Over the last two weeks, I have managed to take off 5 pounds and this has taken me out of the 160's, weighing in at 158. I never thought I would be proud to say that I am in the 150's but hey, its way better than being in the 200's which I was at not to long ago.  There is not a day that goes by that is easy and not a day that goes by that I allow myself to get off course.  I am in this to win this, and although its a daily struggle and there are many things that I miss as far as foods are concerned, its making me even more motivated when I see that scale go down.  Although I am doing this mostly for myself, I am also doing this for my husband, and my sweet baby boy.  I want to be healthy and in a good mood for both of them and I know that if I feel good about me, then I will feel good about others too.  I am on the right path....

One of the things that really strikes me when trying to lose weight is negative people.  You can call them Debbie Downers, you can call them jealous, rude or even sabotaging.  For instance, some people that I know will tell me that I am taking on too much.  "Ann, you need to give yourself a break.  You just had a baby, you are working full time, you are writing for the magazine, you are trying to workout all the time, you are going to a trainer...you really are going to exhaust yourself".  Or the best is "one glass of wine wont hurt you and neither will one little piece of pizza or a tiny bit of a brownie".   Well, no one know ME better than ME. I know that if I start to have a slice of pizza, the whole thing will be gone and I will HATE myself for getting off target.  I also know that sugar is my ultimate weakness and if I start that back up again, I will crave it like crazy.  So far I am able to make this work. I have an AMAZING job that gets me home at 330 to be with my son so I have the afternoon and evening to play with him.  I have a very supportive husband who is standing by my side in this weight loss journey..he is getting home early on days that I really want to make certain classes at the gym and he is making sure that I squeeze in my two a days when I can.  I have a very supportive family who continues to cheer me on and help me by always having healthy choices at their homes and stepping in to help with Ashton when my hubby can't get there on time. But even though I have all this support, its all coming from me.  I am the one making the choices to eat a balanced diet, I am making the choices to not cheat AT ALL and I am making sure I fit in at least an hour of exercise a day...and you know what??  I am the one seeing the results....and come June....that size 16 (gasp) dress that I had to buy for my cousin's wedding will easily be a size 6 when the time comes.  Just you wait and see.....

Everything seems to have initials these days... OBX, GTL, FML... so we're just going to start referring to I Am's group of awesomeness as CWLG. That sounds so much better than "Community Weight Loss Group", don't ya think? After several cancellations, we finally got the group started, and I can't wait to see where it takes us!

Over 20 women met to share our trials and tribulations about weight struggles last week... and I think I only cried twice. For me, this can be a very emotional subject! I'm thankful to be able to share my path to excellence (Hey- I'm feeling motivated at the moment, OK?) with a great group of women. I'd love to let ya in on what we chatted about... but you know what they say- "What happens at weight loss group, stays at weight loss group!".

WOW!  I am finally on a roll and actually starting to look and feel better.  Since the beginning of this little weight loss thing which started January 8th, I have lost 16 pounds.  I was 164 on Saturday when I weighed in with my trainer and I am happy with the progress.  I do want to mention that I had a little help this past week.  The stomach flu hit me with a vengeance and I lost 5 pounds just from that. But the important thing is that it stayed off.  After 13 days of having it, I am venturing to say that they are off for good.  Although I am still very proud and happy with the progress I am making, its still a daily struggle.  I still cannot fit into my clothing and I still am shocked to see the reflection in the mirror.  I have my bad days too.  The other day I cried to my trainer....actual crocodile tears about how far I have to go.  I should be at 125-130 and I will get there by this summer but it feels forever away.  She made so much sense though.  She said, "I know it feels like you have a long way to go and that's because you do.  But, you are doing great and if you give up now you will only continue to hate the way you look and feel and you will never get to where you want to be.  Don't give up".  She is so right.  If it was easy to be skinny, everyone would be and there is absolutely nothing about this that is easy.  So what I am I doing? Well here it is....and I hope you join me....

Exercise - Every single day for one hour.  Not the kind of exercise where you are not winded when you get off the machine or the kind where you did not break a sweat.  Hard core, intense cardio that leaves you feeling pukish.  That kind!

"Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." Eddie Cantor

I love DVR. It could be one of the best inventions in the world- right up there with the light bulb and a flat iron. There is nothing better than sitting down at the end of the night, diet coke in hand, being able to watch my shows in peace. Divine, I say, divine.

I'm not a very political person. I usually have my yard sign out, vote for my party, and sometimes even volunteer at the polling site... but when I do I take pray that no one asks me a question because I'm usually completely uninformed. Hmmm, maybe I should work on that. So, when I decided to start this weight loss support group, I had it in my head that it was sort of a Grassroots movement- and honestly, I didn't really even know what that meant until I just googled it to make sure I was using the right term:

"A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party."