New Goal

I woke up January 9, 2007, looked at myself in the mirror, looked at the clothes in my closet and thought to myself: "I need to lose weight." I seriously had no idea on how to go about doing that. Of course I knew that I needed to exercise more, who doesn't know that? But I had never counted a calorie a day in my life. So I did what I normally do when I become more interested in something...I research. And boy did I research. There is a ton of information out there. I first started off on ediets.com. I paid for a three month membership and was able to start a foundation for my weight loss. After my three month membership was up I thought that I could research some more and come up with my own meal and exercise plans on my own for free. By August of 2008 I had lost more than 50 pounds. Before you congratulate me and say: "Way to go!" I must admit to you with some embarrassment that I've gained 15pounds back. Now you may not think that is a whole lot, but if you've just spent almost 3 years of your life working hard to lose and maintain that lose it's kind of a bummer. I know that I am not anywhere near where I used to be. I am still active and I still eat fairly healthy, but I know I could be more active and eat even better (read: Now that Easter is over I have to stop eating Cadbury Creme Eggs mmm....). There are two weddings coming up in my family in which I am apart of. One is in September and the other is in November. I already know what we attendants will be wearing for the November wedding, let me tell you my arms need a workout in order to look fabulous in that dress. When I originally started losing my weight I decided that I should lose between 70 - 80 pounds. So minus the 50 pounds lost add the 15 pounds gained that puts me at 35 - 45 pounds I need to lose (GULP) before September. Okay I know it's probably not realistic to lose that much weight before then, so I guess 20is pounds before September...maybe...? The reason why I am sharing this with all of you is because it will help me be more accountable. Maybe if I have everyone asking me about it I'll not want to let you down and actually do it. And maybe I'll use that gym membership that I pay for every month but haven't stepped foot in in over a year. I know, not very frugal of me. Also helping me stay accountable I've enlisted my cousin Ashley, who is also on a weight loss journey of her own, to be my accountability partner. I have also turned to sparkpeople.com to help me with keeping track of what I eat. It's a lot easier just to prepare and eat what's on a list then have to keep a running tally of calories in my head; I tend to "forget" some calories that I've eaten. So that is my new goal. By the way I want to say congratulations to my brother-in-law Sean on his upcoming wedding (September) and congratulations to my sister-in-lay Heather on her upcoming wedding (November). I'm so excited for you both!