The Diet Begins...

Hubby and I engaged in a very sick activity this morning. We decided to take some "Before" pictures and begin a diet. I warned you! He actually went first which made my pain seem a little less, until I actually saw the pictures. I am not sure which grossed me out more...the big flab of fat that is now my post partem belly or the massive stretch marks across the big flab. During the picture taking process, I turned around and told him to get my back. UGH! Unbelievable! Ridiculous! I am not sure I even have the right words in my vocabulary to describe it. I can assure you that I could easily be a contender on Extreme Makeovers right now. Of course, they would tell me that I had to lose weight before they could liposuction my jelly belly. Of course, on the Extreme Makeover show I would get a personal trainer, a personal chef (to cook all that asparagus they eat) and my entire calendar freed up to spend the next two months running like a hamster on a treadmill. Do you ever wonder how those people get 8 weeks off from work and still pay the bills?

There was a time in my life that I was going to be svelte by my 40th birthday. Since that is only 25 days away, I am thinking probably not! Well...maybe if I stopped eating entirely and spent 12 hours a day on the treadmill I could accomplish that. Wait...maybe I would be dead first. So, I guess I will have to lose weight the sensible, painstakeingly slow way. The worst part is that right now, I am under doctor's orders not to exercise. That has always been my motivator not to engage in wrong eating in the past. I guess those lovely pictures will have to be my new motivator! The brand new treadmill we bought will either sit there silent or run under hubby's feet.

I have this little book that I started recording my weight, measurements and dieting adventures in after one of my miscarriages. In 2001, I was (ready for this?) 36 inches smaller overall than I am right now. The sad part is that I still weighed 5 more pounds than when I married Stephen just 9 years ago. I remember when I weighed 110 pounds and thought I was fat. What was I thinking?

So...my goals in order are:
1) To begin a plan of eating that is healthy
2) To begin exercising daily when I am allowed to start
3) To lose 10% of my current weight (this is a weight watchers goal).
If I have to pick a number on the scale of where I would like to be, I would say 130. When I get there, I will work on those last 10 pounds. Right now, that seems overwhelming to me to even think about how much I have to lose to get there...so I won't!

I am off to eat carrot sticks!