Day One

I don't really know how to start these things. I'll probably ramble a lot. But I need to lose weight, and I need kind of accountability. Maybe if I write about it, I'll feel obligated to keep it up.

I should start with a little background. I just turned 36 years old. I've given birth to 3 children in 4 years, and I'm a stay at home mom. I won't tell my weight unless I lose a bunch, but I will say that I am 2 pounds shy of my heaviest ever, including all 3 pregnancies. I've never been skinny, and I don't want to be. I just want to feel a little better. And maybe keep people from asking when I'm due when I have no intention of having any more kids.  By the way, that's always a rude question.  Don't ever ask anyone that.

This little experiment has nothing to do with New Year's resolutions or impressing anyone. The husband is supportive either way, as long as I don't lose too much of my butt.  He has never made me feel uncomfortable or bad about my size.  I do have incredibly, um, honest family members who have mentioned that I need to do something about it. I'm not doing it for them either. I just looked around and realized that I seem to be everyone's fat friend.  And I don't want to be that.  I do have a theory that the fat girl in the crowd is always the funny one.  Hopefully I can keep being hilarious but with less jiggle when I giggle.

So here's the plan. I like food, but I have good self control about it.  I am perfectly capable of eating one bite of chocolate or just a couple of potato chips. So I'll try to be sensible, but I won't specifically diet.  It doesn't work for me. I've basically cut out sodas, but I'm not turning loose of my coffee. I'm trying to drink more water. I'm not bad about snacking, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm starting this journey armed with an elliptical machine, some Zumba DVDs, and a Jawbone UP. That's it. I did 2 1/2 miles on the elliptical yesterday. If I can get everyone to nap at the same time today, I'll try to do a little more. I expect this will be a slow process. I hate to exercise, and I have to fit it in between raising 3 kids. But I also hate being the fat friend.