Here goes...

While we're on a tight budget right now (for various reasons, such as potentially owing money to the IRS, me not having a job, wanting to save up for a futon and some other home-improvement items, debt repayment), I am not against trying to lose weight. I know I need to. No one needs to convince me of that. I have doctor's recommendations that I'm following, but I have been curious about Weight Watchers and their points system for a while.

Still, I don't know how I feel about paying $40 a month to go to meetings. I have thought about joining the local community center, but that's $40 a month also. With the wii exercise games, workout DVDs and VHS tapes (yes, I still have VHS tapes: don't judge me), and the treadmill, I think I'll be okay with workout options (I'm a wuss from Arizona who doesn't really like to go walking in the rain, even if it isn't much more than a drizzle).

I got information about how to figure out Weight Watchers points from an anonymous friend (do they castrate you if they find out or something?), and I'm pretty excited about it. I LOVE charts and graphs and math and visual aids (I'm surprised I'm not some sort of accounting geek or something). So Joe and I sat down together and did some number crunching. I had some junk food today (bad girl!) and figured that into my daily allowance. I have enough points left to eat dinner (phew!) as long as I don't go crazy with what I eat. But I love that I can workout and gain more points that way. It's like instant gratification! I have been on the treadmill for 20 minutes so far today (I say "so far" because I don't want myself to think I'm off the hook now for the rest of the day) and earned 2 more points as a result. YAY!

My short term goal is to lose 30 pounds by May. I wanted to do 30 pounds by my birthday (the big 3-0), but I didn't really start with a bang in January. So hopefully I will take advantage of all the tools I have been given (I know what to do and have for a while as far as exercising and eating healthy is concerned, but it's harder for me to put it into practice when I get those chocolate cravings!) and make some progress! Cheer me on! I need all the support I can get!

Photo courtesy of Pavel Losevsky