Just over a year ago my husband challenged himself to lose weight.  In addition, he challenged his friends and family to contribute money to charity for each pound he lost.  He lost weight and raised a lot of money for charity.  During all this he blogged about his successes and failures; his good days and his bad days.  He also blogged about the amount of weight he needed to lose.  I was very proud of the courage he displayed in sharing what so many of us consider to be ‘personal information.’  Yet, he stepped on the scale, snapped a photo of the numbers and put the photo on his blog for all to see.

I will be the first to admit that I’m not brave enough to step on the scale and snap a photo.  For a matter-of-fact, I haven’t been brave enough to  step on a scale for a very long time.  After all, what I don’t know won’t hurt me and it’s a whole lot easier to look in the mirror and tell myself that I haven’t really gained that much weight.  I can still squeeze into my clothes and can avoid going into clothing store dressing rooms pretty easily.  Oh, and I’m sure one more cookie isn’t going to hurt because I can work it off.  Also, I really like sweet tea, but there aren’t that many calories in a glass or two or three.

Denial is a powerful tool, but over the last several weeks I’ve started facing the fact that there are just some things you cannot hide.

– I can’t hide the fact that I’m not longer a size 6.

– I can’t hide the fact that my energy level has never been this low.

– I can’t hide the fact that I’m tired all the time.

– I can’t hide the fact that I will soon need to break out the warmer clothes that may or may not fit me.

– I can’t hide the fact that I am not eating right.

The list goes on, but I think you get the point.

A few days ago I made a decision that things needed to change and today I stepped on the scale.  Oh how I wish those numbers lied, but they don’t and tomorrow morning I will begin my new challenge for a new me.

No, I still won’t be stepping on the scale and taking a photo to share (not quite brave enough for that), but I will tell you that I have set a goal to lose 25 lbs in 90 days.  It’s a lofty goal, but I’ve come to  realize that my hubby deserves to have a happy, active and healthy wife.  My kids deserve to have a happy, active and healthy mommy.  Most of all, I deserve to have a happy, active and healthy me.  I’m going to work hard to achieve my goals and 25 lbs gone is just the beginning.

I am also going to check in here from week to week and let you know how I’m doing.  I know from personal experience how easy it is to be motivated and energized to get started and I know how easy it is to lose that motivation and energy when things get hard.  So I’m asking each of you to help keep me motivated.  I’m asking each of you to follow my journey to a happier, more active and healthier Debbie by leaving comments on my blog posts to let me know you’re reading, you’re watching and hopefully you’ll also be cheering me on.

Thanks!