My Weight Loss Goals

My name is Rebecca Talley and I'm a chocaholic.

I'm also an ice creamaholic.

In high school I was on the bigger side and was ridiculed for my "jello butt" (shhhh, don't tell my kids I just used the bu-word).

After my first baby, I dropped a lot of weight. I guess my metabolism changed when I started breastfeeding. I'd gain weight with each pregnancy and then it'd fall off after the birth until baby #8. I had to work at losing the weight after that birth. Baby #9 and the impending 40 age mark both seemed to do me in as far as weight. I never lost all the weight after #9, though I did lose the weight I gained with #10.

After #10 I still had the weight from #9 to lose and thought I would. I was sorely disappointed when I found that I had not only not lost the weight but had packed on 20 more lbs.

In January I decided to cut out chocolate, ice cream, Oreos, and other junk food and lost 8 lbs. But, then I drifted away from that resolve and gained 3 lbs back. In June, my oldest daughters and I decided to try the South Beach diet. On June 8 we started Phase I, also known as the strict phase. SB is essentially cutting out white sugar and white flour and replacing them with vegetables, lean meats, cheese, nonfat milk, beans, and fruits. It isn't very different from the way I'd been eating, sans the junk food.

To date, I've lost 16 lbs on the SB diet and 21 lbs total. My goal is to lose another 15 lbs, for a total of 36 lbs.

I have always exercised. I have many exercise DVDs and videos. My favorites are The Firm and Tae Bo. I'm pretty active chasing my kids around and constantly cleaning the house, but for me, turning 40 seemed to slow my metabolism to zero. The SB diet has seemed to kick up my metabolism and allow me to lose weight I've been hanging onto for years.

Today, I went back on Phase I which consists of vegetables, eggs, beans, lean meat, and cheese because my son is getting married in September and I want to lose as much weight as I can before then (plus we're meeting our soon-to-be-in-laws next week and going to 7 Peaks water park with them and I want to be able to wear my swimsuit comfortably). I'm hoping to lose 2-3 lbs by next Monday.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese, water.
Lunch: salad with ranch dressing, water.
Snack: almonds, string cheese, water

I plan to post a before and after picture when I hit my goal because the before picture is just too embarrassing.

Here's to attaining our weight loss goals to enjoy better health and activity.