A Fresh Start..... The First Day of the Rest of Your Life..... New Beginnings

I don't know how to title this first post, I seems I have a million different topics running through my head.

I joined Weight Watchers today, hence the name of this fresh new blog "Shrinking Carrie With Weight Watchers". I've decided after weeks of reading health and fitness blogs, I finally have the motivation to start anew. A few things that have changed in my life lately:

1. I became a mama to a beautiful little girl that is my Hanna-bear.

2. Not only was I obese before I got pregnant, but because of my inactiveness while pregnant, I am jelly EVERYWHERE.

3. Being a stay-at-home-mama doesn't have very good health benefits, and when you're 100 pounds overweight you get denied Health Insurance coverage.

4. Staying home all day is a breeding ground for snacking and memorizing the afternoon tv schedule on TBS.

So I figure while all the changes are occurring, I could make some changes for the positive. I have "AHA" moments pretty much everyday, but none such as the one I had when my baby was born. I realized that I am the life line for this child. She depends on me for everything and I can't let her down.

One day I was making my own healthy baby food for the Hanster and I got on my high horse and thought about how good of a mom I was for giving my babes fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. I thought about how I was not going to pass on my bad eating habits to my daughter. But then I also thought about how if I don't change my ways she will follow my example no matter how well I feed her. If I choose to pick up a candy bar at the store on my weekly shopping trip she will want to eat a candy bar as well. I've decided that I must lead be example and become a healthier more well rounded person, for myself and for my family.

On my profile it says that I want my outsides to match my insides, let me explain: I am fascinated with the world of health and fitness. I have done so much research I could easily tell you how to lose 120 pounds, but would you actually listen to me? I do not reflect any of the knowledge that is in my head. I want to walk the walk. I want to feel as healthy as I once was.

For those of you who haven't known me for the way back when days, I lost 85 pounds when I was 21. I did the Weight Watchers program on my own with no meetings, along with a 6 day exercise program that I mapped out myself. I lived 10 steps from the gym and I LOVED working out. I was running 5 miles a day and I felt exhilarated on a true runners high. I also LOVED eating well. My decline to gaining my weight back was a treadmill injury. Someone left the treadmill going at a low mph and I stepped straight onto the grid and it flung me off, but first I landed on my kneecap and fell on the floor. My pride was hurt and so was my leg, but I still got on and ran my 5 miles like nothing had happened. Well something did happen, I messed my leg up major.

Next in the slippery slope was actually the best thing that ever happened to me, and that was that I met my amazing husband Dustin. I got in the relationship world where you go out and eat way to late and just didn't care. I still watched what I ate, but without working out my weight started to creep up.

The last thread was emotional when my parents married 30+ years got divorced (sorry any family who is reading this, I love you all so much!). I don't want to blame, I take full responsibility for my own actions, but emotional eating was the way I dealt with this change in my life.

Gaining weight is sneaky. All of a sudden I woke up and realized that I was 100+ pounds over weight. Dustin and I tried for 5 years to get our Hanna, and if I hadn't had a weight problem I know it would have been so much easier to get pregnant.

Pregnancy was hard when I tipped the scale at 296 pounds (yep, you read that right 296!!!). I had gestational diabetes, and I was miserable. Couldn't move, slept horribly and my ankles were the size of my calves.

So that is most of my story, the short version. I hope to find therapy and humor in this blog. It will be more than just weight loss, but daily happenings. Weight is just the beginning. I hope you'll find anything I have to say interesting, and maybe even inspiring!