New Year, New Me???

I am fat.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Calling myself "overweight" is really kind of sugar coating the issue, and does me no good in any way, shape, or form. So I'm just going to call a spade a spade and say that I'm fat.

I've struggled with my weight my whole life. I've tried diets and weight loss programs...and I've had some limited success with some of them. But it seems like whatever I manage to lose, I eventually gain back and then some. It doesn't help anything that I live a basically sedentary lifestyle. I'm a college student, so I sit in a classroom all day long. I might walk across campus to get to another class, but seriously, how far is that? Not too far. When I work part time on campus, it is almost always a desk job. I have weak ankles that sprain easily, and I have asthma, and I use those things as excuses to not get up off my fat ass and exercise. I eat too much. I don't eat a balanced diet of what I do eat.

A few months ago, I weighed over 310 pounds. I finally tried Splenda instead of using regular sugar in my coffee and tea. I've gotten to where I like Splenda as well as sugar...so I'm using it a lot. And I'm cutting WAY back on sodas (I only have one or two a week these days). And I have started to buy the sugar free flavored creamers for my coffee. Not really huge changes. I've still been being a couch potato and not exercising, and I've been eating the same (or worse over the holidays) as I typically do. But I weighed myself this morning, and I am down 20 pounds! TWENTY POUNDS!!! From cutting out sugar? Wow. Who knew?

I also recently discovered that they are making a version of Diet Coke with Splenda now...you have to look for it, but it is out there. So I'm trying to switch to where I am drinking those for my one to two sodas a week. As far as my eating habits are concerned, the first major change I am going to try to accomplish is to simply limit my portion sizes. I think if I do that, I will start to lose even more weight. And on top of all of that, this morning I visited the campus gym. I worked out for about an hour, with some brisk walking on the treadmill and weight training. I've discovered that it is free for students...and my Mom is thinking about joining as well to work out with me. We both need to seriously lose weight.

I'm not calling all of this a New Year's Resolution...if I do, I am sure to fail. I'm just going to try to make simple changes to the way I live my life, and hopefully they will have big results in the long term. I'm done with dieting. Diets don't work. I want to change how I perceive myself, and how the world perceives me.

I don't always watch The Biggest Loser on TV, though I've watched bits and pieces of it for years. But I just watched quite a bit of a marathon on TV over the weekend, and I watched the premiere episode of The Biggest Loser: Couples last night. I may not manage to lose weight as quickly and effectively as they do...but I am going to use them as inspiration.

If only I had Trainer Bob here to push me...