Mamarati

I decided to join a weight loss challenge on Twitter. Because if I learned anything in middle school, it’s that there’s nothing like peer pressure to help you succeed and feel good about yourself.

Ha. Kidding. Seriously, though, unlike middle school, it seems as I’ve been matched up with a pretty awesome set of folks… folks with similar issues like injuries that have helped pack on the pounds or have impeded exercise efforts… pregnancy weight… too busy / tired from chasing kids around all day… sweet tooth… body image issues…

And then folks with issues outside my own, too, which always helps to broaden the persepective and make you look at your own challenges in a whole different way.

And the one thing we all have in common seems not just to be that we want to drop some pounds but that we want to move toward better health. I think that’s my biggest deal right now. I’ve made lots of changes to my lifestyle in the last 5 years or so (and not just with food)… cut out trans fat and high fructose corn syrup, stopped eating out so much, stopped eating as much processed foods, moved toward more whole grains, stopped using anything that contains fragrance, etc. etc.

But I still need to go further. Because I’m still carrying a lot of weight around and I’m not feeling as good as I know I could. Because I think that some issues are starting to crop up that could have something to do with my weight. Because my birthmother has been having issues with arthritis and her heart and it worries me that if I don’t get control of some of my health issues, I might be setting the stage for those problems as well. I mean, I still might have some of those things in my future, but if I can make them any less difficult, I need to go on and do that.

Right now I’m shooting for 1 pound a week. My ideal weight range is 101 - 136 pounds. I’m going to shoot for the upper end of that and re-evaluate my goals at that time. It should take me, best case scenario, 38 weeks to get to that, so some time in May. I think that’s a more reasonable goal than I usually set for myself…

Anyway, this is my formal declaration that… well… IT’S ON! Let the weight loss begin and the health kick in.