My boys got into the diet thing when I was being faithful. Explaining what a diet is and why I wanted to lose a few pounds was actually kind of fun. It really did make them more aware of what is in food and what foods make us feel good and what foods make us look bad.

I heard Owen explaining to someone later, "well, we all have a diet, because we all eat, my mom is on a special diet and she can't eat certain foods right now." Wow, he got it.

I did not lose the 25 pounds that I'd set as my goal but I am so extremely pleased with the weight that I did lose and the way that I have felt because of it. I lost right around 18 pounds total and when I see pictures of myself from the reunion I don't grimace. So though I still see room for improvement, I am very happy with what I did.

I stuck with the low carb diet for almost two weeks and it punched out those last 5 to 7 pounds before the reunion. I've shrunk out of a couple pair of pants and some of my shirts aren't fitting me very well, so that's a boost of encouragement and I'm a believer in myself in this area now. Not because I did it by myself, but because I think there was a fear in me that I wouldn't be able to follow through or just physically find I'm too old or stuck or unhealthy to get anywhere with it. I'm none of those things. I'm losing weight in my 30's so phooey on all those nay-sayers who have told me all my life how much harder it is to lose weight after 30. Find something more encouraging to say will you? If I have to, I'll lose weight in my 40's too. Sure hope I reach something I can stick with before then though.

So, I've had a pretty free week with my diet since last Sunday night but I am planning to start working hard again starting tomorrow. I think going public with this discipline thing was helpful for me so I am making my statement again here: I want to lose 10 pounds by my anniversary, November 15th. That is NOT an unreasonable goal in the least.

Ya'll pray for me now.