First post... A Mission Statement?

Alrighty. To the point of this blog:

I have been dealing with my weight since I could remember. I have always been the chubby kid since kindergarten. There is no doubt my struggle with my weight has shaped my behavior. My epiphany occurred six years ago, when I weighed 280 pounds. I knew I was going to hit 300, if I did not change something about myself. I started with buying a recumbent bike and exercising with that every day at home (I can't go to a gym, my issues with my body image keep me away). I didn't lose weight, but I wasn't gaining either. Progress, however little.

I was fortunate enough to meet the person who would be my soul mate at the same time. Together, we did the Atkin's diet. I lost 60 pounds. It was a proud moment for me. But just like all fad diets, it cannot last. I started eating carbs again.

I started gaining weight again. My problem was I was trying to get back on Atkins, then cheat. Try again, cheat again. Rinse. Repeat. Every time I would resolve to stay true, I wouldn't. This has been going on for several years now. I was creeping back up to my original weight, but I've managed to forestall it, just by being way too worried about it. By the end of last year I was at 260 pounds.

This year, I decided to erase Atkins from my thoughts and try it the old-fashioned way. Diet and exercise. No fad diets mind you, just watching what I eat. This is the slowest process and I noticed that if I deviate a little, I feel the repercussions. I think the reason why this has not worked for me in the past is because I was not using the tools I had correctly. This blog is another tool, it will help me process what I have been doing to successfully lose weight.

So. On to what I am doing/my tools:

1. Work-out. I do 40 minutes of weight-lifting everyday except the weekends. I'm sure I should be doing more cardio, but I cannot seem to get myself into it. I realize if I cannot get into an exercise, I WILL talk myself out of it. Not a good idea if I want to lose weight.
2. Scale. I hate it. I hate seeing how much I weigh. But if I do not track my progress, how will I know? Every morning after working out I weigh myself. It may not be an accurate reading since I just spent time sweating, but it is ideal in what i do for the next step.
3. Go to http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/ . Here I track my weight, my physical activity and, most importantly, my food intake. I found this site a couple years ago and found it helpful. There is a catch, you MUST input as accurately as possible, as TRUTHFULLY as possible. No sense in using the site if you are going to lie to yourself about what you do, weigh and eat.
4. My latest tool: this! Again this is going to be use to process and journalize (did I just make up a new word) my progress. I see my progress on pyramidtracker.gov, but maybe through this I can further visualize what I am doing.

So there it is. My conclusion has always been weak when I wrote papers, so my conclusion to this post is probably just as weak. Oh well. My next post will be substantially shorter, I'm sure. Hopefully with cool screen shots and other visual articulations. Until then.

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