"You're Proportional Everywhere Except for Your Stomach..."

Hi there.

The title quote was said to me by my (well-meaning) sister. Sadly, it is true.

My belly's the troublemaker, but my mind doesn't help.

Growing up, I was always skinny. It didn't matter what I ate. Granted, we didn't get crazy with the Cheez Whiz in my household, but... if I wanted to eat pizza, I could eat pizza. If I wanted to have a piece of cake, I could eat two. Soda (or pop, whatever your colloquial preference) was a special occasion item only.

What I craved the most was sugar. When I was a teenager and had a job, that's all I would buy - cookies, candy, whatever. I'd eat it before I got home.

Still, it wasn't until I got to college that it all caught up with me. For the first time, I ate whatever I wanted, when I wanted, freely and unrestrained.

As it turns out, this will make you gain weight.

I not only gained the Freshman 15, I gained the Sophomore 30. By the middle of my sophomore year, I was 155lb, desperately unhappy, and opening one ice cream pint after another. ( Did I mention I'm 5'3"? My parents are tall, though. I know. I don't get it either.)

I don't remember how I started losing the weight the first time, but I know it wasn't by counting calories or by being particularly mindful about what I ate. It was most likely because - by my senior year - I was living off-campus by myself, and had very little money for food.

By the time I graduated, I was 137lb.

Since then, I've lost weight and gained it back, but I've never regained that sense of well-being and health that I had when I was a kid. Now, at 27, I don't consider myself particularly healthy, even though I am making steps to become so. I'm currently training for my first marathon this October - and while exercise and I are frenemies - I think it's good for me to have something to focus on.

Food, however, is still another story. Nutrition confuses the ef out of me, the grocery store gives me panic attacks, and I can't make a good salad to save my life. If anyone has a good, straightforward nutrition book that they can suggest, I'll look it up.

Feel free to add me... I'd like some friends for my 23-lb weight loss journey. Good luck to everyone!

amanda