OH dear blog, and oh dear physique, I have neglected you so.

Allrighty folks, well I told you as much in the begining that I am not a blogger, not a writer....nope, just a gal looking to get back in shape who wanted to hold herself more accountable.  As you can see, it has been over 2 months since even I have checked in to see where I was!  Yikes!  Guess what?  In those two months I really have not made progress.

So yesterday I stumbled across a friends blog, where she is writing about her journey through weight loss (You can read about it here - She tweeted the title of her latest entry "Cheaters Never Lose, and Losers Never Cheat" that really caught my eye, and, Amanda dear, KUDOS to you.)  She is documenting her journey each and every day with a commentary on her diet (photos included!), how she is feeling, and a photo of the day.  She started on New Years Day and is down almost 20 pounds!  Can I get a Wahoooooooooooo?!?!?!  (I would also like to state for the record that I wish I were clever enough to come up with that name!  I sure hope when she gets down to her goal, the fruit inspired tech company pays her oodles for the trademark, and offers her an endorsment deal for their new foray into tech inspired weightloss!!! )

After reading Amandas blog I am even more driven and motivated.  The "photo of the day" she is taking will be used to create a photo timeline montage and I just LOVE that idea!  So much so that I think I may do the same thing....I am neither driven enough nor brave enough to post those photos each and every day on my own blog as she is doing, but I want to do the same thing so I have something to look at and remind myself when I get there.

Remember how I mentioned before that I have been avoiding mirrors and scales for a long time?  Well, after reading Amandas blog I did step on a scale, and was faced with the horribly shocking reality that I am in fact 15 pounds H E A V I E R than I was on the day I was admitted into the hospital to deliver my now 6 year old!!  Yes, folks, I am that much bigger than I was at 36 weeks pregnant!  can I get a sypmathetic Wowza! 

So....armed with this new knowledge of where I am, and where I need to go, I recommit myself to this process - not relying on blog readers to keep me on track, but myself.....thanks to another blogging friend, Kristin, I have been introudced to a fantastic website, My Fitness Pal that tracks your progress along by coutnting all of your calories for you during the day.  I have gotten better at keeping my calories where they need to be, but it was a real eye opener to see how much I really would consume in an average day! 

So here's to our health, and our committments, and our journeys!  Amanda and Kristin, I am proud of what you are doing, and what you have already accomplished!  I will follow along with your efforts and cheer you on, encouraging you and understanding the inevitable roadblocks we will all face, because I will be tackling them with you.  And.....perhaps, just maybe, the world will be a lighter better place because of our successes!  Wouldn't that make it all worth it?!?

XO XO XO
Megan

So....What's The Plan Anyway?

Ok.....so in my first attempt at blogging I admitted that I've allowed myself to grow too big for my britches.  I promised that I would keep you up to date on my progress, but may have left you wondering, well exactly what is the plan?  How is she going to do it?  Well, truth is I don't have a hard and fast plan, but I do have hard and fast goals.

• Wear my wedding bands again (that's right!  Can't squeeze them over the sausage fingers!)
• Chase the kiddos around the park with the same energy and enthusiasm that I used to
• Get back into my clothes!! 
• I have a dress I hope to wear for my birthday.....3.5 months to go!! 

I'm thinking the biggest question you may be thinking of is so what's the bottom line?  What's the damage?  How much does she weigh?  Truth is, I don't really know.  I could guess, and would probably be fairly close, but exactly to the ounce, I truly don't know.  Worse truth, I don't want to.  See, the thing is the LAST time I dared to stand on the scale, I topped out at 2 pounds OVER what I weighed the last time I checked into a hospital as a patient.  Which, if you're wondering, was the last time I gave birth!  Yup.  I weighed MORE than I did at 9 months pregnant, with 9 pounds of baby, and a heap of pounds of all that stuff that comes along with it.  Now, I will step on that scale again someday, but not until I know I wont fall in a pile on the ground and create a puddle of tears.

So, for the plan, I have developed one habit that I KNOW I need to eliminate.  After my youngest child was born, I developed a soda habit, the sugar and caffenine was a jolt I needed to help boost my energy.  Well, I usually drink 2 sodas a day, and those are not diet drinks, just totally empty calories going right to the pop belly.  That will stop. 

When I am making my kids lunches, I snack as I pack.  Pack some chips, taste a few, make a PB & J sandwich, lick the PB off the knife before putting it in the sink....I am sure you know what I am talking about.  I eat sometimes without really even realizing that I am doing it!  That will stop.

♪ ♫ ♪ I like to MOVE IT MOVE IT!  That's right!  I need to bust a move baby!  I used to be very active, but now, I am pretty much a slug.  So...back to the Gym, back to Wii Fit, a walk around the river, whatever I need to do, I will do a minimum of 30 minutes of pure excercise a day.  

And for now....that will do.   Tomorrow is my official start day, I figure that on halloween day, I want to allow myself the luxury of one last 100,000 bar before I buckle down and stick to the program!!!