Introduction

In case anyone stumbles across this blog and wonders what it is, here is a brief introduction.  The name refers to losing weight, not my mind (at least I hope that’s the case!) 

I am overweight.  I have always struggled with my weight and food.   I joke that “I was born bigger than a size x” (I wasn’t, but it sure feels that way!)  I am 35 years old, a wife, and a mom.  Over the years (and kids), the weight has continued to pile on.  Last summer I was at my highest weight ever, 280 pounds (I have since lost 30 lbs, but VERY slowly!).  My sister-in-law challenged me this fall to a contest....lose 50 pounds by April 15 (sounds easy enough, right?!?!)  If we both meet goal, then we get a “girl day” together – shopping, pedis, etc.  If we don’t both meet goal, the person to lose the most weight pays the other $50.  Anyone that knows me knows me well knows that I have a very competitive streak in me and am very prize motivated (and I am cheap.  I don't like to pay people money. Lol).  Another personality trait that my close friends know about me is that I am “deadline oriented” (some people say that is code for procrastinator, but that is such a harsh word!)  Yeah, the bet was made this summer.  Because of that personality quirk, my approach has been “it’s not April yet, so of course I am not to the goal”.   I have lost a few pounds, but nowhere near the 50.   But it’s not like I can put this off until the night before and expect to win the competition!   In fact, when I crunched the numbers this week I realized that April 15 is only a little over 100 days away….about 15 weeks.  That is an average of 3.3 lbs a week…eeek!  So reality hit and I decided I had better get started (I really hate to lose a contest or bet!)  So with the new year here and everyone talking about resolutions, weight loss, eating better, etc. (and all of the holiday food/celebrations almost done & gone) it seemed like a great time to get some focus and get going!  (Note: I originally wrote this at the beginning of January)

My intent was for this to be a private, secret way to hold myself accountable and motivate myself.  I hate making public announcements of “I am going to do “this!” and failing miserably.  It is embarrassing and depressing, and this time of year is abundant.  I know it should be motivation, but to me it seems to do the opposite.  I am a creative person….I really love writing and photography.  So I thought I should combine my 2 loves into something that will hopefully be a positive influence in my life.  I decided that a written (and photographic) journal of my weight loss journey (the struggles, successes, feelings, etc) would be therapeutic and hopefully fun to go back and reflect after a successful journey.  So I plan to write about my progress, document what I am doing and the results.  A chronological timeline of sorts.  Now, I since I didn’t want to do this is a public way and have everyone I know watching to see if I fail or not, another option was that I could do the journaling in a strictly private way, for only me to see.  But somehow that didn’t seem the right answer either.  So I decided to make a blog.  While I won’t be publicizing it to people I know (ok maybe just a few people that I know won’t judge me or are in a similar situation), I figured if anyone else stumbles across it and wants to support me in this journey, or I help them in some small way, then bonus. 

So in the coming weeks, I will be sharing a little more about me.  If anyone out there does find this blog and becomes interested, I hope you will share your experiences, tips and tricks, and thoughts as well.  Here’s to a successful journey!