I deserve to BE a mom they can be proud of!

As I begin week 2 of 2012 and week 2 of my diet, I am happy to say that I have lost 12 lbs so far! Yippee! Only 15 lbs to go... or 20 or maybe 25. I would love nothing more than to be 145 lbs by my 45th birthday! That is "almost" what I weighed when I got married in 2003! I've said it before and I'll say it again... I can't believe I've let myself get here... again!

I guess I've known for a long time that my weight would always be a struggle for me. I have watched my mother (and father) struggle with their weight my whole life. I remember when I was a young girl and the doctors diagnosed my mother with osteoarthritis. It must've been the early 1970's. There were not a lot of arthritis medications and pain relievers available like we have today. But what I remember (and never forgot) was my mom saying that her doctor told her, the best thing she could do for the arthritis was to lose weight! She never did. Well, I take that back she did lose a lot of weight one time a when I was a teenager... she looked great and felt great but she gained it all back a few years later. And never lost it again.

Over the past several years I have begun to reap the blessing of arthritis... got it in my fingers and my knees. FUN! But mom preaches to me on a regular basis... "Julie, don't do what I did!" "Get that weight off now. Look at me, do you want to be like this when you are older?" "Exercise!" "Get healthy, and stay healthy!" Mom bought me my first jumbo-Costco Size-bottle of glucosamine/chondroitin! I was running everyday at the time and my knees were hurting so badly at the end of my run. But after about a week of taking them (helps with joints and stuff) the pain stopped. Very cool. As long as mom is alive and living in my home she will be a constant reminder of why I need to get my poop in a groove and get this weight off once and for all. I do not want that for me! Nope!

Anyways... this is the last time.... I've said it before but this time I REALLY mean it. It has to be. I'm going to be 45 years old this year and I just can't keep doing this. This will be the 4th or maybe 5th time I have done this! The older I get the harder it gets and I am just so done. I'm ready to look good and feel good and have all the extra energy I can get so I can keep up with my little guys! They deserve to have a mom they can be proud of and I deserve to BE a mom they can be proud of!