New Year, New Challenges

****To start, I would like to say I haven't written anything in a long time so bear with me.

"The easier it is to do, the harder it is to change." Eng's Principle

2013 is my year. 

I have always had a love/hate relationship with food. I can't tell you how many times I looked to food as a comfort in struggling times. It was friend and enemy, all at the same time. My fight with food started early. I was an overweight child, teen, and young adult. I feel (no, I know) this is my time to change.

Coming off one of the worst years of my life, I feel like I have the strength to stand up for myself and make the necessary changes I need to in order to make this a success. Like millions of Americans, I set a New Year's resolution to lose weight. On January 1st, I joined the Weight Watchers 360 program. Truth be told, I actually signed up on December 29th but decided to enjoy the end of the year and start anew in 2013. 

Before I started even thinking about an exercise plan, I wanted to first make sure I started eating the right things. I have always been all about the easy things in life when it came to food. Drive-thru fast food was a food group to me. 

I started with simple changes. I have been eating a lot of chicken breasts and staying away from red meat. I shop mainly on the outside of the grocery store, sticking to fresh fruits and vegetables. I have found a new love in some veggies I never dreamed of eating. Who knew asparagus was so freaking yummy?! The Weight Watchers website has been amazing to just sit back and search recipes. I am going to share some of the recipes I have found as separate posts. I hope others use some of the recipes I have found and feel free to share some of your recipes with me.

I weigh in on Saturdays and I find myself oddly nervous on Friday nights. I couldn't wait to see what my hard work would amount to on the scale. In the first two weeks, I had lost 13.5 pounds. I had made this progress by just the change in my diet. I was in shock and overjoyed by the number in front of me. I know the scale won't always reflect my work like it does in the beginning but I needed this reinforcement to push on. I have a very aggressive main goal. I want to lose 50 pounds by my 30th birthday on April 29th. I have set 10 lb increment smaller goals but I want my focus to be on the finish line. 

Already, I can see a difference in my face (usually the first place I notice a weight loss). Having people notice as well feels great, I won't lie. I look forward to a new me... and sharing my journey with you all.