Blog Launch!!!

You know they say that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, so is true for "the apple of MY eye." Okay, I know that is a bad analogy. What I'm trying to say is that my precious girl has begun her own blog. Who knew that this outlet would be contagious in the family?

So, without further ado, I am proud to announce the launch of E's blog:

http://www.backtomyskinnyjeans.blogspot.com/

I don't want to take away her thunder but as you might have guessed from the title, she's blogging about her exercise and weight loss journey. You will want to go check it out. While I haven't mentioned it much on the blog, I am on the same journey. Honestly, it's one I'd rather not take. It began on March 23rd and to date I have lost 31.2 pounds. I 've come a long way but I've got a ways to go. I began my journey with a good friend and honestly, without her love and support I'm not sure I would have made it. She was and continues to be a great supporter, encourager and cheerleader. My husband has been fabulous as well. He eats everything I fix without complaint and encourages me constantly in my progress. I'm trying to do the same for my girl. By the way, my good friend has already reached her goal weight and looks fabulous!!

This is the deal: I've always loved to eat. And then once married, I discovered the joy of cooking. While I'm not a gourmet cook, I love to try to new recipes and cook the Southern way. Unfortunately, I enjoyed it too much. So much so that not only did I become overweight and unhealthy but , and this is the worst part, I passed this on to my girl. The men in our family are somewhat immune to this however D has lost some weight since I began my new regimen, has been running on a regular basis (training for the Peachtree Road Race) and overall, feels much better. G has always been tall and thin but even the "freshman fifteen" stung him. It didn't last long though and he lost it his sophomore year. Why is so easy for boys to lose?

So, on March 23rd I began a total transformation in my eating habits. I cut out carbs and now eat only lean meats, salads, most vegetables and protein shakes. I'll be the first admit that it wasn't easy. Why? I had been carb addicted. It's tough kicking a long-established addiction. I'd also been Diet Coke addicted. oooh. That was almost as bad as the sugar. You know I'm a girl who loves nothing better than her chocolate chip cookie and a Diet Coke. The program I'm on allows you a little protein bar (i.e.heavenly sweet snack, manna from heaven) after the first two weeks. I drink lots and lots of water and the occasional unsweetened tea.
Oh, this is interesting. I went through the drive thru yesterday at McDonalds to get a large unsweet tea (which is only $1, comes in a Styrofoam cup and is what I use to fight off the hunger pains) and the sweet girl at the window told me that they sell twice as many unsweet teas as they do sweet now. Isn't that interesting that in Gainesville, Georgia unsweet outsells sweet tea 2 to 1? At least at that McDonalds it does.

In addition I'm exercising consistently, mostly walking on the treadmill or track with D and doing a little weight lifting. I've discovered that I can listen to an entire Andy Stanley or Francis Chan podcast while walking. It's great. When they're done, I'm done. About 45 minutes and I've walked over 2 1/2 miles.

I'll have to admit I enjoy shopping alot more than I did. I went to one of my favorite stores TJ Maxx last night and discovered I could get my rear (the biggest part of my body) into a significantly smaller size than what I had been wearing. Never one to celebrate alone, I sent E and D a text message to tell them! It was a small and huge victory all at the same time. By the way, the clearance aisle there was amazing. I got a pair for Calvin Klein black linen pants for $12. TJ Maxx love.

So there you have it. Go check out E's blog and keep up with her progress!