Starting Point

I used to blog regularly right when Glen and I got married, but it became too much to keep up with.  Plus, my life didn't seem particularly interesting enough to blog about on a regular basis, so there would only be an interesting update every couple of months or so. However, I read recently about a woman who went on a diet and lost lots of weight because she kept an online blog of the experience.  By posting what she ate every day, whether good or bad, she felt more accountable to stay on her diet. In the end, she lost over 100 lbs!

Success!  If it worked for her, maybe it would work for me!   I'm prepared to try pretty much anything.  Weight loss has been something that has plagued me most of my life.  I was an overweight teenager, and it wasn't until I moved to Texas when I was 22 that I really began doing something about it.  My roommate (Sarah!) and I would go work out at the gym and as I slowly began to see the results, it became addicting.  So I worked out for 3 years five days a week, and got all the way down to a size 6!  6!!  I was a 14 before! That means I lost half of myself!  In truth, I only lost about 40 lbs, but it felt like a whole new me. I bought a whole new wardrobe, swearing I would NEVER gain again. Ha.

I write this not to make anyone else feel badly about their physical appearance, because I think the true issue has much more to do with our own perceptions than a number on a scale.  I was (and still am) very insecure about myself and feel like I'm usually standing on the outside of a group trying to get in.  My perception is that I'm not good enough to join, or perhaps that the people don't really want me there anyway.  I know this is (probably) not true 95% of the time, but because I don't like myself, I think others won't like me either.

After I got married, I slowly began to gain weight.  Somehow you eat more when you're married, I think.  After my son was born, I was back at the weight I started at when I began this journey almost nine years ago.  Time to do something!  I joined a local gym, and started working out 3-4 times a week.  I do have the exercise part in check (most of the time), but now it's time to focus on the eating...hence the blog.  My goal is to stay around 1500 calories a day and get to the gym 3-4 days a week. I know there will be some days where there are colossal failures, but hopefully I can have mostly good days with only a few days.

So today, I begin. Want to know my menu for today? I've eaten everything but dinner and dessert...so I'll update if something changes.
             Breakfast:  Cheerio Cereal Bar (160 calories, 3 grams of fat per serving)
             Lunch:  Subway 6 inch turkey and pepperjack on wheat (300 calories), Baked BBQ Lays (150 calories), cookie (209 calories)
             Dinner:  Fiesta Noodle Casserole - got the recipe from the Hungry Girl 1-2-3 cookbook. Basically, it's like taco pasta - tricolor rotini, red taco sauce and taco seasoning, lowfat cheddar cheese.  It calls for "soy crumbles" instead of ground beef, but I opted to substitute lean ground beef.  I don't like pasta especially beefy so I only use 1/2 lb of meat in the recipe.  (350 calories - I'm guessing here...but I have to be close)
              Dessert:  Lowfat Caramel Ice Cream (130 calories, 3g of fat per serving)
Total:  1299 calories (even with my two desserts!!!)

I HATE counting calories, but I did include my best caloric estimates. I have an enormous sweet tooth, so you will be see desserts in my daily menus. I also will be trying some new recipes from various lowfat cookbooks, so we'll see how they go. Oh, what's my goal weight?  Well, I'll tell you this...I want to lose around 40 lbs.  So, each week I'll let you know how much I lost, gained, or held on to. I did not work out today, but I rarely do on Sundays anyway.  

This should be fun....