I have tried so many different diets and I am just DONE! I have tried diets that reduce my calories, only to be told that since I normally don’t eat a lot, I may be in starvation mode and I should increase my calories instead. Neither worked, so then I tried things like Nutrisystem, Shaklee, HCg, Weight Watchers….you name it.

During all of it, I came to the conclusion that diets SUCK! Or, more that I suck on diets! They work for some people, but not for me. Why? It’s simple, I like food, I want to eat what I want to eat, when I want to eat it. With that being said, I am not big on junk foods. I prefer natural and fresh over sweet and oily, and I have always been that way. Natural food just tastes better. There is a catch though! If I am told that I CAN’T eat something, I want it, so even though I would not normally down a bag of chips, if I am told I can’t eat it, I CRAVE those chips! And this is what dieting did to me, just made me think of food constantly, and not good foods…garbage!

I am sick of it! I don’t like those foods, so I am allowing myself to eat them. I am done worrying about how much I consume and of what. I plan to just eat what I want, because then I won’t crave the bad stuff…..or so this is my idea anyway.

I have a Family Membership at the YMCA, so my kids have access to the playrooms while my husband and I workout, then we can go for a swim in their pool afterward. I need to make a change, and I WANT to make a change, which is the most important part actually. I am 5’5″ and 170 lbs, which honestly isn’t horrible, but after 6 kids, all of my weight is in my belly. My only curves go the wrong way and it grosses me out. I want to feel good in my clothes, but even more-so, I want to feel good without them….I can’t say that I do right now.

So, in order to make a commitment to myself, I am also going to make one to you! I will be posting about my weightloss along the way, and posting pictures. The one above is my before. It was taken right before my workout at the Y yesterday. Normally when I go to workout, I’ll do 1 mile on the elliptical and then call it done. Not anymore! Yesterday I did that 1 mile in 12:40, then hopped onto the stationary bike for 30 minutes. That gave me 7 miles! Then I waled around the track a few times until my heart rate was back to normal and I was feeling steady again and went back to the elliptical for another mile, this time slow (16:27) so I didn’t overdo it on day 1.

I burned a total of 445 calories on the machines, but I really need to get a better counter for that, because it only counts the time on the machine, not other things I do. It was my friend Sadie, over at Slap Dash Mom who motivated me to finally do things the right way, instead of just dieting and sitting on my ass. She has had amazing results which is all due to her hard work, and I am hoping for the same. She recommended that I get the Omron HR-210 Strap Free Heart Rate Monitor, which is what she started with. I am working on saving my free Amazon Gift Cards from InstaGC to get one of them.