About me

  French bread, cookies, macaroni and cheese, loads of butter, pie, cake, turkey and  bacon sandwiches, breve lattes, donuts, bagels and, fast food, GOOD restaurants-too often.  This is just the beggining. this is how my problem started. of course there is more to this story. When it comes to food and weight gain isn't there always a story behind it all?  I have a couple of friends who have started their own weight loss blogs and it inspired me to start my own. I want to share my journey and hope to meet people who will share their stories and what worked for them.

  I spent most of my life thin.  Really thin actually.  I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and always hovered around the 120lb mark (oh, what I wouldn't do now...) I will admit though, that although I ate what I wanted, I did not eat nearly as much as I did in the future. I seemed to eat  when I was hungry and didn't over eat.  Then I turned 24 (my metabolism seemed to stop at this age...seriously) and moved to a new city.  I began working in a hospital and naturally it had a cafeteria. Having constant access to food was trouble for me. Seattle is also a haven for "foodies."  there are too many great restaurants to even begin to count. I was enjoying my new city and my new social life and eating out was a big part of it.  I immedialtly started gaining weight, but the real problem started 2 years later.  All at once I encountered a couple of HUGE life changes (we wont get into all of them here.)  My long term relationship was over.  All of a sudden I was alone and had a lot of time on my hands.  I was relieved that my relationship was finally over, but was struggling with this major change in my life and didn't know how to deal with all this new time on my hands.  I started eating!  I was eating for comfort and eating because I was bored.

  So, I have been dieting ever since then. Every Monday morning it's "diet time" and by Tuesday morning I was done.  I have lost a few pounds here and there but have never stuck with a diet (I HATE the word diet and only use it now for the lack of a better word) for long enough to see any significant results.  I guess I just was not ready for the HUGE lifestyle change required to do this.

  5 weeks ago I decided enough was enough and started a new plan.  I didn't have that "aha moment" that people like Oprah talk about.  I just decided I was tired of being unhealthy and overweight.  I'm tired of feeling ...well....like crap!   I want to feel better and yes I want to look better too. I want to look like the person I remember and feel like I can do anything.

  I read about an Iphone app called "lose it." (there is also a good one called "my fitness pall")   It helps you calculate how many calories you need a day in order to lose anywhere from 1-2 lbs per week until you reach your goal weight.  It is great at helping you keep a food journal in order to see how much you are eating.  It also allows you to record your daily excersise and even lets you add your calories burned to your daily calorie account if you would like.  I call it an account because that's basically what it is. You have an account full of calories and when they're gone.....They're GONE! no overdraft protection here!  I really believe (I AM NOT A Dietician,Doctor,or nutritionist and this is just my opninion) this is the best and only scientifically proven way to lose weight.  You HAVE TO put out MORE than you are taking in and counting calories is essential to that. My Dr. told me once that losing weight is 70% food and 30% excersise (I have evn heard it described as 85% food!). Time magazine even had an article about it.  Listen, excersise is SOOOOO important to our health and weight loss.  I am in no way advocating that people don't need to excersise.  I'm just saying that if a person needs to loose a decent amount of weight they are fooling themselves if they think they can go on a treadmill for 30 mins a day 4-5 days a week and accomplish that.  You have to start eating healthy and eating less.  Probably a lot less :(

  So here I am 5 weeks later and down 15 lbs.   No gimicks!  no "paleo, adkins, southbeach, that HORRIBLE hcg diet."  (I have to give a shout out to weight watchers though! they know what they're doing) Just taking in less than I am putting out .  I am also hoping that I can show people that it is possible to lose weight while still enjoying the foods we love, just in moderation.  I eat a very healthy breakfast and lunch and snacks throughout my day but at dinner I often eat something I Enjoy......just a very small serving.  Sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I even have enough calories left over for a piece of chocolate or something.  this is important to me because I wouldn't be able to stay on a diet where I couldn't eat anything but baked chicken and broccoli for every meal.

  I hope that I can keep this momentum up.  I'm hoping to reach my goal by the Holiday's and I am hoping that creating this blog will keep me motivated and honest as well as keep me on track.  I certainly don't want to post about 3 lb gains after a weekend of binge eating (especially on a regular basis)  for all to see.  This is my journey and I am on track to getting "back to me!"