Why am I doing this & what are my goals?

Three weeks ago I decided enough was enough. I kept waiting for us to make enough money to buy a bigger house so I could have a room that I could workout in and maybe even hire a personal trainer. Of course, if I continue to wait I could die before that happens. Why? Well, because I am considered OBESE! ARGH!!! I even hate saying the word. How did I get this way??? Oh, yeah, I blamed it on the hysterectomy I had back in 1991, or blamed it on turning 30 in 1992. Or the best one, because I quit smoking! But until I took a good long look in the mirror, front, back, and sides, I didn't realize how huge I had gotten. Seeing pictures of me at my bonus daughter Sara's graduation party didn't help. I am fat, plain and simple.

The funny part, when I dream I am this thin petite woman of my youth, trim 125 pounds with so much energy and drive. Thanks to my brain when I sleep I never think of myself as fat.

What changed? One day I was thinking, gosh, if I could only afford to go to the gym again. Then I realized, I just might be able to do that from the comforts of my own den. I have satellite TV, there has got to be some workout programs on there I can record and try, right?

For the first two weeks of June I tried several of them. Most involved equipment I didn't have: bands, weights, yoga mats, step bench, discs to do the twist on and the list goes on. I, also, found an old video tape, you know the things that go into a VCR, of Susan Powters from 1993! I did that about 4 times, but honestly, her tiny body and voice started to get on my nerves, sorry Susan.

Early last week I started searching for workout videos for overweight, that is the politically correct word to use, or what I call FAT people. Most of the ones I found were for people who were already in a workout program and wanted to maintain or lose a little weight, like 5 to 10 pounds. Um, I am not even in the realm of that arena, yet! I wanted something that was geared especially towards people like me.

Now, I will be the first to admit, I have NEVER watched a whole episode of The Biggest Loser. Because I never thought I was fat...remember the dreams?? But when I got to doing a little research on the DVDs I was amazed that I found exactly what I was looking for. A personal trainer. OK, maybe not 100% personal, but close enough for government work, right? Now, back to the first problem. Money.

Since I was really motivated to keep moving I had to find a way to get the DVDs at little or no cost to me. First place I tried, our local library! Yes, folks it is true! Libraries have more than just books! I checked out the first DVD: The Biggest Loser: The Workout. Been working out to that for a week and was also able to check out The Biggest Loser: Cardio Max and Power Sculpt. As I use each workout I will give you my impressions and honest opinions about them. So far my only personal trainer has been Bob Harper and gosh is he cute!

Because the library only has a limited number of the DVDs I decided since I liked the first one so much I would get the others too. I have checked out the ones I mentioned above and did the Cardio Max today, more on that later. They were so great, I decided I didn't want to have to keep running back and forth to the library and I bought them. They are supposed to arrive on July 1st, two days before my 47th birthday. I looked for them at our used bookstores and even at Play It Again Sports, in a feeble attempt to spend money in the local economy, before finally deciding to buy them from Amazon.com.

As with starting out all things you think you are invincible in the beginning. I have set myself some goals that I think are realistic, but I need the help of all of you to make sure I stay on track. In order to help me do that, please sign up to my blog and become one of my Weight Loss Groupies. These are people that will be watching my progress and commenting on my successes, I hope! ;-)

Here are my goals:

• Lose 130 pounds, I haven't given myself a time range since I don't know how long it will take


• Start eating better and smaller portions and post EVERYTHING I eat


• Post on my online journal (this blog) daily my successes and my failures


• Go on pilgrimages to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rome, Italy in 2010

I pray that as I go through this journey that those of you who go with me will be supportive, those of you who are struggling with weight issues might find what you are searching for, and those that just came to see what this blog is all about end up staying.

Bob Harper: "Is it easy? No! ... It has to be a conscious decision."