I am now four weeks into the Biggest Loser experiment, and fourteen pounds down (18 total).  We had our second weigh-in yesterday (they are every 2 weeks).  According to the official Biggest Loser scales, I weighed 212 pounds yesterday.   I still blush when confessing my weight, because I'm still over two-hundred, which I find quite embarrassing (perhaps I should start giving my weight in kilos)!  But since my starting weight was 226, I know I should be ecstatic.  Truth is, it IS fun to put on your clothes and have them be actually baggy instead of binding.  And it sounds a lot better to say you have 57 pounds to lose than 75. 

I know I tend to be too dogmatic about these things, but I am now convinced that EVERYONE actually has the time in their schedule already to get in shape and stay there.   I lamented for years that there was no way I could find time to exercise because there were only so many hours in the day.  Turns out, I just needed to recycle hours that I already had.  I mentioned in a previous blog that I've been exercising while my kids were in piano lessons -- time I used before to run errands. You can add to that now Boy Scouts.  So that is at least 2 days a week that I have more than an hour of free time.  I just push Baby along in the stroller and he enjoys these brisk walks as much as I do, as does whichever Big Boy I have brought along.  And don't we all have a favorite TV show?  I sure do.  One hour of watching Lost from my perch on my exercise bike does a whole lot for my waistline than the exact same hour spent riding the couch.  So there you go:  recycled time.  We all know I was going to watch Lost either way!

The other good thing about exercise is that your husband is much more likely to cooperate when you say, "Honey, can you watch the kids?  I need to go work out," than he is if you say, "Honey, can you watch the kids?  I need to go lock myself in our room and read a book!"

My workout time has become the cherished daily, private, kid-free time I really need to stay sane. Which should tell you something about my state of mind BEFORE embarking on the Biggest Loser journey. 

And I'm enjoying food so much more.  There's no need for pangs of guilt when you have a plan and you stick to it.  You can truly savor each bite you place in your mouth.  Everything tastes much more dramatic to me, I think because I eat so much less.  I don't buy "large" anything anymore, but eat and drink everything in a moderate fashion -- even things that don't have a lot of calories, like diet soda and coffee.  

In short, my life is much richer even while I strive to become smaller.