I have had nine months to come up with a weight loss strategy and I am finally prepared to lay it out here:

1. I need a support group: Right now we can not afford weight watchers and so I have decided that I should attend Over Eaters Anonymous. I went to the website because at first I didn't know if I fit into this group. After all, I'm not 400+ pounds going to McDonalds every day, so how can I be an Over Eater, right? Wrong. I found the section of the website that asks several questions to be answered honestly and truthfully. I answered yes to the following questions:

1. Do you eat when you’re not hungry?- Yes
   
2. Do you go on eating binges for no apparent reason?- Yes
   
3. Do you have feelings of guilt and remorse after overeating?- Yes
   
4. Do you give too much time and thought to food?- Yes
   
5. Do you eat sensibly before others and make up for it alone?- Yes
   
6. Is your weight affecting the way you live your life?- Yes
   
7. Have you tried to diet for a week (or longer), only to fall short of your goal?- Yes
   
8. Do you resent others telling you to “use a little willpower” to stop overeating?- Yes
   
9. Despite evidence to the contrary, have you continued to assert that you can diet “on your own” whenever you wish?- Yes
   
10. Do you crave to eat at a definite time, day or night, other than mealtime?- Yes
    
11. Do you eat to escape from worries or trouble?- Yes
    
12. Does your eating behavior make you or others unhappy?- Yes

The website continues to say that if you answer yes to three or more of the questions then you potentially have an over eating problem. Well, as you can see, I answered yes to way more than three. I have found a meeting that takes place only 5 miles from me and it is a Woman's group. I'm excited and nervous and it's every Sunday at 9:30am.

2. Fitness Classes: I hate working out on my own and until I can afford a personal trainer I will be going to fitness classes at the gym. I pay a lot of money to attend DU and since my enrollment date here, I have not used the gym. This is because I was lazy, I didn't feel good, I was self conscious, I was afraid at the beginning of my pregnancy that I would hurt Ava, and because the gym just isn't my thing. So I've been paying for this gym and have never stepped one foot in it, but I'm changing that. I have four weeks until we leave and i will be using the gym a lot more lately. I've decided to attend the gym twice a week because my schedule doesn't allow for more at this point. On Tuesdays at 5:30 I will be taking Fusion Sculpt: A pilates based class with an infusion of weights and Step Pump: A class that combines the classic step class with weights on Fridays at 12:00pm.

3. Walking: I have found that with a baby walking is so much fun. I talk to her while we walk, even though she is usually sleeping, and I am really enjoying the weather. My goal is to walk three times a week when weather permits. No speed walking, just regular walking and enjoying the season with my family.


4. Books: The other thing I've sunk my money into is weight loss books and food journals. I have two food journals and I bought the second one because I convinced myself that the first one was keeping me from losing weight. How stupid, right? I also have a book that takes you through 100 days of discovering why you want to lose weight and to keep motivation up to lose weight.


5. Food: I have to start calculating how many calories I'm eating a day because ideally to lose weight I should be eating 2,048. I will be using my food journal to keep track of what I eat. I have to make my food journal part of my daily life because if I don't I know I will fail. On the topic of food I need to increase vegitables and fruit and decrease sugar, flour, and salt. That will be hard because those are things I absolutely love but they, in combination with my own emotional baggage, are causing my weight loss issues.

6. Blogging: I love blogging and to keep myself honest and accountable I will be blogging about my weight loss journey every single day except when there is an act of God that keeps me from it. Like my food journal, I need to keep an active journal about what I am doing and what I should be doing. I think it will also be important to look back and see when things have been working, when they haven't and what I can do to improve myself and to also congratulate myself.