The Starting Line

So, here's the idea. I'm giving myself 12 months. That's one whole year to take control of my body and get back to being in charge of how I look and feel. I had a baby 3 years ago and gained 85 pounds in the process. My doctor thought that the actual having of the baby caused my thyroid to stop working correctly, making it difficult to impossible to lose the weight. It wasn't until my daughter was almost a year old before my tests showed my thyroid working properly again. But by that time, I had gotten "used" to being fat.

I know it's a crazy notion- being used to being miserable. But I guess I had forgotten what it felt like to be fit. Now, don't get me wrong. I was never model thin. I've always had a tendency to be a little on the chunkier side. Especially when I was a teenager. But once I became an adult and was solely responsible for my own image, I became very aware of my own body and it helped me stay pretty healthy.

That is, until baby number one. I worked out quite a bit and ate fairly healthy foods on an almost regular basis but only lost about 20 of those 85 pounds. (Are you catching the pattern here?) Never had I actually committed myself to being healthy. Then I became pregnant with baby number two. He is an awesome little man, but he has made me an awesome big woman. I gained another 40-50 pounds during this pregnancy as well. I decided that by the time my little man turned 2 months old, I would begin taking back control in my life.

During this last pregnancy, I decided that I was going to need a few things if I were to ever be fit again. One, I needed some form of accountability. It's not enough for me to just say I want to do this for me. I have to have someone to account to. That way, I won't be able to just quit whenever I get tired or lazy.

Two, I need to pay close attention to my daily habits if I am ever going to break myself of them. I eat mindlessly or not at all and I couldn't tell you the last time I actually started to sweat during exercise. (And no, breathing heavily while walking upstairs in the summer doesn't count.)

Three, I need feedback and encouragement. I'm a woman. I thrive on that stuff. I think it was Chris Rock who said women only need three things to survive- food, water and compliments. I fit nicely into that mold. I am hopeful that this will provide the best forum for that need.

And finally, I need to see my progress in black and white. I need to have something to compare. I need to see results, however small they may be at first, to keep my motivation going.

So, that is how this blog came about. I am going to record my measurements and weight at the beginning of each week. I am going to track what I eat and what kind of physical exercise I do and how all this makes me feel. And I will post pictures of my progress. Hopefully, soon I will see small changes and that will help me stick to my goal.

I have to tell you, though, I am terrified of putting up a 'before' picture online. That is, at least until after I have an 'after' picture to show. But I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet knowing that in a short time, I will have an amazing 'after' picture and the 'before' picture won't matter to me anymore. It will be someone who doesn't exist anymore.

So here goes.