Me too, me too!! Mandy here :)

Hi guys!

I am not sure what I weigh now (no scale, sorry)...but I know it doesn't feel like me! I can feel the weight and things I normally do with ease suddenly have felt a lot harder to do over the past year. I am going to go by my weight in the Summer which was just over 200 lbs.

I actually went to the Dr over this past Summer and complained of my chest hurting when I exercise. We walk frequently as a family and I was noting that when I walked up this on particularity deadly hill (feels like 90 degrees) it was becoming increasingly difficult. Little did I know but I had put on 40 pounds since starting the adoption process! I also do not have a full length mirror in my house, plus my husband was telling me thing like "the dryer is shrinking my pants too" AND "I think you actually have been losing weight"...while I appreciate what he was trying to do (save me from feeling hurt) - I can honestly say I had no idea the amount of weigh I had gained.

My goal is to get down to 150. So minus the 40 pounds I gained plus an extra 10 for good measure ;) I want to be healthy for when my kids come home from Haiti because I know that I do not want to be the one to feel sluggish when jumping around at the playground/beach/yard with the kids. I am a "hands on / active" parent and so it is important to me that I do not feel like taking a nap just an hour after waking up in the morning.

ALSO I want my skin to clear up! I have no idea if it is related to the weight gain but I know that I hardly drink any water and so maybe by flushing my body out a little better by increasing my fluid intake and exercising (sweat) it will clear my skin up as well.

Take care everyone - I am really excited about this blog and encouraging others and feeling supported! Thanks for the idea Steph :)

Mandy