I've been lurking for a few days, and I finally decided to come out and say "Hi."

I've been fat my whole life. Fat baby; fat kid; fat prom; fat wedding. I've tried every diet invented, and finally gave up. I decided that I didn't care. I'm American, Americans are fat, oh well.

Except now I AM losing weight for the first time in my life, and maybe I do care a little, after all. I won't get on a scale, unless a doctor forces me at scalpel point, so I don't know how much weight I've lost, but according to my pants, my hips are a good ten inches smaller than they were last summer. That's gotta be progress, right?

I didn't set out to lose weight, but I do know why it's been coming off:

1 -- New job. I'm an artist, which means I spend hours and hours every day, sitting down, moving nothing but my hands. Sedentary? Oh yeah. Last year I took a side job delivering newspapers. Good pay, one day a week, zero pressure. But it also involves moving up to 5000lbs of papers from point A to point B. Quite the workout.

2 -- Sleep. I've never been much of one for sleep; I'd get two or three hours a night, if that, and make up for it with coffee and chocolate. The new husband, however, actually sleeps every night, all night, and as a result I do too. Dead serious on this: eight hours of sleep a night and I have zero sugar cravings. Unexpected, but awesome.

3 -- Food. Mom wasn't kidding, being an adult IS expensive. We can't afford to eat out every meal, like we used to, or even buy the frozen stuff. We have to actually do that cooking thing. Bread starts with flour, burritos start with dried pintos. I'm way less likely to pig out on cake if I have to spend an hour in the kitchen to get it.

I'm not on a diet, and I won't be counting pounds. I just made a few changes, and if I stick with them, hopefully I'll keep shrinking. So, if ya'll will have me, sans official diet plan, I'd like to hang around here and share the adventure. 'Cause you gotta admit, losing weight is weird.

--Kathleen

Hi there KATHLEEN . . . . . . so glad to have you joining us. This is a great place for lots of support and friendship no matter what your plan for winding your way down the road to better health and fitness. Keep up the good work, Chickie.

Hi! So glad you are here! You have an interesting approach to weight loss. I like the fact that you don't pay attention to the scale. Some people trying to lose weight become so scale obssessed that they end up driving themselves crazy over every single pound lost or gained. Weight fluctuates throughout the day and even throughout the weight loss journey. That kind of obsession can lead to discouragement and then flat out giving up. If you notice the difference in your clothes then you are clearly losing the weight! I'm very happy to hear it! I had to stop and leave you a comment because I noticed that you are an artist and so am I

This place offers support unlike any other from real people. Best wishes to you.

Hi and welcome - and it sounds like you're doing great already!

Kathleen, welcome!

Wow, you're doing so well! I'm with you on the "no diet" plan. Small changes can really add up to big losses. Keep it up, girl!!

We're all trying to be healthier here, so dive on in! Making healthier choices is just part of the process and it seems you're really working on that. Fantastic ^^

Best of success!

Welcome! You are doing great so far!

Welcome! Keep up the fabulous work!