As one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, said in her book Voyager, “the most annoying thing about clichés is that they’re usually true.”  (or something like that.  I’m too exhausted to reference the page number at this point)

Especially the awful one about today being the first day of the rest of my life.

Because today is the first day of the rest of my life.  My life as A REALLY HOT MOM with a great tail, right?!?!  ;)

I thought long & hard about how I would lose the weight.  I researched plans, talked with Nate ad nauseam,  tittered back & forth between Sparkpeople, Weight Watchers, or a mail delivery like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem.  I even considered Alli, but when I saw a side-effect of “anal leakage,” I ran far & fast.  I doodled notes about time constraints with balancing work, marriage, motherhood, & weight loss.  Laid awake at night, trying to decide the best way to approach the rapidly approaching New Year & its goal.   & on Friday, I pulled out my credit card & ordered Nutrisystem.

I have done Weight Watchers before, but with an hour commute each way, 9 hours at my desk, & only a few hours at night with my family, the thought of meetings, counting points, meal-planning, & cooking just overwhelmed me to the point that I felt like staying fat forever.  Especially since Nate has the palate of a five-year-old (mac n’ cheese!  hamburger helper!  boo to veggies!) & will not eat the foods I would need – meaning we’d have two different breakfasts & dinners every night.  & that is no good, boss.  So for now, it will be Nutrisystem.   Take away the meal-planning.  The cooking.  The counting.  The meetings.  It will be enough work for now just to pencil in workouts & runs to the grocery store for fruits & veggies.  But that, I can definitely handle.  Nutrisystem is meant to be temporary – to drop that first bulk of weight while I’m still finding a balance with the rest of my life.  For the last 10-15 lbs, I plan on using Sparkpeople or joining Weight Watchers to re-learn how to eat, how to cook, & how to manage my new figure.  I’ll also be doing the 30-Day Shred with Nate in the evenings, plus squeezing in 30 minutes on either the elliptical or treadmill.

For now, this currently fluffy chick has loads of fresh fruits & veggies in her fridge & is anxiously awaiting the Fed Ex truck:

(i have wet hair, no make-up, but i have a kid that won’t stop screaming & this is as good as it gets right now.  please note that nate shoved the endust into the media cabinet – a tribute to a) my distraction during my fifth attempt to clean this weekend and b) tuck’s affinity for dirty rags.  i saw this & laughed for 5 minutes)

& so with great excitement & grandeur….

WELCOME TO MCFATTY MONDAY!!

This is how it will work – Write a McFatty post.  Talk about your goals, your hopes, your frustrations, your ENTIRE REASON FOR DOING THIS.  Maybe you have 5 lbs.  Maybe you have 50 (like me).  Maybe you have 500 (you’re my hero!).  How are you planning on losing the weight?  How much are you doing?  Or are you just toning up without weight issues?  Are you a fitness guru that has tips of the trade?  Do you have any great recipes?  Write it out.  Then come back here, & where it says “You are next” or something equal to that sentiment, click & enter your permalink for that specific post (not your entire blog – but your specific January 4 McFatty Monday post).  We’ll do this every Monday…well, indefinitely.  50 lbs is a lot of weight for me to lose, y’all.

If you’re having trouble getting started, just talk about why you’re doing it & set a goal.  It doesn’t have to be a long-winded emo post, trust me.

I can’t wait to read them all, trade tips, get encouragement, & finally lose the cottage cheese on my ass!