Starting here. Starting now.

I don't think there has been a day in my adult life when I have not contemplated my weight. As a teenager I felt larger than everyone I knew.  That was just a perception issue since I went to school with a bunch of petite girls and I am descended of hardy peasant stock.  I was taller and bigger boned, but not overweight. By the time I was in college I was teaching aerobics and was as fit as possible.  Still I worried about my weight. Size 8. No flab. Tiny waist. Defined muscles. Go figure.

Fast forward to present day...increasingly sedentary jobs, fewer active friends, less personal motivation to get my weight in line, yo-yo dieting, computer.  A recipe for disaster! I am currently a size 18. 

Here are some things I have learned about losing weight that are certainties:

• Saying this prayer: "Dear Universe, please let me wake up a size 8 again.  If I do, I vow that I will never, never, EVER go over the appropriate calorie limit for that size and weight for the rest of my life," DOES NOT WORK.  Boo.
• Watching exercise videos doesn't actually count as exercise.
• Not eating enough is as bad as eating too much.
• Every diet works. The problem is after the diet. The problem is ME.
• I can be at a healthy weight, fit, and active again now and for the rest of my life.

I am starting here.  Now.  Come with me on this journey.