Every journey starts with a blog entry, right?

Hi there. My name is Maria and I am the mother of a ridiculously -- almost unbelievably -- adorable little two-year-old boy. I am also the not-so-proud owner of a belly that I can no longer blame on pregnancy. And being single, I don't think the excuse of "I'm going to get pregnant again soon anyway so I might as well just wait til I'm done having kids before losing this weight" is legitimate. There are plenty of other excuses:

"I'm at the mercy of my mother's shopping choices."

"I have to finish whatever Alex doesn't eat."

"If I don't eat all these carbs this time of month I'll go ape-shit and break a window."

Valid as they may be, they are just excuses. Oh, I almost forgot the most powerful excuse I use for my weight.

"I'm ok with how I look."

And it's such a lie. It's such a lame excuse that really means "I'm lazy and apathetic about losing weight and getting fit." It's an excuuuuuuse! There's a difference between being happy with yourself as a person and being happy with how you look and feel physically. No matter how cute, funny, humble, and smart I am, that won't change the fact that I feel let-down by myself when I look in the mirror or at pictures. Granted, I'm not at a point where I'm morbidly obese or extremely overweight. But that's the direction I'm headed and the older I get, the harder it will be to maintain my current weight, let alone lose these extra pounds. I'd like to reverse the direction.

This is not my first attempt at losing weight. But I'm determined that this attempt will be more than just an attempt. You know I'm serious because I'm starting this on a FRIDAY. Not even waiting until Monday. I plan to use this blog as my personal journal regarding successes and failures. I'll post recipes, milestones, ideas, etc. Any (kind and encouraging) comments and suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for reading. Til next time!

LoseIt.com: Website and App I'm using to track calories