The First Post, But Not the First Day

Welcome to the first post of my first blog! I've been reading other people's blogs along with articles about the "blog phenomenon" for some time now, and while I've wondered for a while if I would enjoy doing one myself, I never really felt the urge to keep one until a couple of days ago.

While most of the weight loss blogs I have seen begin with a dieter's first day, I actually renewed my battle with my weight in March. Last year I did a low-carb diet, but I "fell off the wagon" in February and started gaining again. On March 8th I hit my peak for 2004 on my bathroom scale -- it may or may not be my lifetime peak because I went a long time last year without writing my weight down, but it's at least very close to a lifetime peak. While I don't want to discuss the actual numbers, I will say that most health professionals would consider me at least forty pounds overweight. Okay, okay, more like fifty pounds. (Oooh, it hurts to say that.) Seeing that peak -- combined with the gradual realization that, yes, I was really out of shape and this would eventually affect my long-term health -- scared me into keeping track of my weight on an Excel spreadsheet. For me, that was a big step -- for one thing, the computer is on the opposite end of my home from where my bathroom scale is. Therefore, I actually must make an EFFORT to record the weight in the computer. (haha)

I cut back a little and immediately came back down from that peak. My Excel spreadsheet shows that I lost about 4 pounds in two weeks. However, I had no real plan -- I was just not binge-eating like I had right before that peak. I knew it wouldn't last if I didn't have some sort of plan. I kept thinking to myself that I'd get back on a low-carb plan, maybe try South Beach. But when I browsed through the book and realized the amount of meal-planning and cooking it required, I just didn't have the energy. I have an hour-plus commute and usually don't feel like cooking when I get home. Heck, I barely have energy to go to the grocery salad bar.

So I went back to Jenny Craig. (Auto-disclaimer: "Jenny Craig" is trademarked by somebody and I'm sure that somebody would want me to say that it has nothing to do with this blog and in no way endorses anything I say in here. The lawyer in me will go away now.) I used Jenny Craig the last time I really lost a lot of weight -- seven years ago during my last year of law school. (Of course, if I weighed now what I started the JC program at back then, I'd be thrilled.) I didn't think I'd go back to it because it was too inflexible, but I realized that inflexible was exactly what I needed right now. Don't just tell me what to eat, hand it to me!

Seven years ago I had bought the "platinum-whatever" level membership, so I knew I could go back without paying for anything other than the food (expensive enough, but I'd would've spent that money on junk food otherwise). So on March 22, I bit the bullet, called, made an appointment for later that night, before I lost my nerve. And I went to the appointment. And I was kind of excited to learn that you still get that French Toast with Fruit Cup.

After 10 weeks, I have lost 13.6 pounds on the Jenny Craig scales. I have lost a total of 19 pounds on my bathroom scale since March 8. I broke through a plateau this week, so I'm feeling pretty good about my successful journey thus far. As I was looking at various weight loss websites, I suddenly realized that keeping this blog might help keep me motivated, because I know there will be other plateaus.

And so it begins. . .