Why lose?

Why do I NEED to lose this weight?

• To be healthy (lower blood pressure and reduce risk of cancer)
• To keep up with my kids
• To love myself and what I see in the mirror everyday
• To feel & look sexy for my husband
• To not feel tired & achy/sore
• To not be ashamed about my weight when I see people I haven't seen in long time (or even to post pictures of myself on Facebook)

But my #1 reason and motivation for losing weight is me not wanting my kids to be ashamed of me.  I want them to be proud to introduce me as their mom.  


I NEED to figure out when in the world I can get some exercise in.  Ideally I would join a gym with an indoor pool and start swimming.  I love to swim and that would be enjoyable and not feel so much like exercise.  BUT, our budget does not allow for that luxury so I need to hit the pavement or dust off the Wii workout games and exercise videos.  It's just so hard to find the motivation and energy to do that at 8:30 at night.  What are you favorite home workouts?  


Are you a mom that works full time?  How do you get it all done?  Cooking, cleaning, play time, exercise, intimacy?  I can't figure out how to get it all in...so maybe someone can tell me how THEY do it.  Remember, I. AM. POOR - so no cleaning lady, personal trainer, etc.  Help a busy momma out and give me some ideas :)

100 lbs

That's a whole lot of weight...it's how much weight I need to lose. I named my blog Shrinking Sonja because I probably need a shrink (therapy/help/support) to help with the shrinking of myself. And my name is Sonja (pronounced S-ah-n-ya).

June 11th marks the start of my journey. I detoxed that day (got the stomach flu) and decided it was the perfect time to start some new habits. Since June 9th I have had NO soda. Sure I miss it, but not like I thought I would. I also resumed my low carb "diet". It worked for me at the beginning of the year and when lost 17lbs...then March hit, birthday month, and I fell off the wagon. Gained the 17 back plus a couple more. My sister and I started a bet at the beginning of the year, and since she also fell off the wagon, I wasn't feeling the pressure to get back on. Soo, here I sit, 15lbs lighter since June 11th. 10 more pounds and I win the bet plus $100!!

I need to find a tape measure so I can measure all my parts and document that.  Pictures will also be posted.  After finding Mama Laughlin and reading her blog from the beginning, she has inpired me to document my journey to stay accountable. 

So, stay tuned...

As I said, I've been doing low carb.  It works for me and I don't feel deprived.  One of my favorite things about summer are RASPBERRIES.  I LOVE raspberries...and my son does now, too. So, I find them when they are 10 for $10 at whatever grocery store and stock up for the week.  My son and I always share a container at night while he is watching his show before bed.  A couple weeks ago I hit a plateu with my weight loss and wasn't seen a change in the scale.  I wasn't sure why, as my diet had remained the same...except for the raspberries.  I was out and they weren't on sale so I didn't buy any.  Well, this week I stocked up again and have been having a container at work and 1/2 a container at night with my little dude.  And the scale started moving again.  I decided to do some research this morning and found this: http://www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss-coach/summers-secret-weight-loss-weapon.  This article is about the different benefits of several berries, but here is what it says about raspberries: Raspberries have been shown to contain a natural substance called ketones, which are similar to capsaicin, the compound that gives hot peppers their fire. Animal studies have found that raspberry ketones prevented an increase in overall body fat and visceral fat, the deep internal belly fat considered to be most dangerous due to its relationship to an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.

Woo-hoo!!!  Bring on the berries!!!