Losing Battle

Doesn't everyone want to lose a few pounds?

It seems everywhere you look, you're inundated with messages on how to lose weight. Try this pill, eat only these foods...you can't escape the message. From TV shows to every woman's magazine out there, experts tout their plans. And, of course, their plan is the quickest, easiest, the best!

Now, I know I need to lose a *few* pounds. Alright, I need to lose a LOT of pounds to be considered healthy ;)

I have fought my weight almost my entire life. Throughout school, I participated in 3 sports a year, and looking back at pictures...I looked good. Healthy and very athletic. BUT, because I wasn't a tiny size, I went my whole high school career thinking I could stand to lose 20 pounds. I would give anything right now to look like I did my senior year of high school! Four years of college added about 20 pounds to my 5'3" frame, and I started my first "real" job. Boy, did I gain. No joke, only three months into my job, I had put on another 20 pounds. Really. That's what happens when you eat every meal out and don't exercise at ALL. At least for me.

I managed to get the weight off for my wedding, but it didn't last long. By the time I conceived Miss O, I was at my heaviest. Ever. And it sure didn't end there. I don't even know how much I weighed when I had her...I refused to look at the scale near the end. Bre.ast feeding her melted the weight off, but when I stopped nursing when she was 9 months old, I didn't change how I was eating. By her 1st birthday, I almost weighed as much as the day she was born. I worked hard to get all the "baby" weight off and then some between 2005 and 2006.

Ironically, I was at the lowest weight I've been at in YEARS when I had the ectopic pregnancy. And that's when I started gaining again.

So, I'm currently just below what I weighed when I got pregnant in 2003. I'm not at my heaviest, thank goodness, but I'm not comfortable with where I am or how my clothes are fitting. AND, since it looks like 2009 is going to be the year we decide to give IVF a shot, I need to get on the ball. 'Cause if I'm going to lay down that kind of cash, I want to give it the best opportunity to happen, you know?

The good news is M. is on board with me. He wants to lose a few pounds, so we're both currently counting points. And we've made it to the gym twice so far this week! I've told him, this isn't a diet this time...it's going to be a way of life. I don't want Miss O ever to worry about her weight or tie her self-esteem into a number on the scale. I just want her to be healthy and happy.

Here's to a slimmer, and VERY healthy 2009!