Oh Christmas Tree...errrh...Oh Cheese Ball

Being back in Nashville always seems like a nice and relaxing time until I get here and then it turns into a three ring circus...running here and there and everywhere. Last night I finally had some time to reflect so I made a cheese ball for dinner. I'm not sure a weight loss blog that starts off with a cheese ball for dinner is the best idea but go with me here.

Making, and eating and then throwing away the cheese ball was a bit symbolic of this whole process. Basically I go out of my way to make this hard for me. I didn't go to the store and BUY a cheese ball....no, I went to the store and bought all of the ingredients needed-- spent 30 minutes in the kitchen making it and then started eating it. The good thing? I had some of it and then threw the rest away. I didn't put it in the fridge for later consumption.

I've got to do a better job of setting myself up for success.

The good news is that I'm back on the Lose It app and have done killer workouts the last 2 days. AND...i'm about to pop up now for a Christmas morning hike. Then off to dad's for brunch, then to feed Herr Ludwig the Cat, then back to my house to make a cake and then to Bryn's for proper gift giving and what not.

Much love to all on Christmas and much love to me just because.

When Are you Due?

Dear Lord Please Don't Let Me Eat An Entire Cheese Ball Today To Make Up For A Stupid Lady.

Look Back: In 2008 I was wearing a green baby doll dress to my already stress inducing High School reunion and some idiot asked me when my baby was due. While I was drinking alcohol. I promised myself never to get that offended ever again if some stupid person asked me that question.

Today, while I was contemplating spending way too much money at Tiffany's the lovely sales lady asked when I was due. I truly didn't hear her correctly, and thought she asked "what" I did...as in, I'm in marketing lady, but then she REPEATED herself. I coyly smiled and told her I wasn't DUE or going to be due. At first I was a bit taken aback because we all know the rule...And the rule is NEVER, UNDER ANY FUCKING CIRCUMSTANCE EVER ASK A WOMAN WHEN SHE IS DUE UNLESS SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL TO GIVE BIRTH THAT VERY SECOND.

But then I looked at myself: baggy dress, covered by a really baggy long sweater, a scarf, leggings and boots. I had also commented that my fingers were swollen recently. I was totally giving her...pregnant lady.

The next thing I know she looks like she's about to cry so I tell her to not think another thing about it-- then she actually starts crying. And then I start crying. And now we're both crying at Tiffany's looking at beautiful Frank Gehry jewelery.

I think she learned the rule today. And I learned not to get (too) offended by people that mean no harm.

On that note-- I did a crazy hard workout this morning and have eaten well today. I promise to weigh when I get back to Atlanta.

Blaxican

Today had some highs and some lows.

The highs:
1. I ate healthy for breakfast
2. I had a orange bell pepper for dessert
3. I had training shirts made for my co-workers that are running the LA marathon in January and I sent them out today.
4. My dinner consisted of mostly vegetables

The lows:
1. The Blaxican food truck came to the office today-- My lunch isn't to be spoken about ever again but it involved mac & cheese and a sausage taco.
2. I've been stealing someone's Baby Bell cheeses in the office-- I shouldn't be stealing or eating them.
3. I worked too late and didn't go to the gym
4. My dinner also involved some pasta

Tomorrow morning I meet with my trainer again, who successfully kicked my ass on Tuesday. The ass kicking was along the lines of thinking I was near death. You get it.

Lastly, I applied to be the Poster Child for my company's "fit for flight" program. Basically-- I get to encourage everyone I work with to be healthy, work out, eat well-- all that good stuff-- and they help me achieve my goals too. We'll see if I get chosen.

Veggies and what not

So, today I'm going to work out with my trainer and to say that I'm nervous is what some may call an understatement. I've been active over the last few weeks but the eating has been pretty bad and I know that it can affect energy level and strength so hopefully I'll make it through without dying. No promises.

However, today I'm getting back on my Lose It App and have eaten, better and at the very least haven't had any alcohol (nor will I). I'm planning veggies and brown rice for dinner and will continue the healthy eating through the rest of the week.

I'm going to weigh again on Monday-- dear lord, don't let it be worse than when I started. So far to go-- and this isn't easy But I know I can do it.

Something about a wagon

I know there's a saying about getting on the wagon, falling off the wagon, towing the wagon, a wagon crossing the river via the Oregon trail-- all of that. I'm not exactly sure what type of wagon's people always refer to whether they are red, made of wood, go fast or slow or have horses pulling them.

All I know is that I seem to have missed the wagon and fallen directly from an airplane without a parachute. 5 days of vacation, then directly to 5 days in Key West with my co-workers, and now to 4 days of vacation has not been great for my goals. I stopped using my app, I've been eating pretty miserably, and I've been drinking pina colada's. But it's not ALL BAD NEWS. Yesterday I walked/ran (ok, I walked) a 5K. Today I walked another 5K and also kayaked for 2 hours. Tomorrow I'll snorkel and get some walking in as well.

Monday I'll fly back to Atlanta and I've decided to stay until Saturday to get back on at least 5 days of normal schedule before heading back to Nashville. Then I'll stay in Nashville until the 1st to try and get into a schedule in Nashville-- it's all about the schedule. I've also decided to not drink for the month of January as solidarity with my boss as she's going to cleanse for the month.

OK. Enough of this...I'm at the beach. Later yall.

A little hazy.

I've had much to say recently but am having a hard time putting it down on paper, er..blog. I'll try to break it up here.

1. I gained weight last week. 1.5lbs. In some ways I'm surprised as I started tracking my food/calories last week and per my Lose It App I should have easily lost 2 lbs last week as I stayed under my calorie allowance by over 3,000. That being said, I juice cleansed prior to the week before's weigh which leads me to believe that most of it was water weight. I don't plan to juice cleanse anymore right before a weigh as I think it gives an inaccurate gauge of where I actually am. Lastly, on the weight thing-- I'm going to start weighing on Monday's. The reason is that it's how the Lose It tracks my calories and once I start traveling more it's more likely that I'm at home on a Monday AM than a Wednesday AM. I'll start next Monday.

2. Yesterday I had my first training session with Brandy my new personal trainer- HOLY SHIT I'm sore today. It was only 30 minutes but I was drenched in sweat by minute 10-- it's probably the hardest I've worked in 30 minutes since high school soccer. The best part? I didn't have time to complain or say anything about well, anything. In the past my personal trainers have all been relatively chatty which made my workout more of a social session and less of a kick your butt session. We moved so quickly from 1 exercise to another there was no time for anything else.

3. Currently I'm located in a beautiful home on St. George Island-- the bay is just feet away and I'm enjoying myself immensely. Usually when I'm down here I eat really well but last night was pretty horrible-- it involved way too much wine, pasta, mashed potatoes and dessert. We were celebrating Coke's birthday and our dear friend Jonathan played some beautiful guitar music at the restaurant to top off the evening.

4. I was planning on training for a 5k while I'm on vacation but that got put to a swift halt today when I went out for a run and realized I fucking hate running. I'm horrible at it. My feet hurt. I was sore from yesterday's workout, I have some other non mentionable pains and I was miserable. Maybe one day I'll enjoy running again-- today is not the day. And it's not like I'm not working out-- I walked 3 miles this morning, will do another few mile walk later today on the beach and will also get in a yoga session today. I think it's OK that I don't run.

5. Lastly, Big thanks to John Wells who sent me a message on Lose It reminding me to not stop tracking while I'm on vacation. Just that little message got me back on track and helped a lot-- thanks Wells. We got this.

VACATION. yes please.

Tomorrow after I work out with my new trainer for the first time I'm heading for a little beach vacay to St. George Island until Sunday. That's 4 whole sleeps at the beach-- I can't wait. Most of my beach trips involve copious amounts of seafood, white wine and beach walks. This time I'm going to decrease the wine consumption, increase the walks and we'll be good. I always eat pretty healthy cause mostly I consume salads and fish or salads and shrimp or nothing but oysters.

However, this beach trip will be a little different- I'm going to teach myself how to run again because in 1 week I have to run a 5K with work people and to say that I can't run a 5K right now is a bit of an understatement. I'm also vacationing with a yoga teacher (Linda) and I've asked her to lead me in some classes-- so I figure if I run and yoga every day I'll be doing pretty amazing.

On the way to St. George I'm going to stop in Carrabelle where my uncle Bo has set up his new home-- super excited to see how he's living in this sleepy little coastal town.

I'm a bit nervous for tomorrow's workout session as I haven't eaten the best the last few days but I have been good about working out-- need to get back on track fo shizzle. More on that tomorrow.

I also made another cheese ball tonight for my friend Misty...and I might have had some of it. FUCK.

OK...happy thoughts. I'm off to pack!

Cheese, cheese and more cheese

So....I've been doing AMAZING on the workouts-- really killing it. However, Sunday was my good friend Whitney's holiday party and I made the Laiolo cheese ball-- that shit is just amazing. Then my friend Ashley made this buffalo chicken cream cheese dip of sorts...and Marc brought Frito's. It was ON like Donkey Kong. All of that being said-- I stayed within my weekly calorie budget with a couple of thousand to spare-- GO ME. We'll see what happens when it's scale time on Wednesday.

Wells apparently struggled this weekend with the food and alcohol and I can totally empathize but we're in this together.

More to come this week when I start training for a 5K. This should be funny.

40 year old skinny bitches

So, I attend a gym that consists of what seems to be Atlanta's finest 40 year old's (ish), that are in amazing shape and are also equally beautiful. I'm not sure exactly what draws this crowd to my gym...maybe it's other people that look the same as them but that's pretty much the demo. There's also a scattering of really in shape guys-- most seem to be gay although some are definitely dragged by their 40 year old insanely in shape wife or girlfriend.

Now, I have no room to call any of these women bitches, in fact, none of them have been mean to me-- mostly I'm just jealous of their ridiculously insane bodies (at 40) and the fact that they have plenty of money to adorn themselves in Lululemon from head to toe.

Earlier today when I was at the gym I realized there's this 1 really tall woman that I see there all the time (she fits into the aforementioned category-- 40ish, lululemon wearing, insane body...you get the point) and I came to a realization-- these women have these insane bodies because they are in the gym ALL THE FUCKING TIME. I imagine they also eat well-- they probably own stock in nutritional yeast companies, never drink beer and would turn their nose up at an empanada (shout out to Ruben)!

It dawned on me that this really is a lifestyle. It's not something I'm doing until May and/or I get to my goal weight and then I just get to go on auto-drive. Nope. Once I lose all the weight and get to a good place I don't get to go back to a diet of chicken wings, pasta, cheese on cheese on cheese and too much booze. I don't get to become sedentary again. I mean, I could do all of those things but then I'll end up where I am now-- or where I was a month ago. That's not a fucking option. It turns out I want to be one of those 40 year old bitches who can plank for hours, who look amazing doing mountain climbers, whose back muscles I can actually SEE. I'm certainly never going to give up treating myself-- because we all know--- I like food and the food industry way too much for that to happen BUT...I don't get to relax. This isn't about relaxing, in fact, it's about a way of life. The sooner that I come to that realization the sooner I stop fighting myself.

I remember watching Bob the trainer on the Biggest Loser telling his team this all the time-- it's a way of life-- but for the most part they go back home and it turns out it's not THEIR way of life. That's what makes me feel good about doing it this way. I'm not trying to lose 10 lbs a week. I'm not working out 4 hours a day and eating 800 calories. Nope. This is a way of life. It's not going to come overnight-- but that's OK because I have the rest of my life to live this way. BOOM!

Water

I drank little to NO water today and didn't realize it until about 4pm. Today was spent working in the field and therefore I didn't even really think about it...I've got to do better with my water.

But in good news I've been keeping up with my Lose It app and haven't eaten more calories yet each day than I should and haven't felt hungry or unsatisfied. I also haven't had any alcohol since Saturday-- going to keep it going hopefully for a while. Feeling good.

Lastly, I finished a great book last night-- The Art of Hearing Heartbeats...it didn't flow as nicely as I would have liked but the story was beautiful.

That's all I got right now...tired.

Lemons

It's amazing how shitty occurrences in your life can just throw you completely off kilter. Bad news came through at work today that just made me fucking furious. I mean mad. I thought that going to the gym would help me calm down, work it out and that I would come out leaving fresh and care free. Well, that didn't happen. The entire time I was in class I wanted to leave. I think at one point I actually said out loud "I want to kill myself". Obviously, I don't want to kill myself. Nor should I let work ever get me this riled up BUT DAMN.

In the past I would have skipped the workout and gone straight to the bar. Or perhaps straight to a bowl of pasta. But no. Not this time.

I'm at home. About to make myself a salad and then have an Amy's bowl...total maybe 500 calories or so. According to my Lose It App I have 700 or left for the day (without incorporating the workout-- which was lame as duck).

Losing weight is going to be a daily battle like this one. I'm going to go ahead and let you know I'm not going to win all of these battles. I will lose some-- but hopefully I'll win many more than I lose. I know I'm also not going to lose 5lbs every week (WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME?)....but rather it will be up and down.

Here's some interpretive dance to cheer me up...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxUiHNyO04c&feature=youtu.be

Double Take

I tossed and turned all night. Dreamt of weighing myself. Both things that possessed crazy people do actually. I digress. I woke up about 5 minutes ago, went to take a tinkle and hopped on the scale. 217.5 That's a 5lb weight loss from last week. Holy shit. You know...I always wondered on the Biggest Loser those weeks where they wouldn't lose ANYTHING and then come back the next week and pull a big number...turns out...it actually happens. Why is that? I'll ask someone smarter than me sometime soon.

Now, I'm fully aware that a lot of this weight is water weight from my juice cleanse. But, when I think about the biggest difference in my diet between this week and the last it's the alcohol-- and the hungover eating situation. DAMN YOU ALCOHOL and SAUSAGE GRAVY.

Nervous Tuesdays

Since I've decided to weigh myself every Wednesday morning to keep up with my progress I've been a nervous wreck on Tuesday's. (ok...so it's just been 2 Tuesday's but you get the point). I was so nervous I even weighed myself tonight with all of my clothes on just to give myself a since of what I was going to see in the morning. It's like I'm scared to succeed. Also, I've been very nervous about the copious amounts of macaroni and cheese I consumed on Saturday and Sunday for Thanksgiving. Argh.

Tonight I'm going to decorate the Christmas tree, listen to Sharon Van Etten (who, interestingly enough, attended my alma mater MTSU) and drink water. The juice cleanse has given me horrible heartburn but I'm pretty dedicated to keep on the plan until tomorrow. This evening I went grocery shopping so tomorrow when I'm back on the regular foods I have some good healthy options in the house (veggies).

Lastly, today I made arrangements to start working out with a personal trainer at my gym-- her name is Brandy and I adore her classes. She's in stupid ridiculous amazing shape and is super motivating in class. While I know that my weight loss will be mostly about my food (and drink) choices I want to continue to be very active to increase my strength, flexibility and agility.

Alright...back to the tree!

Arden's Garden Juice Detox..yum?

I'm back bitches.

Atlanta has welcomed me with open arms and the Arden's Garden saw me first thing this morning to purchase my 2-day Juice Cleanse. The goal for Wednesday's weigh in is to not have gained weight over Thanksgiving. I have no doubt that my mac & cheese consumption did not help. But hopefully the juice cleanse will even some things out.

The next exciting thing is that I've started using the Lose It! app with my friend John Wells (Wells). We're in this together and it's going to be awesome. It tracks our calories and other pertinent food information like fiber, protein, carbs, etc. We can also enter our weight and it tells us how many calories we can intake to accomplish our goal. I have a daily allowance of 1562 (it will decrease as my weight decreases-- which kind of sucks, but I suppose I get it). When I work out I can add the calories I burned to my allowance. My goal is to stick to the calorie intake without factoring in the working out.

The good thing is that the juice itself is only 550 calories per day so I'll start the week off well. I just have to remember when it's Friday and I have 5,000 calories to eat over the weekend that I don't actually consume all of them!

OK. Off to pee.

Cheese on cheese on cheese

It's officially Laiolo Thanksgiving day...this is day 2 of cooking for more than 4 hours. Yikes! Today I'm responsible for green beans (not a casserole), sweet potatoes and mac & cheese. Now these aren't your traditional recipes...oh no, I like to throw a little unconventional into my cooking. Needless to say, I'm a little pooped.

I did manage to get to hike Ganier Ridge yesterday with Lacey-- about 5 miles-- about 2 of which are fucking difficult. But-- it was well worth it-- felt great all day.

Today I woke up early and headed to Pure Barre with Cara-- similar to the Exhale Core Fusion Barre classes I take. It was a great workout and another good start to the day. Today I'm dragging a bit and might cheer myself up with a Red Bull.

Tomorrow I'll head back to Atlanta and will work to get back on more of a normal eating schedule although I'm happy to say my workout regime has continued with me to Nashville and I couldn't be prouder of myself. Next Wednesday I'm going to start counting my calories with the Loose It app with my friend Wells.

Oh, Nashville...

It's been so great being home in Nashville over the past few days and I'm happy to report I've kept my glutony to minimum of sorts. Wednesday morning I worked out in Atlanta before the drive and ate relatively well-- in fact, I had dinner with my good friend Lacey and didn't have any wine (well, maybe a few sips of her glass) but-- pretty stellar. Then we all went out to meet friends for drinks and I had 1 beer- not perfect, but still, much better than the alternative.

Yesterday had its ups and downs, I only had one plate at granny's for lunch but did a little bit of picking afterwards. I must stop picking at food. It's either on my plate or it's not going in my mouth.

Last night dad made my favorite dish of curry, shrimp pasta-- it was good but I tried to focus on the shrimp and less of the pasta. I had a glass or so of white wine and then met Matt, Carrie and Charlie out for 1 beer and a whiskey drink.

Today will be difficult. I'm making 2 versions of Lasagna for dinner for about 8 of my family members-- one will be vegetarian with brown rice lasagna noodles-- super healthy(ish).

Oooohh-- also yesterday, I went on a hike at Radnor Lake. Go Me!

Today I'm planning on hitting Radnor again, this time for a more serious hike in terms of difficulty. And tomorrow I'm going to the Nashville version of Barre-- Pure Barre with Cara. Staying active is so important mentally in my goal.

Alright, now to make some eggs for breakfast and get ready for working out and shopping (food). You couldn't fucking PAY ME to go shopping on Black Friday. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Peace out turkey's.

It's weigh day...

222.5. Well, I lost 2 lbs or so from the doctor scale (the original scale and weight that I'm measuring my progress from). So that's awesome. I gained a pound from my scale. Not so awesome. I now drive home to Nashville for 5 days of friends and family. I'll do my best but am not fucking starving myself on Thanksgiving week. I WILL, however, plan to work out every day (maybe not one---I'm super sore and I hear its good to give your body one day off to recover).

Right now, I'm headed to my Atlanta gym for the end of the Turkey Challenge. 14 classes in 17 days. And dear lord I feel it. But I feel good. Last night in Cardio I did almost every single one of the mountain climbers the REAL way...not the modified way that I have pussied my way through the past few months. GO ME!

OK. Must go back, hit the gym and hit the road. Happy Turkey Day eve!

ARGH.

So I got on the scale this morning. I gained a pound. Up to 222.5. WTF?

I've been working out like crazy and have been relatively watching what I eat-- except for Sunday. And well, there was all the drinking on Saturday. Hmmm...OK. I know what I need to do. Eat more veggies, drink more water, and eat less calories. That's going to be the only way this works.

The good news? I'm getting stronger. I can feel it when I'm working out. I'm working harder, I'm moving quicker, I'm recovering faster-- and that is a blessing. It's amazing how quickly your body can and will respond when you train it properly.

I can't thank the awesome staff at Exhale http://www.exhalespa.com/locations/atlanta/ in Atlanta more...they are so motivating and of course my workout buddy Ashley-- I swear she gives me so much motivation to get my ass to the gym and work hard while I'm there. It's amazing what good will of others will do for you.

On a funny note, I think I've found my actual butt. It was hiding behind lots of other un-namely sources (fat) but it seems to be appearing slowly. Now, don't get the wrong-- the fat isn't gone-- nowhere nearly close but the shape of an actual butt seems to starting to form on my backside. Interesting. Apparently it is a muscle after all.

Oh and its Thanksgiving week. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

This is going to be hard

So this weekend was filled of a little bit of good and a little bit of atrocious. Friday night I worked out and ate healthy-- big win. Saturday I got up and worked out, ate relatively well but drank too much.
- 2 Miller Lites- GA tech tailgate
- split 2 bottles of wine with Ashley
- bottle service of vodka and champagne at Koo Koo Room

I was celebrating Vandy's big win against UT-- suck it BIG ORANGE. But Saturday's debauchery lead to a Sunday of relative poor food decisions. Have you ever been to Homegrown? I officially crown it the best southern food I've ever had in a restaurant. http://www.homegrownga.com/ You must visit. There may have been some pimento cheese covered salmon patties and fried green tomatoes. There might have also been some fried chicken on a biscuit and sausage gravy. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AMAZING.

Tomorrow will be a new day...heading to the gym, eating well-- one day at a time.

I went to JCT Kitchen and ordered a salad

I'm not sure how many of you guys have been to JCT Kitchen in Atlanta but they are known for their southern food with an upscale flair...the menu is filled with things like:
Southern Fried Chicken Salad
Grilled Cheese w Tomato Soup
Pork 3 ways salad
Shrimp & Grits
YOU GET THE POINT...

I went to this establishment for the first time today at lunch with my Field Marketing Manager Bean and you know what? I WAS GOOD! I ordered the poached shrimp salad with bibb lettuce and avocado and a side of brussels sprouts. I really wanted the truffle fries, and the pimento cheese fry bread...I have no idea what fry bread is but I'm pretty certain my feelings on pimento cheese.

The good news? I LEFT HAPPY. I was happy about my decisions and I left satisfied-- my food was great, light and filled with vegetables and protein-- GO ME!

Oh, you want to know about my workout regime? Well, I've taken Barre for the last 2 days and am planning on going again tomorrow-- BOOM! Might also add a walk in tomorrow if the weather is nice.

Lastly, I'm giving a big shout out to my work buddy AK for helping me stay focused, guiding me and always providing great support. He would be proud of the yummy dinner I just made: broiled asparagus, brown rice, chicken curry.

Day 2

I'm not sure how many people start out DAY 1 by not working out but yesterday when I woke up I was so swore and my body ached from going hard the 3 previous days that I took a rest day. I also drove to Charlotte yesterday and was able to keep my food reasonable while traveling.
In the AM I had:
-Breakfast tea with 1.5 splenda packets and a dollop of skim mill
-egg white/spinach  wrap from Starbucks
-Lunch was a salad with black beans, egg, red peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing
-afternoon snack was another egg white/spinach wrap
-dinner was an Amy's bowl and some fresh strawberries.
Total calories I estimate to be around 1300.

TODAY I'm about to head to the gym for a 12:15 workout-- I usually workout after work but I'm trying this to see how my energy levels are different during the day. I made a yummy smoothie for breakfast with: 1 teaspoon peanut butter, protein powder, banana, and 1/4 cup of choc soy milk-- The smoothie comes in around 250 calories but is filled with GREAT stuff and keeps me full all morning.

AND IN REALLY GOOD NEWS...I weighed myself yesterday on my scale at home and I came in at 221.5. My plan will be to weigh myself 1 time a week (Wednesday) (no MORE than that or I'll make myself crazy). I'm going to weigh myself in the morning as that's when you're the lightest :).

Mental thought: I'm actually excited to go to the gym today-- feeling good-- physically and mentally.

The Journey Begins. Officially.

Welcome to the blog about my goal to lose 48 pounds by my 33rd birthday-- May 15, 2013. Today is November 13th which means I have almost exactly 6 months to achieve the goal...and the smart people say that 2lbs a week is healthy and do-able, so damnit, here goes nothing.

I went to the doctor today (more on that later) and I got on the always present scale...OH DEAR LORD YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT IT SAID. 224 lbs. Of course I immediately started making excuses as to how I'm sure I actually only weigh 215 or so....I was wearing a big baggy sweater, I'm PMS'ing and definitely bloated, I've been working out a lot in the past week and my muscle gain has been so tremendous that it's added 5-10 lbs already....bullshit I tell you. All of it.

The reason I weigh 224 lbs is because I love to eat food. And drink beer, and wine, and vodka, and bushwackers. I enjoy cheese more than other humans-- in fact I cannot control myself around a bag of string cheese. I also really like to eat more than I SHOULD...I'm fully aware that the reason we eat is to keep us moving, give us energy to get through the day-- but I get some sort of sick enjoyment from being FULL.  I also weigh 224 lbs because I haven't been on a regular workout routine, since, oh...1998 or so. Now, don't get me wrong-- I'm one of those in shape fat people. I workout, lift weights, go on hilkes and if I had to run a marathon tomorrow I could finish it. It wouldn't be pretty, and I certainly couldn't run more than a mile or 2 at a time, but I would finish it.

The bottom line (no butt comments, please) is that I'm going on this journey right now because there's no time like the present. And because I'm 32. For those who know me well, 32 is my favorite number and I would like to end the last six months of this year achieving something. Striving for a goal and making it happen. I know exactly HOW to do it. I just have to make it happen.

This blog will chronicle by daily food journal, my workouts, wanting to kill my co-workers for crazy late night pizza & room service orders, my friends who like me, love cheese and just about anything else that inspires me.

I'm fully aware that I need to lose more than 48 lbs but one goal at a time people.

Here we go!