This is it...

Ya, ya do not laugh!

Do you know how hard it is to take your own before picture?

I wouldn't dare ask one of my family members to take it.

They would just pee themselves laughing at me. :)

Oh and try not to notice my dirty bathroom mirror. Eaaakkk!

Soooooo my SURPRISE... I have lost in one week... 6 pounds!! I have 14 more pounds to go to be at my goal of 135! Woohoo :D 14 sounds so much better that 20.

The start of the new ME! After battling/yo-yoing with my weight for years, it's finally time to take charge. My new philosophy is to Eat to Live NOT Live to Eat, which is an extremely hard concept for me because I LOVE food. It is one of my passions, hence my cooking blog Del•ic•ious. Which from now on will be featuring healthier recipes! :)

I started my journey last week, I weighed in at 155 with the goal of getting down to 135 by November. I am exercising daily usually with one day off to let my body rest during that week. I have upped my calorie intake to 1,200 - 1, 500, I usually stay on the low side, BUT... I am eating 6 meals a day 3 meals and 3 snacks. The key here is to never let my body get hungry and start to store the dreaded fat. I am boosting my metabolism and staying in "burning fat" mode.

I am not eating what ever I want either (my old mentality was, if I'm working out I can eat what I want) BIG NO, NO! I am eating more protein, I have cut out the bad carbs like bread and pasta, and limiting my intake of good carbs, like fruits, and high carb veges. I am eating a lot more vegetables, and limiting my cheese intake and NO sweets, sniff sniff. Actually, I would much would rather feel the pleasure from having a lean healthy body that that 5 minute indulgence of that fatty cheesecake. Whew that was hard to say! ;)

A huge eye opener to me in my diet was my sodium intake! Sodium just packs on the pounds, yes it is just water weight but it's weight, and I don't want it! A pound is a pound. Restaurants have very HIGH sodium in their foods. Guess what I'm not eating out anymore! Why, it is sabotage to your body and diet. I agree it's convenient and yummy, but totally not worth it! Plus the serving sizes are enormous. No wonder obesity is a problem.

SparkPeople is a great place to keep track of all of your nutritional values. At the end of the day it will even make a report of your food intake and grade you. My user name at SparkPeople is LAURAEDAVIS if you want to look me up.

Well, there it is ladies, my goals, my eating habits, my journey to become one HOT mama! I am so excited and feel super lucky to have you all take this journey with me. :)

Hugs,

Laura