my journey

As many of my readers know, I have never been a toothpick and have struggled with my weight all of my life. Well, I have decided to begin what will be a very long journey to a healthier lifestyle for me and my family. Tonight I want to share just what has sparked this journey in me. Many of you don't know the extent of my struggles, but it started when I was a child and only given beans and potatoes on most nights for meals. The nights we were given other things, they were all loaded with carbs and fat. Not healthy! As I grew up, I moved in with my aunt who later adopted us. It was then that we were afforded the luxury of different foods. Many of those that we chose were fat and carb loaded because that was what we knew. After graduation of high school, I moved in with my sister in Florida. Our car broke down a few weeks later and we were forced to ride our bicycles everywhere. While this was not our choice, we both trimmed down and I was at the lowest weight since being a young child. This didn't last. When I moved in with my husband, I had access to a car and the weight began to pile on again. It was the nonexistent exercise and loads of fast food that killed me. I continued to gain. Off and on I have lost up to 13 pounds and gained it right back. I have however hovered at around 275. I haven't gone above that. And I will not. This passed week, my roommate tried on her wedding dress. It didn't fit and we have 8 weeks to get her back into it. So, I went to the computer and printed off the guidelines for the southbeach diet. While many may argue that this isn't a healthy approach, I must remind you that I AM ADDICTED TO CARBS and must start somewhere. Since I have the support of my roomie, I am able to get through this. Today is day 3 and while it is hard, I am doing it. I tried doing this diet alone a few times before and it never worked because I lacked the support system that I needed. Now that that is in place, I can and will succeed. With day three down, I am feeling less carb cravings which is great. I am still cooking carbs for the kids and hubbs, but I am not touching them. It is hard because hubbs continues to offer me brownies and mountain dew, both of which i cannon have right now. I am resisting, and although it is hard, it will get easier as this process goes on. When we moved out of our apartment and into the house, I was weighing 272, I am already down to 265! It isn't much of a loss, but every pound is a great loss when you are as big as I am and while some may argue that I am not that big, to me, I am huge. Why, you might ask, am I posting my weight here? As a journal as well as hopefully an inspiration to someone out there who is also struggling with their weight.

Note: I am not claiming that the south beach diet is for you, it's simply what I chose to use for my weightloss. There are tons of diets out there and you should contact your doctor and discuss your weightloss wishes with them as well as what might be healthy for you.

A big thank you to Juanita for going on this journey with me! And a thank you to my Mom. She's doing something similar in Indiana while I am doing this in Florida. She's a great inspiration and has already lost 20 pounds!!! While I haven't had the best role models in my life, she continues to amaze me with all kinds of things!

More to come in the coming days as I jot down my highs and lows of this dieting process. Well, I shouldn't say dieting, I should stay lifestyle change process because that's really what it is. It is a lifestyle change. Crash dieting has been proven ineffective and the only way I can ensure that I will keep the weight off is to change my lifestyle.

One quote I want to leave you with is this:

"Be the change you want to see in the world." I don't know who originally said it, but about a year and a half ago, my friend Chris posted it as his status on facebook and I absolutely love it! If you want to see yourself getting thinner, you have to be that change and that's just what I am doing.

God bless you and have a great night :)