walk) and then started walking more. 2 years ago I took a self-defense course here at University Wisconsin-Milwaukee and I loved it. The punching and kicking was fun and a great stress re-leaver  for me. Last summer I trained with my mom for our half marathon that we did in August. This whole school year I've been taking kick boxing classes at school, which like the self-defense course, was fun, a great stress re-leaver and has built up my muscles. Along with kick boxing I sometimes go for a jog or walk in preparation for my mom's and my marathon in (yikes) roughly 75 days. But it's not just about the distance (26.2 miles!) but also the strength because in August my mom and I are enrolled in the Dirty Girl Mud Run (a 3 mile course with 11 obstacles) and in September a Tough Mudder (10-12 mile course with 26 obstacles). With all of this working out, and shrinking in jean size (now down to a size 10!), I still didn't see what others were seeing, that is until I looked at old pictures. 
Here I am (tye-dye shirt) in 2008 (I pushed my friend's pudding into her face, so much fun):

Now here I was a month ago on the cruise celebrating my mom's 50th and my 22nd birthday (the one in the pool): 

I never would have allowed a picture of me in a swim suit - much less a bikini - be on the internet. But now I feel great and am much more confident. 

I've already lost 45 pounds.