Avant de commencer...

Before you can measure progress, you need to know where you stand now. Deep breath, shoulders back, courage, and...(gulp)...Go!

Current stats

• Height and weight: 5'3" and 167 lbs
• BMI: 29.6 ("Overweight" on the brink of "Obese")
• Clothing sizes: 12-14 or L-XL (Fr 46, It 48-50)

Goals

• Ideal clothing size: 6-8 or M (Fr 42, It 44)
• Ideal weight: 135 lbs (“Normal” BMI)
• Happy clothing size: 8-10 or L (Fr 44, It 46)
• Happy weight: 145 lbs (Still “Overweight” but a great improvement over current stats)

Typical Meals

• Breakfast: 1 or 2 slices of toasted white bread with peanut butter & jelly; decaf Americano
• Lunch: Nothing typical...see "The Ugly" below for more on current lunch routine
• Dinner: Roasted chicken, rice or oven baked "fries", tomato & cucumber salad

Habits...

The Good

• I enjoy cooking and eat at home most of the time
• I already gave up sodas many years ago, and I don’t drink much alcohol, so most of the time I’m drinking Lemon Perrier or plain water
• Desserts are relatively rare

The Bad

• I tend to eat too fast (and, as a result, too much)
• I frequently crave sweets (cookies, chocolate, candy, baked treats, ice cream) and often indulge my cravings even though I know I shouldn’t
• I often eat in front of the television

And the Ugly

• If I’ve waited too long between meals and I’m “starving” I will not care what I eat and so I’ll eat fast food, a candy bar, anything.
• I hate exercising so I almost never do it. When I do start up again, I usually have a short burst of enthusiasm but eventually revert back to my sedentary lifestyle.
• I don’t have too much of a problem with “emotional eating” but every once in a while, if I feel like someone is criticizing my weight or appearance or eating habits, I will end up rebelling against the criticism with an “I don’t care what you think” attitude and purposely eat something that I know is not good for me. I know it's self-sabotage, but I just don't care! Of course, afterwards, I regret it. 

So, you see, there's some work to be done before I "become French". But, for the first time in a long time, I actually feel like there is reason to hope. So, let's begin...