188.6 Inspired to Crack Down

July 2010, in Cologne, Germany
145-150 lb.

November 2011, at a "rapture" party
(and you better believe I'm sucking it in!)
185 lb.

Hello, Internet.  My name is Amy, I'm 23 years old, and I live in St. Louis, Missouri.  I've gained 40 lbs. in the last 2 years and I've had enough!  Most of the 40 was actually gained in the first  year, and I've been "maintaining" it since then.  Last January I decided to crack down and got a membership at a gym.  I've been working out there 5 days a week (with some off days--school got in the way sometimes) but I haven't lost any weight.  Why?  Because I haven't been motivated enough to change my diet.  I thought that just working out would be enough, but it wasn't.  You can't eat a lot of fattening foods and drink wine every night (along with some binging on the weekends) and still lose weight, no matter what you do!  Changing my diet has been difficult for me because my boyfriend Jack and I love to cook, and our recipes usually come from Cook's Illustrated.  Their recipes always turn out AMAZING, but guess why?  Most of them have a lot of fat!  And when we cook a nice meal it just seems fitting to have a glass of wine or two with it.

Well, dear Internet, no more of that!  Recently I stumbled upon Cherise Kelley's inspiring blog Size 12 by St. Patrick's Day.  This woman went from a size 20 to a size 8 (and lost 90 lbs) in 1 year!  As I went through her blog, something woke up inside of me.  If she can do it, I can do it!  I know 40 lbs is nothing compared to her 90, and I don't know if anyone will ever even read this blog, but just the idea that someone might be following and seeing if I'm losing the weight makes me feel more accountable.  I'm making this blog so that I'll be less likely to fail.

So I'm going to make changes in my life.  No more chips inbetween meals, and portion control at dinner time (which will be hard, because the stuff Jack makes is so good!).  And cutting back on, but not eliminating, the drinking.  I'm not going to count calories, because it's annoying and frustrating, and the last thing I want is to feel that way about my diet!  I am, however, going to write down everything I eat, try to eat healthier things (I'm adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet), and exercise portion control.  Just like on Cherise's blog, you'll be able to see what I ate on days I lost the most weight.

Along with this, I will continue to exercise at least 5 days a week.  Sometimes this will be at the gym (running, doing the elliptical, or participating in a class) and sometimes it will be outside (biking, hiking, or playing tennis).

So.  My goal is to lose 43 lbs by the end of December.  I've heard that it's harder to lose weight starting out, but it gets easier after a few months.  Therefore, my monthly goals are:

May: 2 lb
June: 3 lb
July: 4 lb
August: 5 lb
September: 6 lb
October: 7 lb
November: 8 lb
December: 9 lb

This is tentative.  I expect that some months I'll lose less, some more.  If I'm really lucky, maybe I'll lose all the weight earlier than I expected.  Here goes!