28 years old and time to get HEALTHY for real!

I'm ready to take the plunge and move past the overeating-on-junk-food-sitting-on-my-butt stage of grief.  I'm ready to start feeling healthy and good about myself again. 

But I still have issues with sticking to a plan.  Even a good plan like Weight Watchers or a flexible plan like My Fitness Pal.  So...  I've come up with a fun plan for the year.  I don't know if I will do this for the entire year (until next October) or for just a bit.  And I don't care.  But here is the "plan":

I will be doing something NEW every week!  And by "new" I don't necessarily mean something that I have never tried, but just that I will be switching up my meal and exercise plan every week in order to prevent myself from quitting or getting bored.

I think that I will usually stick with plans that I am familiar with, with a bit of intuitive eating in there sometimes, too.  One week I may do Weight Watchers, the next I will track on My Fitness Pal.  The following week I may do a strict Eat to Live plan, then I will do a week of not tracking at all and just listening to my hunger signals 100% (Intuitive Eating).  And I will also buy some new books and try out some plans that I have never tried before. 

Also, if I'm "on a roll" and don't want to switch plans one week, I won't.  The only rules to this "plan" are the weekly ones that I will follow for whatever plan I am working that week.

So that's my plan.  I know that many plans say that you need to work them for several weeks to see results, but I think that I will disprove that theory.  I believe that as long as I'm tracking and striving for health each week, I will lose weight and get healthier, no matter which plan I focus on.

Since this was my birthday week (YES, I'm 28 years old now), I did a bit of overeating while my amazing brother was in town (Joel came in for a couple of days because he knew how hard my first birthday without Mom would be and because he is AWESOME!!!).  I stepped on the scale this morning and I managed to maintain, not gain!  So I'm happy with that. I'm tracking on My Fitness Pal for the rest of the week, and will start a different plan on Saturday.

And now for the dreaded moment that you have all been waiting for...  (actually I'm not sure if that is true, but anyway...):  My Updated Stats and a New "BEFORE" Picture!

I told you all that I had gained A LOT of weight since Mom's death, but I have never told you the actual number, because I was very embarassed to have gotten back to this point. 

About a month ago, here were my numbers:

weight (in pounds)-

209.2 (AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!)

measurements (in inches)-

neck- 14
wrist- 6
forearm- 9.5
boobs (biggest part)- 42.5
under boobs- 38.5
upper arm- 15
waist (smallest part)- 37.75
waist (belly button)- 44
butt (widest part)- 52
thigh (widest part)- 28
thigh (midway point)- 21
calf- 16.25
ankle- 10

I'm happy to report that after three weeks on Weight Watchers, I got down to 205.2 (-4) and that I maintained the last week.  These measurements were done on September 16, so I will redo them next weekend to see if I'm any smaller...

my new "before" picture- 209.2

I don't have a specific goal weight this time around.  I would love to get to a healthy BMI, but really I'm just hoping to look good in the clothes that I bought for my trip to NYC in May again, at which point I weighed 165 and was wearing size 14 jeans.  But again, I'm taking this one week (and sometimes one day) at a time, and am in no rush. 

It's time to be kind to myself, and that kindness has to include good healthy habits.