Challenge Accepted!

I'm tired of this journey.  I've been working on losing weight (failing miserably at some points.....hanging on by the skin of my teeth for others) that I'm just tired of the journey.  Tired tired tired!!!!!!  I believe that factor plays a role in my choices.  It plays a role in how I look at my friend (food). It plays a role in how I interact with the texture and taste of the foods that I want to try and experience. You see, I'm a foodie that also happens to have an addiction.  Bad combination!   It's been so long and I'm just so ready for the next step.  However, I'm not there.  I've got some more weight to lose.

I was asked a question today.  What made me want to lose weight in the first place.  I started to think about that.  I wasn't unhappy as an overweight girl.  I always kind of knew that I had some weight to lose but I really never knew I was overweight.  Go figure.  I had vague thoughts every once in a while to get fit.  Never really to lose weight.  I had visions of being 'fit'.     Looking back I can see where I was overweight.  Want to see?????

College pictures.......I'm obviously back row far left in the top picture and the far left gal in the bottom picture.


So as you can see I do have some excess pounds. I liked myself.  I was happy.  So what changed to make me want to lose weight???    What life defining moment caused me to stand up and say "MaryFran, it's time to lose weight"?   Yes indeed.  What?   I had to really think about that.  There was no life defining moment.  There was no traumatic moment.

So how did it all start?  I had a friend that was talking about losing weight. She was a really                                                                                              good friend of mine and somehow in the midst of a conversation we somehow made a bet.  The first person to lose weight naturally was the winner and would win a new pair of jeans, purchased by the loser.  I was all about that!   It started me on my journey.   A little competition.  

So how did this play out in the conversation????   I had already admitted that I have a wee little goal in my mind.  I was going to write out my goal on here in my last post.  I started to and then backspaced it into oblivion.  But that is wrong.  I have never prescribed to hiding the good the bad and the ugly and now is not the time to start.  So I'm laying it out here and now.   I have some tentative plans right around August 16th and 17th that I'm already looking forward to.  (hopefully they will pan out...and if not, there will be a reschedule for a later date I'm sure)   And my weight has absolutely nothing to do with that date...but the date is in my mind...so hey, why not combine a weight loss goal with that date.  Seems like a good plan to me!   So, I'm hear by declaring that I have a goal to lose 10 pounds by then.  That is 10 pounds in one month.  That's a tough goal.  But that's my goal!   I shared my goal with my friend tonight and after we talked about how I work well with challenges she looked at me and said "I challenge you to lose 10 pounds in the next month and I challenge myself to lose 5"  (She's very close to her goal...so 5 will be a tough goal for her also!).  I readily accepted and together almost at the same time we both proposed a monetary prize. The loser pays the winner 10 bucks!    Oh yeah!  Game on!!!!!!!!   We refined the challenge one last time.  If we BOTH make our goal....she gets a baby sitter for the kids and she and I go out to a nice dinner.  (husband attendance optional and decided upon at a later date!)  We shook on it and I worked  my hardest to try to get her to buy some ice cream for herself after our walk.  Hey, she was stopping at the ice cream store to buy it for her husband and kids....why not get one for her!   Stop,  don't feel too bad for her.....we lost power for a few days earlier this week and I had my three different kinds of ice cream in the fridge (all divided up into 1/2 cup containers) and the ice cream was the casualty.  Ice cream after it melts just isn't right....it separated and is just kinda nasty.  So HER response was for me to take all of that ice cream...blend it together and have a big milkshake!!!  Nice try!  No dice though my friend...no dice!