Okay, all you bloggy peoples, time to crack down on the weight gain. Are you ready to…?

BATTLE THE BULGE

So you wanna know the truth? (Can’t say that without hearing “You can’t HANDLE the truth!” in my brain…)

I weigh what I weighed when I was 9 months pregnant with my son. Oh yeah – and his third birthday? That’s this NOVEMBER, people. I’ve spent the last three years carting around an extra 45 pounds that I didn’t need.

THAT’S HOW MUCH MY FIVE YEAR OLD WEIGHS!

Let’s put this another way, a Body Mass Index of 25 to 29.9 is overweight and a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

My body mass index is 29.

Not cool. It’s got to go.

Oh, I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried! Last January I started counting Weight Watcher points again, and I lost 5 pounds but then I put it back on again. I never really got into the exercising part like I needed to.

And there was one time before that – same story.

I think part of the problem was that I was trying so hard not to be vain, that I seriously downplayed the “weight” issue.

I want to be healthy.

I want to be a good steward of my body.

Oh, a little weight loss would be nice…

But when I only got a LITTLE weight loss, after several months, I gave up. That. Right there. Tell’s you what my real desire was, doesn’t it? But then I realized, it IS partially about weight. And THAT’S OKAY.

As long as I’m not trying to lose weight for the wrong reasons, or to an unrealistic extent, then it’s okay to want to lose weight.

And if that is a good motivation for me gaining a healthier lifestyle and not just a byproduct of lifestyle change that would maybe kinda sort be nice… well, then I’ll use it as motivation to keep me going so that I can become the healthy person I know I need to be.

SO.

What’s the plan?

  1. EXERCISE. I know from past experience that diet alone won’t cut it. I have many home workout videos that I like. The trick is USING them instead of letting them sit on the shelf.
  2. A HEALTHY DIET. I’m going to count calories like I did last time, eat lean meats, make sure I get my 5 frutis/veggies a day, and go easy on the breads (because that is my weakness!) while making sure I get enough fiber (because that helps you lose weight.)
  3. COOK FROM SCRATCH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. By cooking from scratch I can control the salt and msg content. Excess salt in the diet impedes weight loss and msg can cause other health problems.
  4. TAKE MY DAILY VITAMIN AND DRINK ENOUGH WATER. Both of which will probably help me feel better during the day, which would be good if I want to get some exercise in.
  5. GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Another biggie. As big as exercise. Not getting enough sleep can interfere with weight loss and even encourage weight gain. ACK!

The goal?

My healthy weight range is from about 124 to 155. Now, I doubt seriously I will E.V.E.R. see 125 again. I was 128 when I got married at 19. Before 3 kids. However, I don’t want to just lose enough weight to get barely inside my healthy weight range. I’m shooting for the middle. I figure 135 would be a nice landing spot.

To get there I need to lose 45 pounds. And it isn’t going to be easy.

But for the course of this challenge, I want to set a specific goal. By the end of October, I’d like to have lost at least 8 pounds. That’s two pounds a week. That’s doable right?

The pictures.

Okay, I debated. But if I’m in, I’m going to be in all the way. Here’s the truth in pictures. The majority of my weight is in my *ahem* rear end. A lot of it, around the middle. There’s some extra weight in my face, too. All of it has overstayed it’s welcome. Bye-bye, bulge.

The accountability.

So now here’s where we get busy. Throughout the month I’ll be posting links to helpful articles or sites. Each Monday we’ll have a check-in/weigh-in, and the final results will be posted on Monday, November 3rd. I thought I’d have a linky on here but I don’t – we’ll have to do it the ‘more complicated’ way. If you’re Battling the Bulge, too, leave me a comment and I’ll start a list of participants at the bottom of the post. Feel free to join in at any point, and by all means – spread the word! A little bit of accountability can go a long way!

Won’t you join me?

  • Get the details about this challenge HERE.
  • Follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my blog feed to find out when helpful links are posted.

JOINING IN:

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Amber

Hey, y’all! I’m Amber and I wear many hats. I drink a ton of coffee and I’m constantly sweeping crumbs off the floor. After 20+ years of homeschooling, we are starting over at preschool with our fourth, Lil Miss Mouse. She keeps us young and she’s the main reason for my excessive coffee consumption. Drink up!