Day One: The Beginning

As I have decided thrice before in my life, I am beginning a weight-loss "journey". I am a 25 year old mother of two boys (ages nearly 4 and 5 months as of today). I am married to a wonderful husband who has supported me in ways I can't even begin to count. I have a good support system around me for losing weight - my mother and sister have both succeeded before me and maintained their weight loss.

I have lost weight before (most recently nearly 30lbs on Weight Watchers just prior to my wedding in 2007). But I've never maintained my weight loss, and this is my biggest challenge. I decided to give myself a few months after the birth of my second son to "wrap my head around" the idea of losing weight again. I needed to be committed and I needed to have a real plan of action that I could follow through with.

I decided to start a blog because I am 100% certain that there are many, many other people out there just like me - those who can lose weight, but have not committed to maintaining their weight loss. I figured that maybe reading about my journey would help other people. I'm really tired of searching for "weight loss blogs" and finding ads disguised as blogs for things like acai berry, green tea, beetle dung tablets, whatever - I don't want the "magic pill", I want real life.

So this is my real life weight loss journey.

I am 5'6" and my starting weight is 195lbs. I could excuse it as baby weight or I could say I just don't have time, but it would just be excuses. I wear size 14 jeans, large shirts, and size 12-14 dresses. Everyone has a different starting weight and a different motivator for losing weight. I hate the way my fat rolls on my stomach feel when I'm sitting, the way I have another chin that I've certainly never had before, and the fact that cute clothes don't come in my size because they don't LOOK cute on my size. I hate my weight and my body - which does not mean I hate myself. I'm in here somewhere.

I'm going to be seeing a family friend who is a nutritionist, following Jillian Michaels online, working out to a variety of home DVDs, and weighing in weekly.

My ultimate weight loss goal seems very lofty to me from this starting point: my ideal weight is 130-140lbs. Which means that I have between 55-65lbs to lose.

I can't deal with that big a number, so I will be going through my weight loss 5lbs by 5lbs. My first goal is to reach 190lbs.

I am a breastfeeding mother, so I have to make sure I do not mess around with my milk supply. My understanding right now is that I will need extra water and about 300 extra calories per day above my "weight loss" calorie number.

My weight-loss number (without accounting for nursing my son) is 1,523 calories per day as a stay at home mother with light activity. Accounting for nursing, I will be starting with eating 1,800 calories to see what happens with my milk supply. I will be keeping track of my daily food/calorie intake in a small notebook that I can carry in my purse. At this caloric intake, I *should* lose 2lbs per week.

If I stick with this, it should take me about 33 weeks to lose 65lbs. However, that is not accounting for any setbacks or plateaus. I am counting on this journey taking me the better part of an entire year. That is my commitment: it means I will have to go through birthdays, parties, holidays, weddings, etc. and still stick to my plan. I will need to plan ahead to attend these occasions and be successful.

I'm happy to hear from anyone who is going through weight loss or has successfully lost weight and maintained it in the past. Any hints or tips are much appreciated, and if you want to lose weight with me... come along!