Starting Today

I posted this last spring. It still holds true today.


I was thinking about my life today and my dreams for the future. I decided to start a blog about me and the changes I plan to make in my life. I am 44 years old and my only child just graduated from high school. I feel like I am entering a new chapter in my life.
One of my goals is to lose weight. It has been a life long battle for me. I have lost and gained the same 100 lbs over and over again.I want to lose it for good this time. I have tried almost every diet that is out there. 
   The first time I lost 100 lbs,.I was following Susan Powter. My son was in his play pen while I did her workouts and I thought for sure he would start calling her Aunt Susan.The second and third time I lost a substantial amount of weight I was following weight watchers. Last year, I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone and became a vegetarian for 8 months. Lately, I have been reading about the Mediterranean Diet. 
     I have finally realized that I need to take what I like from each to create my own path.     
    Weight watchers is great but I am tired of counting points. It consumes my life. I think about eating all the time. Even when I am not hungry if I had points left I would eat anyway.I was constantly looking for food that is low in points and many times it turned out to be processed garbage which I ate because I could have a lot of food for a little amount of points. I consumed calories that had little nutritional value.
   Being a vegetarian is great but extreme. At times I was truly limited to what I could eat. I started buying fake meat. I live in New Orleans and I love sushi. I didn't want to stop eating seafood. I have always been the kind of person who went to extremes. When I followed Susan, I worked out for 2 hours a day. I never went out to eat or socialized with friends because restaurant food didn't fit into a low/no fat diet.I realized that being a vegetarian had me in the extremes again.
           I am seeking balance in my life. I want to change my lifestyle.
  The Mediterranean diet speaks to me. It focuses on eating little meat and lots of fruits and vegetables. I'll be honest and say that most Italian things speak to me.( I was raised in an Italian household but I will save that topic for another time). There are parts of the diet that I don't like about it as well. I am going to combine all the things that I have learned over the years and incorporate it into a lifestyle that works for me.
    This is a journey, my journey, that I plan to share with you.