12.22.08 My intro post...

Hi, my name is Becky and I'm 26 years old, 6'3 and currently 208lbs:) I am starting this blog as another means of holding myself accountable. 

I have struggled with my weight for a very long time. From elementary school on I was pretty active and involved in sports but started to overeat around the time I was 12 years old. 

I graduated high school in 2000 weighing over 300lbs. Soon after I managed to lose 50lbs within 6 months on a low carb diet. 

Then a year later I started college, a full-time job and an internship simultaneously and managed to gain it all back and then some...tipping the scales at 341lbs! 

I was under a great deal of stress and went out to eat for lunch with coworkers and for dinner to buffets and fast food joints on a regular basis. 

I ate a lot of Mac & Cheese, Ramen, Giant bowls of cereals with a lot of 2% milk, cake, cookies, and candy. 

My mom had fresh baked goods in the house all the time that were hard to resist.

Although my mom did always make sure I got my vitamin pill and banana in the morning. 

Overall I just ate way more carbs, sugar and fat than my body needed.

I was inspired to get healthier because my father had diabetes which eventually led to kidney failure and he was laid to rest right before Christmas in 2001 at the age of 52. 

Then in 2005 my mom found out she had diabetes and took off more than 100lbs in a year. 

I knew I had to change my lifestyle for my own good or I was headed for health problems myself.

In 2006, after things settled down and I was done with college and started my full-time job working at 3M I was determined to eat healthy and exercise. 

I tried several different diets and journals but didn't have any success until June of 2007 when I started exercising regularly and cutting out refined grains and sugar.

One year later I had lost 100lbs and was not considered obese anymore. So then it was my goal to lose enough weight to feel good and have a healthy BMI of 25 or less. I have 10 more pounds to lose:)

I started out on Atkins for my dieting plan but it morphed into South Beach and then it morphed again into healthy carbs, lean proteins, low fat/good fats and fruits and veggies which is what I'm going to stick with.

Well, I really love good food now...surfing food blogs, reading health magazines, watching Food Network, being excited to scope out what's new at Trader Joe's, collecting recipes and making them over into healthier versions and habitually visiting CalorieKing and FitDay.

I hope to blog a lot about my life in Minnesota and healthy eating!

Thanks for visiting my blog:)