Happy New Year!

Okay, it's really still New Year's Eve where I am, but there is no telling if I will be awake at the stroke of midnight (or that I will be awake enough to post, at any rate).

I want to wish you much success during 2006. If you're like me and want to just feel good, why not bookmark this page? Then come on back and visit with me. Share in my triumphs...and my setbacks (hopefully those will be few and far between).

You might be wondering why I don't have a picture of myself posted. There is a very good reason for that. I am embarrassed at the way I look, plain and simple. However, tomorrow, January 1st, I will have my husband take several pictures of me. And when I have lost at least 25 pounds, I will post the first one (the most flattering one, naturally).

I have an awful lot of weight to lose. It's intimidating when I think of it. But one step (or pound) at a time. Eventually they will all add up.

So once again, have a happy New Year!

Ready...Set...

I'm actually not dieting, per se, at the moment. I am ramping down my food intake though. Every time I've gone on a weight-loss diet "cold turkey" I have failed within a week. I just got too frustrated because of the big changes I had to make. So, for the next 7 days I will be cutting my portions each day. Start weaning myself from coffee and other drinks with caffeine. I sure don't need a caffeine headache to start off my weight loss adventure!

Yesterday was hard, even so. I know I am sensitive to certain foods which I adore -- like bread and pasta -- but when I eat them my body lets me know. I get stuffed up and sneezy, like an allergy. In fact, for many years, I blamed my symptoms on my cats, that I was somewhat allergic to them. Nope.

But I couldn't go forever without bread and pasta.

So, I got inventive. I tried some health-food-store breads which are made with either no or very little wheat. Pretty decent -- kind of nutty but I enjoyed it. And instead of regular pasta, I found some made out of spelt. I found I could tolerate it better, but only in moderation.

What was yesterday's problem? I didn't have any of the "good" breads in the house to satisfy my craving. In fact there wasn't a whole lot of good foods to eat, and I ended up having to go grocery shopping. I got hungry, or more precisely I got cravings. It will take a few days for them to go away, or at least be less frequent.

I did order my supplements yesterday. I got some flax oil, evening primrose, L-carnatine and CoQ10 pills. They do make a difference when I take them. The flax is to make sure I get enough fat in my diet, so that my body doesn't crave it. The evening primrose and CoQ10 are anti-oxidants and help to regulate my moods somewhat (not to mention being good for the heart). And the L-carnatine is for my metabolism, to help it ramp up some. I order them online, since it's much less expensive than walking into the health food store and getting them. The down side is that it will take around 10 days to get here. Oh well, that's what I get for running out.

Here's hoping that today's cravings are fewer and farther between.

Gotta Start Somewhere

Okay, I've made my decision -- it's high time that I lose weight. Yeah, I know -- New Year's is around the corner this weekend. And the vast majority of New Year's resolutions fail. I know because I've had my share of those failures.

This time it will be different. I know what I have to do. After all these years of being overweight, I know how to do it. I just haven't.

In 2004 I did lose a fair amount of weight -- about 40 pounds worth. Did I gain it back? Yeah, I'm afraid so. And although I will "blame" (if that is the right word) it on the hurricanes we had in 2004, I know deep down that's not the case. Sure, maybe I gained 3 or 4 pounds then. But it was just an excuse.

So why do I blame the storms? Because we stock up on convenience foods. Crackers, cookies, juices, bread, peanut butter and jelly, canned meats -- stuff that's easy to prepare and doesn't need refrigeration. We lost power for a little over a week in one storm, for three days in the next. And because the electrical outage was wide-spread, the grocery stores didn't get fresh foods for several days after that.

But I could have gone back to losing weight after that. I just didn't. Even though I had already lost 40 pounds, so I knew I could do it. Even though I felt better with the weight off. People told me I looked better, too.

Why did I stop? Probably because I had so much still to lose - at least another 60 pounds. So far to go. And after those couple of weeks of the convenience foods, they called to me once more. I craved them again, like I hadn't for a few months.

Anyway, I want to go the distance this time. Lose the weight, for good and for all. There will be tough times, I'm sure. Maybe times I fall off the wagon (so to speak). But this time I will stand up, dust myself off and climb right back on.