State of Affairs

So here I am, 28-and-a-half years old with a BMI dangerously close to obese. I got here through laziness and a disgusting diet of fast food, soda and pre-packaged meals and a near total lack of physical activity.

I don’t feel healthy. Actually, I don’t often feel good, period. I live with headaches, nausea, exhaustion, and aches and pains.

This is as much a quest to find health as it is to be skinny. I’m under no illusions that I’ll be 110 pounds again. In fact, I don’t want to be. I enjoy many of the curves I’ve acquired and plan on keeping my hourglass figure. I just want to look better and feel fantastic.

I'm starting slow, making substantial but transitional changes. I've already cut out soda and fast food, started cooking fresh meals, and am getting my greens by drinking green smoothies daily. Why green smoothies, you ask? That will be for a later post; the short answer for now is I want to fill my body with the most efficient fuel.

Because I’m a new mom and a working one at that, exercise isn’t my #1 priority just yet. I’m going to squeeze in what I can, but for now I’m focusing on changing my diet and gradually increasing my activity level.

This project will officially start tomorrow, March 1. I will be back with an embarrassing photo and measurements and a rough plan of what’s to come.

Stay tuned!

What the $#%@ happened?

Once upon a time I used to look like this:

Now I look something more like this:

Clearly, a lot has changed. Then, just shy of 21 in 2003, I still had a teenager's metabolism. I was an athlete, playing rugby on the Utah State University women's team. I also spent a lot of time walking around campus and working out while I competed in pageants (hence the flashy dress). I ate simply and snacked lightly and was always on the go.

Now fast forward eight years. I've been married for half of those years, during which I've been at desk jobs and subsequently gotten stressed out and too burned out to cook dinner more than once a week. Fast food, packaged meals and soda have been our life. Let's not even mention the total elimination of physical activity.

The biggest change may be my entry into motherhood. I have a darling 4-month-old baby boy, and the stretch marks to prove it. I was blessed with a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby, and praise the stars I lost most of the baby weight not soon after; It's the only time I've been grateful for the pregnancy puffiness -- the water weight disappeared within weeks!

Now I'm just 5 pounds above my pre-baby weight, which sounds awesome but isn't when you hear this: I'm 5'2" and 160 pounds. I can assure you it's not muscle.

So what's a part-time working mom to do? Stop complaining, stop making excuses and LOSE WEIGHT ONCE AND FOR ALL.