The Longest Journey Begins With A Single Step

Diets....Adkins, South Beach, Sugar Busters, Weight Watchers, you name it, honey I have tried it! And, I must admit, they all have had their good points. The kick, the down fall, the dead weight (pardon the pun), is that I wasn’t mentally ready. Oh, sure, I would gripe about my weight, swear that this time I really was going to do it, yada yada yada. All would be good, until I hit that magic 3 week mark. At 3 weeks, I was too tired to go to the gym today, wanted to sleep an extra 30 minutes instead of getting up to do the Yoga workout on Oxygen, had a new recipe I just had to try for a heavy, creamy pasta dish, you name it and baby I had an excuse for it. Instead of picking back up, it was always, I will start fresh next week……

Back in the winter, my local gym started a Biggest Loser competition. You had to go through medical testing, Q&A with the trainers, and an information session. I decided to try out. I actually made it! I was super excited… but then I thought, wow, why am I excited to be chosen to do Biggest Loser? So, I dropped out, the Friday before it started on Saturday, in February and have been at a standstill since. Now, I have heard that to truly make it work, you must be mentally ready to do it, you must hit that rock bottom. Well, last night after eating a dinner of roast beef, a big ole baked potato with sour crème, a broccoli with cheese, and going back for seconds on the roast beef and broccoli, while watching “Biggest Loser”, I hit it. For the rest of the night (about 3.5 hours) and even when I got up this am, I was MISERABLE!!! Do you hear me… MISERABLE!!! I felt bloated, and my chest hurt. I got to work this morning and had one of the guys (he’s a volunteer fireman) take my blood pressure. All I could think of was, if I fall out, these guys are gonna have to tout me down the steps. I am happy to say that my blood pressure was 111/83. I am not happy to report that my stats are as follows… I am 34 years old, I am 5’2, I wear a size 18/20 pants, and I currently weigh 231 pounds. There…. I said it, it’s out there, and I’m gonna cry now. I seriously can remember a time when I was freaking out about hitting 150… then about 175, then about 200. Today, I can honestly say, I believe I would welcome any of those numbers with open arms.

I invite you to follow along with my journey, as I am sure it will be long and painful. I will weigh in once a week, every Tuesday, and I will post a photo later today. My hope is that I can post some helpful info on nutrition, recipes, and fitness. No, I’m not certified in any of this, however you don’t get this big, and not know what the right darn things to do are… Trust me… I can probably recite the Points value of many foods, and tell you that a hour long Zumba class burns 750 calories on average. If you struggle with your weight, you know what I mean. In an effort to bring awareness.. I’m having a Give Away…. Let me know what your favorite weight loss or fitness tip is for 1 entry, become a follower on blogger for 2 entries; mention me on your blog and get 3… you know the drill. The prize... will be "Skinny Italian" by Teresa Guidice, and a fun workout dvd to get you jump started. The book.. well, it will give you a whole new outlook on Italian cooking, trust me, this ain't your mama's lasagna!It truly does have some fabulous healty recipes and some great tips!!