"Be an after, stay and after."

So I thought that maybe I should post about some other effects in my life. Two years ago my almost 50 year old father had a little scare with his heart. He needed to have quadruple bi-pass surgery. Not an extreme emergency, but not a bowl of cherries either. It made us all really stop and think about our own personal health and the collective health of the family. Unfortunately I don't come from a particularly healthy family blood line. There are all sorts of cancers, heart issues, blood pressure, diabetes, and just random ailments sprinkled in various portions throughout the family tree. (I myself was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 18. I'll spare everyone the whole cry-me-a-river story.) My family, as a lot of American families apparently do, revolves around food. We are not a small group of people. So it's no real shocker that we carry these health issues. But when the red flag began to whip around in the wind with Dad, I began to really look at my own health and decided it was about time I took what control I could take. There are some things that through family history will be difficult to avoid, but that's no reason I can't at least try to control my weight and increase my overall health. I took a look at my eating habits and made an overwhelming loud declaration about what bad food choices I make. Ya know, I'm not 19 any more and can eat whatever I want and it not effect my 120 lb. waistline. I thought I could change my habits... but soon found out I was a miserable failure at that on my own. So last summer I took the initiative to join Weight Watchers. Because the first step is admitting that I have an eating problem.... what can I say, I love food! I love trying new foods. I like comparing foods. I take joy out of what I eat. It's too bad that I'm not the fabulous cook that I wish I was. Thankfully I took quickly to the guidelines Weight Watchers offers and I've done quite well for myself. I've successfully lost about 25 pounds on the plan, although I haven't lost and kept off any additional weight since Thanksgiving. I though it would be OK to maintain and coast through the holidays, but I've found that I'm too content with the weight loss that I haven't been motivated to lose the last 10 pounds necessary to reach my goal weight. So, I'm declaring here and now that I'm going to work at losing those 10 pounds. This month I've started walking in the morning and during the break from the UVA class. Studies say that you should be walking 10,000 steps every day to maintain fit. So far I'm officially up to about 5,000 - but I'm only counting the time specifically dedicated to walking as excerise. I'm not calculating all the back and fourth everyday walking stuff like doing laundry, going to the grocery store and what not. I don't think I'm off to a bad start. We'll see what the scale says tomorrow. I guess what I'm mumbling about here is that I'm taking this moment to declare my commitment to those last 10 little inconveniences. Whether I like it or not, it's now on the web, so it must be true, right?