Let the outdoor walking begin!

I can now go on walks out in the real world because tonight I was the lucky recipient of a new double stroller from my dear friend, Steph!
Thanks again, Steph!! Just think, when I lose weight, I will get to be partially thankful to you! LOL!

Step One!

So this is my very first post here. I have another blog, my personal, blog over here.

I had a baby boy, Parker, 4 weeks and 2 days ago (1 month ago - today!) and I am feeling ready to start losing some weight. I have two rounds of baby weight - plus some - to lose! I topped the scales at 242 pounds. That's how much I weighed when I went in to deliver Parker. I am currently sitting at (yes, I am actually going to post my REAL weight on here!) 225 pounds.

• The goal I am setting for myself is 65 pounds, which will drop the scale down to 160 pounds. This is a very healthy, realistic goal that I know I can meet! If I lose more, that's wonderful, but I'm not setting a goal of losing more...yet! The ideal weight for my height (5'7") is 145. I weighed that much in high school. I am not one of those people that has to be at my high school weight to feel like I have finally done it, thankfully.
• I was going to use Weight Watchers but with making lots of home cooked meals from scratch, I don't know how to calculate the points. So I will just watch my intake of foods and track in other ways.
• I will do a weekly weigh in here.
• I plan on exercising at home. No joining a gym for me. It's too expensive and I can do it right here at home for free! First off I am starting with the Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds series. What you do with these videos is walk..at home! The first dvd is 1 mile, the second is 2 miles and so on up to 5 miles. I am very excited to do this. I would walk out in the real world but I don't have a double stroller. Maybe when I buy one I can start walking outside. (That could be a while though - when you are unpaid maternity leave it leaves your pocket a little low on change!) I will add some more workout dvds into this too. I will probably walk daily and do a workout dvd every other day or so. We'll see how I feel, but for now, it's just the walking.

You know, I had this motivation to lose weight before Parker was even born, it got stronger after he was born and this morning, I got the HUGE push on the back that I needed. I was looking at my friend, Whitney's pictures on Facebook last night. She uploaded some pics of her and her husband, Justin (which both had worked at Best Buy with me a few years back) Justin was a husky guy when I met him in the summer of 2004 (I met him when I was going to David's Best Buy softball games). After I started working there, it seemed he had gained more weight. By the time I left in August 2006 he was up quite a few pounds. The pictures Whitney uploaded showed a slimmer, healthier, happier looking Justin. I commented on the pictures talking about how great Justin looked. She commented back stating he had lost 85 pounds since January. I couldn't help but to be amazed and so happy for him! I sent him a message congratulating him and telling him how good he looked! He said he started off with a goal of 35-40 pounds and thought to himself 'Go big or go home!' (spoken like a TRUE Best Buy employee if I ever knew one - LOL!) and he's glad he did because he feels great! After reading that, I felt different. I can't explain it, but it's almost like it was me feeling like it was my turn, it's my time. I deserve to feel healthy and happy. My children and husband deserve it, too! I feel like it's for real this time. If he can do it, I can do it!
I was so gung-ho about this, I actually got breakfast together for Graycen and then fed and changed Parker. I put my workout clothes and tennis shoes on! I felt great. I started and finished mile one of the series. Sure, it's only 18 minutes, but hey, can you say you walked a mile today? I can!