I wanted to put my plan out there, for accountability purposes.

I've established an account on MyFitnessPal.com, so for the rest of this week I'll be inputting my usual food choices and getting an idea of how much I'm eating and when. I'll do some reading and planning, and starting Monday, Oct. 10 I'll begin counting calories. If I haven't lost 4-5 pounds by Nov. 10th, I'll give Weight Watchers a try. I'll do what I can to get moving too.

A bit about myself:
I'll be 46 on Saturday, , married 20 years , 2 teenage daughters, 17 and 14. Growing up I had a distorted body image...always thought I was fat. Looking at pictures, I was anything but. It seems to have become a self-fulfillin prophesy. When I married in 1991, I weight 145 lbs. 6 years and 2 babies later I was sitting at 175. I stayed there for a number of years. Then I quit smoking. Please add 20-25 pounds to my body. And keep it there. That was 10 years ago.

I've dieted on and off since then, but don't have the ability to make things stick. I lose weight well when I reduce carbs (Atkins, South Beach) but they're unsustainable for me. Calorie counting works when I stay dedicated to actually counting...everyday. I don't mind exercising (too much), it's making it a habit that I have a hard time with.

My fear of failure is extrodinary. But I won't gain (by losing) without risk. So here I go.

Thanks in advance for your friendship, support, and most importantly, butt kicking! Don't let me off the hook easily!

Heya Moondance! How's the plan going? Success?

I have troubles making things stick. The two major purchases I made last year was a treadmill and a Bodybugg. I'm sooooo glad I did! Both are helping me stay on track! I had contemplated Weight Watchers, and that'll be my next step if I need a motivation infusion. That will happen sooner rather than later if I don't see some poundage go bye-bye fairly soon.

Thank you for asking!

I'm surprised by how well it's going. I'm down 10 pounds total, 5 from my official start on 10/10. Counting calories is working quite well. MyFitnessPal really helps too. I seem to have a calm determination about it...not full of passionate, short term, lose the weight fast excitement. I have no timeline per se, but would like to see a steady loss over time.

What is a Bodybugg? How is your loss going? Are you counting calories?

Congrats! That loss is fantastic! I've lost 10 pounds, but it took me 3 months to do it!

Bodybugg is that device you wear on your arm and it measures calorie burn, and steps. At the end of the day, I plug my Bugg in to the computer, and upload the data from it. I also input what I ate that day. It has helped me keep track of my calories consumed and how big of a calorie deficit I have. Before that, I was using a program similar to MyFitnessPal, and I wasn't losing anything at all! It's also given me the motivation to exercise, because I want that calorie deficit.