About Me

Here are a few links to some of the more personal blogs I have written:
Sorry to Have Disappeared... - 2/13/12
Old Habits Die Hard - 12/1/11
Some Good News, an Award, and a Little Stress - 10/18/11
New Method = New Results? - 9/20/11
Happy Birthday to Me! - 8/30/11
A Loss of 14 Points?! - 6/21/11
My Own One-derland - 5/18/11
The End of Mr. Mom - 5/9/11
Darn you, Easter Candy! - 4/26/11
A Bad Week - 4/14/11
Motivation - 4/11/11

I am an adoring mother of two sons, a loving wife, and a teacher who loves cooking.  I try to stay active, and like running as my favorite cardio exercise.  My goal is to get down to my goal weight of 145, and to run a half marathon.  In the process, I have decided to cook and review recipes from the various Hungry Girl cookbooks. 

I am currently on my third and (hopefully) final journey of weight loss.  My first was when I was only 9 years old.  I had gotten a little chubby, and my mother decided to start counting my calories over the summer and make me lose the weight.  I was more aware of what was going on than she may have thought, and unfortunately I became very self-conscious of my weight from then on.  I remember returning to school in the fall hoping that no one would comment about my weight loss.  To me, it was not a compliment for someone to say how good I looked.  Instead, it was a reference to the fact that I used to be fat.  I was horrified if anyone brought it up, and would become completely embarrassed at any mention of my weight loss.  Luckily, the comments didn't last long, and everything returned to normal shortly after.  Everything except for my body image.  I was now aware that I had been fat, and from then on was paranoid about becoming fat again.

I managed to keep most of the weight off through high school, college, and even my twenties.  I would occasionally gain and lose the same 15 pounds, but would always manage to return to my previous weight with a little bit of exercise and watching what I ate.  It wasn't until I got married and had my first child that I really had to work to lose the weight.  Before I got married, I lost those 15 pounds that kept creeping onto my body.  Since I had been depriving myself for several months before the wedding, I completely pigged out on our honeymoon.  It was so nice to not have to worry about fitting into that dress anymore!  Plus, we were at an all-inclusive resort where we could eat and drink to our heart's content.  Eight days later, I came home 10 pounds heavier.  The weight slowly crept on during the first 9 months of our marriage, where I then got pregnant while at the heaviest weight I had ever been.  Once I finally gave birth, I was 70 pounds heavier than I wanted to be.  Luckily, the first 20 pounds melted off quickly, but a year later, my wedding ring still didn't fit and either did most of my old clothes.  My lack of motivation to lose the weight came from the fact that I knew I would be getting pregnant again in the future.  But, after my husband continued to bug me to get my wedding ring re-sized so I could wear it, I decided I should probably lose at least some of the weight before getting pregnant again. I turned to Weight Watchers and lost 30 more pounds before getting pregnant again.  

So, now I am on my third and final weight loss journey.  I had my second son in November of 2010, and I am determined to lose the rest of the baby weight.  My husband and I are not planning on having any more children, so I am looking forward to getting back to my old body.  This time, as soon as I got clearance from my OB at my six-week postnatal appointment, I started the new Points+ program from Weight Watchers.  I was a little annoyed at the change in the points system at first, since I could no longer glance at something and easily figure out the points.  I actually had to put the information into my Points+ calculator, making grocery trips take forever - not an easy task with a newborn!  But, a few months and 25 pounds later, I have gotten the hang of it.  
I now have less than 10 more pounds to go to be at my goal weight of 145 pounds. This time, I am really enjoying my new eating habits and feel like I will stay at my goal weight permanently. Part of the reason is thanks to Hungry Girl. Her recipes are fun to make and eat.  I'm here to tell you which ones are good.