YUCK!!! GROSS!!!!! The Before...

In 1999, I turned 30, weighed 112 pounds and was a size 0/2. I didn't count calories or exercise but my life was certainly busy with two young sons, a consulting firm to run, and lots of fun to have around South Orange County, California. I guess life was my exercise. And life was good. I married my now husband in 2000, tapered off my career and began life as a stay-at-home mom. It was a huge transition! Life takes crazy turns.

Nine years later, I'm dealing with empty nest syndrome and trying to figure out what to do with my life. I had a career that I can't step back into and I'm not sure that I would really want to even if I could. My kids are now 18 and 17. They need me when they need me and the rest of the time they wish I weren't around. That's normal for teenagers as they try to break out on their own and build their own lives. My husband wants to be supportive but doesn't really know what to do.

Turning 40 this year really hit me even though I didn't expect it to. One of the things you just can't ignore about aging is that your hormones do change, your metabolism slows waaaaayyyyyyy down, and you start gaining fat in areas you never had it before. It's insane! I have had "saddlebags" since I had my sons in my twenties but they were small and I could still wear almost anything. I never had a tummy or, more accurately descriptive of what I have now, a GUT. Over the last couple of years I have grown this gut that won't stop. While my weight has hovered between 126 and 132, my stomach has grown from 34" around in 2007 to 39" today. 5 INCHES IN TWO YEARS!!! I sometimes feel like a victim of the bodysnatchers. Like someone came in the night and switched bodies with me.

I know that I don't weigh alot or take up alot of room on the couch. There are alot of people with really serious weight problems will think that I'm ridiculous to be on a diet. Some girls have said, "I wish I was only as fat as you." But the truth is I don't feel good about my body and my body IS high in fat. Belly fat puts you at greater risk for arterial build-up, heart disease, and heart attack. It's not healthy medically or physically and it's definitely not healthy psychologically. I don't want to be a "stick" or look like Nicole Ritchie. I just want to look like my best, healthy self.

This blog is an honest diary of how I am dealing with losing this weight and getting my body back on track metabolically. In the spirit of honesty I am going to post the most embarrassing pictures of my life. Hopefully, in the end I'll be able to post pics that look a million times better and vindicate myself. sigh.....






I bought this bikini at the Bloomington Walmart in St. George, Utah. $12.99 for each piece. Hopefully it won't fit me by the time I go to the beach. lol!

This is a link to a really great article on Belly Fat; how we get it, how it effects us, and how to get rid of it with food & lifestyle recommendations. http://www.spavelous.com/EB/N080516/Belly-Fat01.html