The Long Haul...

It's time.

I'm really doing it this time.

No, for reals y'all...

I am going to lose this stupid college weight.

My freshman year of college, I did that thing my mom told me not to do. I gained the Freshman 15... make that 30. I drank, I ate too much (stupid buffet and delicious cookies) and I never exercised. It was a very healthy lifestyle, clearly. And although I have cut most of that out, for some reason, I didn't drop the weight immediately. Imagine that! So now I have to work at it.

As a disclaimer for future postings, I hate exercise. Not just a little, a whole lot. And it is not because I have never tried it, because I have. All forms and variations. Even with the TV on in front of me, I cannot stand to stand on a treadmill for more than 15 minutes at a time. Running outside makes me uncomfortable. I live in Atlanta, which is kind of scary sometimes, and I straight up do not like being outside. So what's a girl to do?!

Suck it up. I am almost 25 years old, meaning I have carried this extra weight around for seven years. It is time. It's time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about it. And finally, it's for the right reasons.

It's not that I feel guilty about my eating habits or lack of exercise. It's more that I have decided that being lazy and careless is no longer an excuse. And without those, I have no excuses. I have to get healthy. I have a lot to look forward to in the future and I would rather not be huffing and puffing and whining about how fat I look in the pictures. I want to feel good running around chasing my nephews. I deserve a better quality of life than the one I am giving myself.

Saturday was the turning point. I got my bridesmaids dress for Emily's wedding back from the alterations place and I looked like a great big whale. Granted, we took the dress back for further alterations and I will feel exponentially less whale-ish on Saturday, but still, the image lingered. I just knew it was actually time to do something about my weight, so I could be healthier and stronger and feel more secure and confident.

So Ryan picked up some healthy foods for dinner and it began. It wasn't the epic undertaking I had imagined it to be. Unfortunately, there was no fast forwarded montage through the weight loss process like in the movies. So I guess I am in it for the long haul...

I am eating much smaller portions of healthier foods. No drastic changes there. I'm drinking very little and only rarely. No big changes there either. The main changes have been the exercise and the removal of all Coke products from my life.

The exercise. I am doing, mostly, a program called P90X. It. Is. Brutal. BRUTAL. It is so hard and intense. Since I am not in the best shape of my life, I do what I can and push myself each time to get better, go farther and last longer. It is going to be a proud day when I am able to finish one of those videos without laying on the floor unable to move for half an hour afterward. For the record, I have a cycle of a few videos I am doing, not the whole set. The whole set would be waaaaaaaaaaay to intense for someone of my out-of-shapeness! Maybe that is another goal to have... you know... down the road...

So here are the stats as they stand:

Height: 5'10

Starting Weight: 169

Current Weight: 164.5

Goal Weight: 145

Ideal Completion: June 21, 2011 (The day I go to Greece with the girls!)

Thanks for reading my self-serving and cathartic rant (if you got this far)!

I'll be less detailed, while still keeping you posted about my weight loss journey in the future. PROMISE!!

Best wishes and blessings,

B