The beginning stats

When I weighed myself in the morning yesterday, I was just over 181 pounds. I finally got a tape measure, and here we go:

Hips: 45 inches

Waist: 34 inches

Thigh: 26 inches

Arm: 12 inches

This is as bad as I have ever been. We'll see where things are next Sunday.

The Beginning of my Journey to health

This long-forgotten blog is about to get new life, because I don't know how else to start forcing myself to lose weight. I am typing this while eating a cream cheese croissant, for goodness' sakes.

I have given up. I weigh 185 pounds or so, exactly what I weighed the morning after Simon was born. He is going to be nine months old this weekend. They say "nine months up, nine months down," but this time, that is not true. I have not lost a single pound. I guess I should thank God that I do not weigh more than that, considering how poorly I have been eating.

I eat because I love food, but also because I desperately need energy to stay awake. Simon is a terrible sleeper, so I get little sleep along with him. That is not an excuse, just an explanation.

But the time has come to get my act together. I hope and pray we are blessed with another baby, and soon. I just turned 33, and God only knows if we will have many more babies, but if I am going to have another home birth as I hope, I need to be as healthy as I can be.

So it's back to what has always worked before: exercise, which burns calories and gives me an incentive not to overeat. Food journaling. High protein and fiber, low simple carbohydrates. Free foods, like zero calorie drinks and sugar-free jello and fruits and vegetables. Taking my medicines and supplements. Not eating late at night.

So this will be my food journal. I need to buy a tape measure so I can get my measurements down, and then I'll take them once a week, along with my weight. I want to be around 160 before I get pregnant (God willing) again. I know I can do this. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, right?