Introduction

This is my first post in my brand spankin' new blog. For all of the newbies, my name is Tamara and I've been on a weight-loss journey since May of 2007. At 248 pounds, I joined Weight Watchers and made a commitment to lose the extra weight and get healthy.

The first 40 pounds came off pretty fast and easily. Then, when the holidays came around, I got off track and gained back 20 pounds over the next several months. In September of 2008, I recommitted to following the WW plan and became more diligent with my fitness routine, as I wanted to become a runner.

Since re-committing, I'm now down almost 90 pounds from my original (and highest) weight in May '07. I've also reached my goal of being able to run regularly. This blog will follow my eating/exercising habits and serve as a tool of accountability to help guide me to my goal weight and on to maintenance.

A little background: I started putting on extra weight at about age 8, so I've been on some diet or another for a good portion of my life. Like most people, I allowed diets to give me false and unrealistic hopes, thus never being able to lose or permanently keep off any pounds lost.

When I found myself squeezing into size 20 stretch jeans, I realized that no 24 year old should be as unhappy and unhealthy as I was. I had a doctor's appointment shortly after the stretch jean incident and my doc suggested Weight Watchers. I was skeptical about joining since my mother had previously enrolled me in WW at age 12, but I figured it was worth a shot; the worst that could happen is that it wouldn't work.

Long story short, the program did work. And still does. With WW, I finally found a program to help me re-configure my then-poor relationship with food. It wasn't about eating certain foods off of a list or drinking nothing but juice for 5 days in a row (been there, done that), but initiating a lifestyle change to lose the weight healthily and keep it off permanently.

Since intro posts tend to be a bit tame, I will warn that there will be occasional bouts of vulgarity. Weight-loss is tough and I'm crude young gal, so if I have a bad day or a bad weigh-in, expect an occasional f-bomb :)

Lastly, as for personal details, I'm 26 and live with my boyfriend of 3 years in Colorado. I graduated from UCCS in 2005 with a degree in Communication/Media Management, did some freelance writing on the side for a few years (on the side of internships, cashier duties and call center gigs) before settling into a cozy office job at my alma mater. My current longterm plan is to become certified as a personal trainer so I can then become certified as a Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant. I also hope to relocate to Portland, OR someday.


***To view my previous entries on LiveJournal, please visit http://thatsnotflab.livejournal.com. There, you will find older daily menus, recipes and scale/non-scale milestones. I may or may not get around to copying all of that stuff over to this new blog. My guess is may not, at this point.