Paying Respects to A Mountain.....

Height: 5'8
Weight: 231
BMI: 35 (obese)
Age: 24

Background: I've always been overweight; looking back in high school, though, I think that it was more a matter of twenty to thirty pounds and gaining the confidence to stand up straight. I think that I was told (thanks mom) so often that I was fat, that my brain started thinking that I was... and then when I actually started to tip the scales, I just didn't notice. At my heaviest, I was 267, at my fiance's brother's wedding, and I couldn't believe the pictures. They were terrifying! Not only did I look like I probably spent my free time eating fettucine alfredo topped with ice cream topped with butter topped with sprinkles, the weight made me look so OLD. I was 23, and looked like I could be well into my thirties.

I was able to get down to 227 on my own, and then (thank God!) only gained about five of that back, and maintained that for the last year. This year, though, it's MY turn to walk down the aisle-- and when I got our engagement pictures back, I was speechless. The ONLY ones I liked were from the neck up. That got me thinking about 'the big day'-- would I be standing at the altar, worried that the crowd was examining my waistline?

I joined Weight Watchers on October 5th, totally motivated with my best friend Tiffany to reach my goals this year. We are in the process of hammering out an agreement so that we can be accountibilibuddies (YOU try spelling it!) and also so that we can do this the right way, the healthy way, and make sure the weight stays off for good. We decided that when we reach our final goal, we want to have a prize that is HUGE.... but we haven't decided yet what that prize will be.

My agreement/challenge:

I am going to lose weight one 10% at a time. It will probably take me four to get all the way to goal.

Goal one: 208
Goal two: 188
Goal three: 170
Goal four: 160

Rewards:

Goal 1: A manicure/pedicure
Goal two: a full body massage
Goal three: buying something for our final prize... (like an outfit, new swimming suit, etc)
Goal four: The big prize!

I also have an over-all fitness goal, and that is that I want to compete in a 5K run. I don't want to win-- I just want to finish. I have NEVER been athletic-- the closest to 'sports' I ever came was my high school's show choir-- but I have always been jealous of people that I see running in the mornings in their little sports bras and tight shorts. I have NO idea how to even get started on that whole business, so I will be updating here as I figure it out.

I weigh in on Tuesdays, so I will be tracking my progress here at least once a week, with random blurbs on days when I do something great and days when I want to throw my scale under a steamroller. Ha ha.