The Journey starts in the middle...

Sometimes in life we begin a journey, but don't start to chronicle it until the middle.  Let me tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Tracie.  I'm 31, single, and live in a fairly small town in West Virginia.  I am the Youth Pastor and Children's leader for a medium-size church.  I am unremarkable, but slightly funny and enjoy life.  I am very family oriented, love spending time with my niece and nephew, and help take care of my grandfather, who has had a very rough journey lately.

In April of 2011, I had an appointment with a Nephrologist (Kidney Doctor).  Sometime I will tell you about all the past health problems I had that created this other problem, but bottom line was that he told me my kidney's were only functioning at 44%, and that if I didn't do something I was going to be in for a world of hurt!  Now, to be clear, I don't like to hurt, so I sat up and paid attention.

Oh, I forgot to mention something.  I'm fat.  Not just a little overweight, we're talking part small whale kind of fat..  Ok, maybe not that fat, but pretty obese.  And it's not something that just snuck up on me overnight...I've been fat for a long time.  Since I was a kid, thanks to Children's Hospital and their inability to give me a simple blood test.  I have a thyroid disorder and that happened to me at a very young age.  Because of that, I have many more problems, and this kidney crap was just next in line.  The doctor told me I needed to lose 100 pounds, or my health would be in serious danger.  He also told me that I was to go on a low protein diet.  Do you know what that means?  Did you know that protein consists of meat, cheese, and dairy products? 

My mother, who works with a registered dietician in her office, and him do me up a diet.  It only allows me 7 ounces of protein a day.  Yep...seven.  Think about when you go out to dinner, what is the smallest steak you can eat?  Yep...8 oz.  So, seven ounces a day.  Ok, I can do that right?  Oh, that's not just meat, that's cheese and dairy.  Ok, here we go!

Surprise!  I started the Journey on May 3, 2011.  Just by changing my diet, I lost 30 pounds.  30 pounds!  That's insane!  Just by eating???  Oh, and even bigger surprise!  I actually like the diet and can stick to it! 

So here I am, right here, right now.  It is January 3, 2012 and I am down almost 60 pounds.  I say almost 60 pounds because I am down 59.6 pounds.  Where did I start?  I'm not shy, I'll say it.  I started at 273 pounds.  So I currently weigh in at 213.4 pounds.  Some day, I'll post before and after pictures.

So is this a dieting blog?  Maybe.  It's also a life blog.  There is a lot more to me than being on a diet.  So here I am, a Fat Chick on a journey to life, the universe and everything.  And as always, the answer is 42.

T