the diet word

It's taken me about a week to work up the courage to share about this. It's pretty easy to want to hide behind the internet curtain with real-life struggles wrapped around me like a blanket. But I was really encouraged by another blog post when I was initially trying to lose weight a couple years ago, & it's totally worth it if there is even one person that feels the teensiest bit empowered in reading this.

As the 2011 event season ended, I realized that I had settled quite nicely into newlywed/office life... & had also settled into a body that I didn't recognize. It was not my finest hour, folks. So, I made a change. I followed a SUPER strict 30 day plan that guided me through every meal. (Which, while incredibly effective, SUCKED.) Between October 2011 - March 2012, I successfully lost 23 lbs. Yay! Right?

I'm here to tell you that at the beginning of this year, I had gained back about 8 of those initial 23 lbs.  I'm telling you that because IT HAPPENS. Diet & exercise are a lifestyle that I, as a stubborn person that loves me some Dr. Pepper & brie, am not always willing to commit to. Healthy eating is not first nature for me. When I get home from work, exercise is always prioritized after husband, blog & cleaning time.

I think we all feel pretty strongly about the "d" word. It's either something we're doing too often, as diet trends ebb & flow, OR it's something that we avoid like the plague. I've always fallen into the"plague" category, until I got serious about my initial weight loss. As previously mentioned, that first diet was a great jumpstart, but it was also terribly difficult to get through, leaving little guidance for Day 31.

With two bridesmaid dresses staring at me every day, I have two very good reasons motivating me to commit to a diet overhaul - & I mean diet (n), not diet (v). I want to change the way I eat for life, not change what I eat for 30 days.

So, I took the best parts of that first diet & made it mine. For me, this is more realistic. I started following this plan three weeks ago & am already seeing results. This DOES NOT include my exercise regiment, which is half the army in this battle! (& this is the part where I disclaimer that I'm NOT a health professional & that these arejust the rules that I'm following based on information from my healthy friends, my doctor & online research.)

This certainly isn't the end-all, be-all to diet change. There's vitamins & cooking methods & all sorts of stuff that I haven't started yet. But it's a start. There's a confidence boost that comes with taking care of my body. It's good. It's tough... But it's good.

This isn't about deprivation, or looking like someone else, or starving myself into a swimsuit. It's about respecting myself! Being a good steward of the body God gave me. Enjoying the food that God gave us to eat. Which may be fried or covered in barbeque sauce, on occasion, & I BELIEVE that's okay. Because, for the record, I firmly believe there will be cheese in heaven.