Hi everyone 
I thought I'd start a journal, to keep me accountable. Plus, it is always a good idea to write about losing weight, since most of the time, there are many others who can benefit from reading. I've loved reading other journals, so thought why not start my own?
Let me begin. I am 29, soon to be 30 in July. I have been married 9 years, and we have a 4 year old daughter. When I married, I was around 140 lbs. Seems as the years went by, my weight increased just a bit. Then later on, I was pregnant. For the first 4 months, I gained one pound. Yep, just one. I thought I would not gain a lot, since it all started so smoothly. Yeah right!
Around the 7th month, I gained. Big time. I tried to drink tons of water, and eat healthy, but of course the baby was growing, and so was I. I think I gained about 50 lbs. overall. They weighed me before I left the hospital, and I had lost about 15 lbs since delivery. Again, I'm thinking Wow, this is great! I won't worry about all the weight, since the rest will probably fall off! Yes, I was stupid.
Fast forward to the first few months of DD's life. Oh dear. At those times, I ate whatever I could, whenever I could, which wasn't often, since she liked to be held & had colic too. When she was 2 months old, I returned to work. Now the fun begins. Infant + rushing home, plus needing to eat. I didn't care if it was healthy, it just needed to be quick and easy. This continued for a while. Once DD ate solids, I'd cook a bit better since I'd just take whatever we had & grind it up for her. She was such a healthy baby, it was unreal. Hardly ever sick. You'd think the light would go off in my head that I needed to eat better too, but (sigh) no, it didn't.
Fast forward..........
Mealtime was all about good tasting, quick stuff. Our evenings were limited in time, so we tried to eat quickly & spend time with DD. Last year, I kept reading about South Beach. I knew I hadn't really lost a lot of weight since DD's birth, mostly because I was so high strung as a new mom, the last person I thought about was me. So, I tried it in April 2005. I lost about 25 lbs in a couple of months. Yay! But then cookouts & summer activities rolled around, and my eating habits went downhill again.
But here I am now, over a year later. I need to work on this. I should lose about 40 lbs. My motivation this time is the cruise we're taking next year. I want to look better, and feel better. I want to be healthy. We have a few friends & family members who have diabetes, and one even lost a leg due to it. The other has it, plus kidney failure, and she's around 50 & in a wheelchair today. Others have high blood pressure, acid reflux, and heart diseases.
I don't want to be like that. If I do get any diseases, I want it to be due to genetics, not just because I can't stop eating cake or cookies. I want to be healthy for me, my husband, my daughter. It's finally time I reach that point of actually being happy with my appearance, and not make excuses any longer. I want a long, healthy life. The only way I'll get that is by putting forth some effort. I remind myself the weight issue didn't happen overnight, and it won't go away overnight.
I proved to myself last year that I can lose. I just have to find a way of eating that I can stick with for life. Not some crash diet, or pop a pill type thing. I need guidelines. I need structure. South Beach provides this for me, and I intend to follow through & discover the person lurking underneath.
My biggest downfall is chocolate. Oh, how I love it. I do have a few SB recipes that are GREAT for the "I gotta have it" times, (like PMS) so hopefully they'll satisfy me.
I started on SB last Tuesday. So far, I've lost 5 lbs. Not a bad start at all, considering I did have a bit of cheat this weekend. So, off I go Beachin' it once again.
I thought I'd start a journal, to keep me accountable. Plus, it is always a good idea to write about losing weight, since most of the time, there are many others who can benefit from reading. I've loved reading other journals, so thought why not start my own?
Let me begin. I am 29, soon to be 30 in July. I have been married 9 years, and we have a 4 year old daughter. When I married, I was around 140 lbs. Seems as the years went by, my weight increased just a bit. Then later on, I was pregnant. For the first 4 months, I gained one pound. Yep, just one. I thought I would not gain a lot, since it all started so smoothly. Yeah right!
Around the 7th month, I gained. Big time. I tried to drink tons of water, and eat healthy, but of course the baby was growing, and so was I. I think I gained about 50 lbs. overall. They weighed me before I left the hospital, and I had lost about 15 lbs since delivery. Again, I'm thinking Wow, this is great! I won't worry about all the weight, since the rest will probably fall off! Yes, I was stupid.
Fast forward to the first few months of DD's life. Oh dear. At those times, I ate whatever I could, whenever I could, which wasn't often, since she liked to be held & had colic too. When she was 2 months old, I returned to work. Now the fun begins. Infant + rushing home, plus needing to eat. I didn't care if it was healthy, it just needed to be quick and easy. This continued for a while. Once DD ate solids, I'd cook a bit better since I'd just take whatever we had & grind it up for her. She was such a healthy baby, it was unreal. Hardly ever sick. You'd think the light would go off in my head that I needed to eat better too, but (sigh) no, it didn't.
Fast forward..........
Mealtime was all about good tasting, quick stuff. Our evenings were limited in time, so we tried to eat quickly & spend time with DD. Last year, I kept reading about South Beach. I knew I hadn't really lost a lot of weight since DD's birth, mostly because I was so high strung as a new mom, the last person I thought about was me. So, I tried it in April 2005. I lost about 25 lbs in a couple of months. Yay! But then cookouts & summer activities rolled around, and my eating habits went downhill again.
But here I am now, over a year later. I need to work on this. I should lose about 40 lbs. My motivation this time is the cruise we're taking next year. I want to look better, and feel better. I want to be healthy. We have a few friends & family members who have diabetes, and one even lost a leg due to it. The other has it, plus kidney failure, and she's around 50 & in a wheelchair today. Others have high blood pressure, acid reflux, and heart diseases.
I don't want to be like that. If I do get any diseases, I want it to be due to genetics, not just because I can't stop eating cake or cookies. I want to be healthy for me, my husband, my daughter. It's finally time I reach that point of actually being happy with my appearance, and not make excuses any longer. I want a long, healthy life. The only way I'll get that is by putting forth some effort. I remind myself the weight issue didn't happen overnight, and it won't go away overnight.
I proved to myself last year that I can lose. I just have to find a way of eating that I can stick with for life. Not some crash diet, or pop a pill type thing. I need guidelines. I need structure. South Beach provides this for me, and I intend to follow through & discover the person lurking underneath.
My biggest downfall is chocolate. Oh, how I love it. I do have a few SB recipes that are GREAT for the "I gotta have it" times, (like PMS) so hopefully they'll satisfy me.
I started on SB last Tuesday. So far, I've lost 5 lbs. Not a bad start at all, considering I did have a bit of cheat this weekend. So, off I go Beachin' it once again.
My first new intro. will be strawberries. Simply because I love them, and I want to make smoothies in the morning.
