I guess I am co-captain of this ship, so here is my little intro. Like many, I have been overweight all of my adult life, and most of my childhood. I remember one distinct summer evening (I was probably 8 or 9 years old) standing up in the kitchen eating my dinner, because I wanted to hurry and get back outside on my bike. I remember my mom saying to our neighbor who was in the kitchen, “This is why she is so skinny. She never sits down to eat.” Well, needless to say I sat down, and still haven’t got back up so to speak. I went on my first diet when I was in 5^th grade in order to look hot in middle school. When that didn’t happen, I tried again in 6^th grade, 7^th grade, 8^th grade, and I think you get the point. Now well over a decade later I am still trying. Yes, yes, yes, I want to be happy, healthy, and have a long life. Those are all going to be wonderful benefits when (not if) this happens, but it’s not my main motivator. I am going to be honest and just say what so many are thinking, but won’t say. I want to be hot damn it! I want to know what it feels like to not be overweight. I want to know what it feels like to be able to walk into any store in the mall, and know I will find something that fits me. I want to walk into a party, and for people to think I am beautiful. My whole life I have felt like the lonely wall-flower and this must stop.

I joined a gym last fall and have been working out. I have lost some weight (23 pounds), but the weight has not been coming off like it should, because I have just been excersising and not dieting. This summer my goal is to kick it up a notch. I should have no problem excersing since I belong to the gym, joined a running group, and now have access to a swimming pool. Now I just need to stay out of the Dairy Queen. I look forward to sharing my adventure with you. Toodles!

Short-Term (this week):

1. Drink 2 Liters of Water a Day (I drink hardly any now)

2. Go out to eat no more than once (I eat out a lot)

3. Exercise at least a little bit each day

Medium-Term (end of summer) :

1. Lose 15-20 pounds

2. Fit comfortably in these two shirts and a dress that I bought and are a little snug

3. Run a mile without stopping to walk

4. For someone who doesn’t know I’m doing this to say, “Your lookin’ good kid.”

Long-Term (Before I turn 30):

1. Run 3 miles without stopping to walk

2. Lose 122 pounds (that may change I haven’t weighed that since middle school)

3. Look hot in a little black dress

4. Finally be happy the way I am

Ask anyone who knows anything about weight loss and they’ll tell you that setting goals is crucial to success. You can’t start the journey without a destination in mind. Both long-term and short-term goals should be set to better keep oneself motivated. Additionally, the goals need to be specific. I can say I want to lose about 60 pounds, but that is going to take some time. I need to focus on smaller goals that will eventually add up to my big long-term goal. Goals shouldn’t all be about the numbers on the scale, either. By purely focusing on the scale one can get very frustrated and disheartened. For example, last year I was training to run a 10 mile race and I thought the pounds were going to melt off of me. Well, they didn’t. I only lost about 10 pounds in 4 months. I was so frustrated until someone pointed out that I looked a lot better. I was more toned and fit. I had gained muscle and lost inches. But I wanted to see the numbers go down! Well today I’d give anything to be in the shape I was in a year ago. Even though I don’t weight that much more I’ve put on the inches and I can barely run a mile now. Attempting to run a 10 miler now would be nearly equivalent to attempting suicide.
As an example, I’ve set some goals for myself and they are as follows:

Short-term (this week):

1. Keep a log of everything I put in my mouth this week. I’m using weight watchers e-tools so this should be easy.

2. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day

3. Exercise at least 3 times this week

4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. You’d think this would be easy for a vegetarian, but it is not.

Medium-term:

1. Lose 20 pounds before the end of summer.

2. Run a 5k in 35 minutes or less this running season (October-ish)

3. Get into a size 12 before the end of summer.

Long-term:

1. Lose 62 pounds.

2. Wear a size 8. I really have no idea what size I’d wear if I lost 60+ pounds, but wearing a size 8 sounds lovely.

3. Run a half marathon. I have no desire for a full 26 miles…yet.

4. Look hot in a sleeveless dress.