Mission Statement

Welcome to my new blog!

I started this blog with the hopes of offering tips and support to people who are trying to get healthy and lose weight. Embarking upon such a difficult task can be extremely challenging, especially since magazines, television, the internet and hundreds of other sources are offering tons of conflicting advise about what what should and what should not be done, what works and what doesn't work, and how one should go about slimming down. Sorting through all of the information out there is tiring and causes plenty of people to give up their goal before they even start.

I am just a normal person, not a nutritionist or doctor, so anything I write here is only a reflection of my own personal experience losing weight. Until two summers ago I had been overweight for my entire life despite the fact that I had always been involved in some kind of sport. I did not understand food or what a healthy relationship with it was. I honestly didn't understand why I weighed so much when I didn't think I ate very much in comparison to the other people around me. Halfway through college I decided that I wanted to learn what it would take to lose the weight. Unlike a lot of other people nothing triggered this desire; one day I woke up and decided that I wanted to change.

When people ask me how I managed to lose over 65 pounds in 8 months I tell them that the most important thing is to want it. To really truly want it. The power of willpower is amazing and everyone, EVERYONE, has it. If you really want to lose weight you have to commit to it, set goals, and hold yourself accountable for your actions. Don't say 'I want to lose weight' or 'I'm trying to lose weight' say 'I WILL lose weight' and 'I AM losing weight'. Just speaking those words offers a boost to your willpower and can steal yourself against slipping back or giving up.

On this blog I am going to cover topics that include:

• Where to start and the importance of planning and education
  
• Why 'diets' don't work
• Emotional complications and the danger of going too far
• How exercise fits in
  
• Why I eat ice cream every night (besides the fact that it's yummy)

I also plan on posting about food products and recipes, links to relevant articles and stories, reviews of helpful websites and information about any other random things I used when I was still losing weight or have come across since.

I believe that anyone can lose weight while still eating the foods they love the most. You can still go out to restaurants, enjoy holidays, and go through your day without feeling overly hungry or deprived.



Before and After pictures of me. I think I had even gained a little more weight after that first picture was taken before I started to lose. The second picture is me going through a very very small hole in a Buddhist temple in Japan while I was studying abroad. It was one of those times I was extremely happy to have lost all the weight because other wise I would have not been able to fit.

I look forward to writing this blog, and I hope that it helps other people achieve their goals!