The only way I know to start is to jump right in

Hi everyone,

I have probably blogged more than my fair share of times about eating better, getting in shape, being healthier, etc. But I am happy to report that I have officially taken a significant first step to doing all of that: I joined Weight Watchers. I started tracking my food on Saturday, but won't be going to my first meeting until today after work. I will add an update after the meeting of my starting stats and the goals I've set for myself.

Also on Saturday, I kicked off this whole getting healthier thing by doing a 5k with Jennings. It was the Mayor's 5k Run/Walk to help support the Tuscaloosa Pre-K Initiative. Here are some of our fellow runners from his work:

Overall it was a good experience. It is the second 5k I have done, but I didn't "train" or "prepare" for either one of them. My only expectations for both of these races was to just do them and run the parts that I felt I could, which is what I did. I think that if I set some goals for myself, then maybe the next 5k I do will have an even better outcome.

The reason I am blogging about all of this is that I have followed several blogs in the last year of people I know (and those that I don't know in person) who have lost weight on various diet and exercise plans. All of them were successful and part of that is because their blogging made them more accountable for their whole process. I am hoping to do that here. Going to Weight Watchers meetings and putting myself out there is a really big thing for me, but I know I have to try something different if I really want this to be a success.

So I guess above will be my "before" picture, and we'll see what happens to the "after..."

*UPDATE*
Official weigh-in: 162 pounds
Goal weight: 120 pounds
Pounds to lose: 42
Tentative weight loss goal deadline: 21 weeks (September 24)

So i'm totally freaked out that I put this on here, all out in the internet and all, but there it is. I may even investigate one of those tracker thingies....

Thoughts on the day...

...that changed everything.

One year ago today an EF-5 tornado burst through Tuscaloosa. I have very mixed emotions about dredging up the past, but I felt obligated to mark this day somehow. So many things have happened in a year, and yet in some ways not enough has happened.

So I decided to take a trip to my old neighborhood, Forest Lake, and do a one year later video of where Jennings and I used to live.


At this point, I am really trying to focus on the future and on the positive things. For one, if the tornado never came, we never would have found our cat, Penny, who we love very much. For two, Jennings and everyone we know is safe and ok. That's all we could ask for.