Diet Journey # 8,789

Yeah, that’s right… I’ve said it before, I am saying it again…it’s DIE-T time.  I realize that once I hit the publish button, it’s do or die-t.  I dread the whole, “it’s not a diet, it’s a “lifestyle” change” talk.  Before we go straight to that discussion, lets back track a little to get a glimpse of the whole picture.

Place & Time: September 28, 2004…in a hospital room somewhere in America.  This mama has just given birth to her third child.  It was a tough {and long} pregnancy and I was happy it was finally over.  I enjoyed the baby years with little focus on me.  I pushed things aside and focused on my baby and starting up one of my many business ventures.  A year went by…and there I was…still carrying baby weight, but that’s ok, I was too busy being “mom” to notice that the scale was going in the opposite direction.  Fast forward to 2012. It’s been 8 years.  I have three successful {and growing} businesses…and I have an extra 50 pounds.  Holy COW!! FIFTY pounds to lose!  It was just yesterday that I was sitting in a hospital room holding my baby girl.  Now, she is a fully functioning child who walks, talks, eats, gets dressed by herself, makes herself lunch when she’s hungry, plays basketball with her brother, and as she got bigger…so did I!!!

Now, I can blame it on a bunch of stuff…I was too busy, I was building my businesses, I was depressed, I felt overwhelmed…you name it!  The fact being, I just didn’t care enough about myself, yeah, that’s right I said it.  Many moms can attest to the feeling of being overwhelmed with emotions after the birth of a baby.  Many moms can agree that there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to get all you want to get done.  But, when you stop caring about yourself, and you do it long enough, you fall into the comfort trap.  That’s where I fell…into the trap…again.  I say again because I’ve been there twice before.  Once after the birth of my first child (14 years ago) and again after the birth of my second child (11 years ago).  Each time I was in that trap, it only took one year before I realized I was there.  After I realized it, getting “me” back seemed like an easy task.  After my daughter and son both turned one, that is when I started hitting the gym…hard!  I worked out like a dog.  I was always able to eat what ever I wanted so I didn’t put much focus on that, but I did exercise and I ended up losing 50 pounds each time.  This time, the third time, it’s a bit different.  I am 10 years older…which means, I just don’t have the energy like I did when I was in my early 30’s.  Which means, I have to work a lot harder and my metabolism isn’t what it used to be either.  There have been a lot of contributing factors, the recession, my husband’s construction job fluctuations, issues with our mortgage lender and so on.  However, that doesn’t excuse the fact that I have let outside issues control what I do to my body.  I am here today to say, I am ready to put a stop to it.  I am ready to make the changes I need to make to get healthier and to lose weight.

In order to do that, I need a plan.  Over the last couple years I have tried Weight Watchers and counting calories and while they worked when I did them, I had to stop (Weight Watchers) because I just couldn’t afford to pay the $40-45 monthly “membership” fee.  Counting calories just didn’t work well for me as I never knew how many calories I really should be consuming.  I have since found a couple apps that I am prepared to use and a “paper” journal to help get me through this journey.  I encourage you to take this journey with me if you’d like.  I am going to use this “Mama Says…” blog to chart my ups and downs, recipes, exercises, you name it…anything that will help me and ultimately, help others get through their journey too.  I like the iTrackBites apps because it is very similar to the Weight Watchers concept and I like having a certain number of “Bites” (aka Points) that I need to stay with in and I am also given weekly “Bites” so it’s very easy to adapt to for me.

The apps I am going to be using are:

iTrackBites {$1.99 reg. $2.99} on iTunes, Restaurant Guide {$1.99} on iTunes, and Dotti’s Food Score {$2.99} on iTunes.  If I want to use a paper style journal, I am using the “I will lose weight this time” diet journal that includes 100 helpful tips for weight-loss by Alex Lluch. {$14.95 at Barnes & Noble}

I am officially starting this journey on Thursday.  Thursday morning I will weigh in and take measurements.  Every Thursday I will check in and report my progress…good OR bad.  This Wednesday (today) I will put together a work-out schedule, food, sleep and regular work schedule for the week so I know exactly what I will be eating and what exercises I will be doing, how much sleep I will be getting, and I’ll be able to stick to a regular work {business} schedule to maintain some organization throughout this journey.  I really hope that you will share your stories, struggles, successes, and support.  It is going to be a long journey.  I realize that it didn’t go on over night so it certainly isn’t going to fall off over night.  I will set realistic goals and expect the weight to drop slowly and steadily to insure that the weight stays off…for good!  Here it goes… it’s time to hit the publish button….