Week 4..A Thought Comes To Mind

Hello....and welcome to my blog!!....so if you are not sure who you see to your left...that's me....My name is Shalana and like so many people in the world I am overweight and learning to make lifestyle changes that will benefit me as I get older. I am 31 and will be 32 in April, a single mother of two beautiful girls and strong in many aspects of my life except for losing this weight...I have admitted it and that was my first step!

Monday started my 4th week of this weight loss journey. I speak with my sister daily about what exercises I am doing and what foods I am eating and asked her what she thought of me starting a blog. She thought it was a good idea so here I am putting my most personal information out there for you to read...my weight loss journey.....

A quick overview of the last 3 weeks. I looked at a picture of my boyfriend and I and I said that is not me!!...How can he like me looking the way I do?? I am not that big...what happened and when?? Reality hit me like a ton of bricks and the embarrassment set in. I said to myself...Am I really that big?? A picture does not lie, so what was I going to do to change what I was seeing? I started off by making the following realistic short term goals:

1. Lose 2 Lbs a week
2. Minimize fast food intake
3. Minimize candy and baked goods (I have a major sweet tooth...THANKS DAD!!)
4. Minimize fried foods
5. Lose 20 Lbs....UGH I dread telling you my starting weight but here it goes....234.2 Lbs
6. Incorporate exercise 5 days a week

The above was my starting point. I committed myself to going to the gym 5 days a week...Monday-Friday just like I was going to work....I thought about what program I would use to assist me in losing the weight and my end result was to use the Internet as a resource to succeed. There are so many websites to find workout routines, recipes and weight loss tips so why pay for it?? Some sites I visit regularly are:

• neversaydiet.com
• fitday.com
• biggestloser.com
• sparkpeople.com

I started healthy eating and exercise the very same day and have not missed a day of exercising per my 5 day a week goal. The first week I lost 2.2 Lbs. The second week 2.8 Lbs and the third week .2 lbs...I am currently at 229.0 lbs....Monday was a day from hell as I could not comprehend why I had only lost .2 Lbs when I remained consistent with my healthy eating and exercise regiment....I spoke with my Sorority Sister who has been where I am currently at and she assured me that it takes some time to see it on the scale...losing inches may occur first....fat turns to muscle and muscle weighs more....and last but not least she told me don't become a "Scale Whore"....I have taken all this into consideration and will continue to forge on although I will admit I felt like eating a donut when I did not see the numbers move.

While I would love to not be a "Scale Whore" I will continue to weigh myself every Monday morning and track it in my handy dandy Excel spreadsheet....I am also challenging myself to lose 30 Lbs in 90 days....yep you heard that right....what a great goal and very tangible....This began on 2/16/09...I need to be 224.2 by 3/17/09...I am working hard to drop the first 10 lbs...I will keep you tuned in....

My goal for this blog is to incorporate some motivational quotes, express myself and air my frustrations as I continue on this journey, document what I am eating and my exercise regiment. Please leave me some comments or any tips that you may have!! I am excited about this journey and committed to my goals...I write it on sticky notes and post them all over "I WILL NOT FAIL" this is what I am living by....and I will not fail!!

Oh yeah...I forgot to add my sister got me the best Christmas present...a cruise to the Western Caribbean on May 24th....what a great motivator to loss weight as well!! Let my journey continue as I am 4 weeks into it....LOL