Week One...

WHEW!

I'm sure glad that's over!

The past week was very difficult for me at times. I've had to deal with two sick kids, cabin fever, and a budgeting SNAFU (my fault...paid the wrong bills at the wrong time) that caused me to play "What Meals Can I Make Out of What's In the Pantry".

Side note: THIS site has an excellent tool at the top where you can enter ingredients you have on hand and it searches it's database of , like, a KA-TRILLION recipes and gives you a list of all the ones you can make with what you have. That saved my ample butt this week.

OK, back to the week. As I said before I started out doing the South Beach Diet. This diet has worked well for me in the past when I had only one child. I've never been successful on it with two kids. I was trying so hard to follow it and pretty much had to make myself a separate meal every time I made food for the rest of the family. That really blew....along with taking up precious time I didn't have, it was torturous to watch everyone eat really good stuff while I had vegetables and chicken.

So sometime Tuesday morning I had a mild breakdown over both of my children screaming inconsolably for what seemed like FOREVER for who knows what reason. And, like alot of people do, I found comfort in the bottom of a pint of Hagen Daaz. And NO, I did not eat the WHOLE pint....just most of it.

That was the point that I decided that I needed to switch gears for my own sanity and the well being of everyone in the line of my sugar deprived firing range. I switched over completely to Weight Watchers, which is the system I used to lose 50 pounds after Ellie was born.

LET ME TELL YOU:

I am a much happier person because I did this.

I only have to make one meal at dinner. I don't feel deprived. AND....I even had pizza Friday night with my family.

Oh, and I went to the gym once and did a spin class. IT NEARLY KILLED ME. But I felt pretty good afterward. I couldn't go for my other scheduled times because the kids were sick, but hopefully next week will be better.

That's my story for the first week....STAY TUNED

WEIGHT LOST WEEK ONE: 2LBS

GRAND TOTAL: 2LBS

Introductions Are in Order

Hi.

My name's Jill.

Some of you may know me from my other blog, here.

In the past three years I have had two beautiful children, gained and lost substantial amounts of weight due to these pregnancies and the chaotic life that ensued.

I used to work out a lot.

I used to look good in shorts.

I used to be able to fit into all my jeans from high school.

Those things haven't been true for a while now.

But, I'm about to change all of that.

I am reclaiming my body once again.

I want not only to look good in my shorts again, but I want to FEEL good. The kind of feeling good that comes from being healthy, and taking care of my body like I used to.

It's hard to find the time when you have two or MORE (GASP!) small children for yourself. But you know what I decided? How can I be of service to anyone else, if I forsake taking care of myself?

And so I begin what may be a long and painful (at least at first) journey. The purpose of this blog is to encourage, inspire, motivate, and just share sympathy with the other women who are embarking on this journey with me. There are about 10 of us so far (HI LADIES!) and our ranks are growing daily. Some of us are embarking on this journey with different goals and different strategies, but we all have a common goal. To look and feel better.

To begin, I'll tell you where I'm at and my goals...and I'm even going to post some UNFLATTERING PHOTOS of myself! DUN DUN DUN!

I have given myself until June first to reach my goals.

Currently, I'm 5'8" and a (tight) size 10 (NO, I am not giving you my exact weight)

I would like to lose 25# and fit comfortably back into my size 6 clothes.

I am doing the South Beach diet and my goal is to go to the gym 5X a week.

For the first month I am just going to do one group fitness class a week.

I'm going to update this blog once a week (or more if I need to) with my progress or pitfalls. Please feel free to comment who you are (if you want) and where you're at and where you'd like to be. Or remain a quiet spectator to my journey. Whatever you do, wish me luck!

NOTE: I am having computer issues, so those unflattering photos will have to wait until my tech (Husband) gets home.