Lady Luck Loses!

I have decided that I am ready to work towards my ULTIMATE weight loss goal of being a size 12.

I will be writing one article each week detailing the actions I've taken to meet my goal. I will also be sharing what I eat, how many days I worked out, if I gained or lost weight, and if you're lucky, some recipes and photos.

ABOUT MY BODY:

Before I go any further I will let you know right now, I am not going to tell you how much I weigh. I am 5'9, and I am built like my father ( broad shoulders, big rib cage, big hips, log legs), and I am not totally out of shape, so I carry my weight well and no one ever believes me when I tell them my real weight. I will tell you that I am now a Size 18 (down recently from a 20), and I am well over 200 pounds. I have never been anything smaller than a size 16 in my adult life.

I also come from a family that tends to carry a little extra baggage in the midsection. So my problem area is my stomach, which is always tricky to deal with. I can also tell you that my entire life, I've been the brunt of much family gossip due to my stature as most of the women in my family are petite, short, or average in height and weight.

So basically, I came out of the womb a pork chop, and I'll go into a grave a porkchop, and I am damn proud of it.

Lady Luck, why the weight loss effort?

I am fine being a size 18. I appreciate women who are thick and I am proud to be a curvy woman. I would never want to be skinny. However, I have recently been put on medication that is NOTORIOUS for a lot of weight gain, so figure now is the time.

I am not doing this for anyone other than myself. I do realize thin is in, and men in general do not like buxom women, but I've personally never had a problem having groupies and men following me everywhere.

I also want to quit smoking, which again, has potential to trigger weight gain so I'd like to lose some weight before I take that challenge on.

Lady Luck, how are you going to do it?

By eating right, using "everything in moderation" as my mantra, and lots of exercise.

Please note: I don't really care to hear about diets you think work well. When I was a teenager I was a size 24 and I went down to a 16 on Atkins but it really screwed my head up and made me feel physically sick.

So, I'm interested in doing this the right way.

More about my goals:

I set size goals instead of pound goals because I strength train four times a week, and muscle weighs much more than fat (which is why people are pretty shocked when I tell them my real weight).

IF the scale budges. which I expect it won't budge a lot, I will report it.

Tools I will use:

1. www.thedailyplate.com
2. a scale
3. my gym membership to health works
4. a yoga book
5. Lots of fruit, veggies, lean meats, and some carbs

The plan of action:

(to start)

• 35 minutes on the elliptical 3x a week
• 30 minutes interval workout on treadmill 3x a week
• strength training 35 mins 4 x a week
• eating 1900 cals and dropping this number according to weight loss

Wish me luck, I'll check in next Sunday!