Fat Force: Because we love Jelly Doughnuts too much.

HEY, FATTY!

Sorry, that was me talking to myself in the mirror. I'm sure you've been there, staring at that flabby bod after a long shower, checking out that bulging profile. It might hurt a bit knowing that you were once a hot bitch but now you're just a soft peanut.

Well guess what, you're still hot and we love you anyway, but that's not the point. The point is there's a bunch of us that wanna get fit or slightly fitter (if I may invent words) and the one thing we need more than self doubt and stupid ass skinny people showing off their washboard abs (GREG, YOU ASSHOLE) is a sense of COMMUNITY!

So I say unto you, my wobbling brethren, if we stick together and share our stories of woe and then proclaim from atop the mount that yes, I will lose some weight this summer and yes, I will stop eating fried-everything for every meal! Say it with me, sisters, we shall overcome our food follies!

So here's what you do:

#1: You don't have to tell us how much you weigh, but you can if you want. What's important is tossing out a goal, something reasonable, that you'd like to accomplish over a certain amount of time.

#2: Describe how you think you might be able to reach that goal. Everyone is different and everyone wants to do their own diet. Because diets are pretty much ridiculous in nature I'll just state that it isn't so much a diet that is important as is a change of lifestyle. That sounds extreme, I know, but I think not eating fast food or processed foods (::ahem::Hot Pockets::ahem: more than once a week isn't so bad.

#3: Pick some activities and share them with us! Biking, walking, running, DDR-ing, whatever, something active that you think you can handle doing three or more times a week consistently. Don't over exert yourself, for the love of god.

#4: Expect tips about what you're doing. Nobody can be the keeper of all knowledge but we can share what we think might be a not-so-great idea for weight loss. Obviously purging or starvation are out of the question for this thread as is taking speed or the lap band as their first choice.

#5: Show off your progress! Some people love before/after pics. If you have some, show em as inspiration. Bi-weekly updates are probably the best since that amount of time is enough to give us an idea on any one person's progress. Think not just weight, but stamina, strength, and even how your clothes are fitting. It's all progress, ladies.

There's only one rule: DO NOT BE A COCK.

Losing weight and body acceptance is fucking emotional especially in today's society when we're all emo about body image. Not all of us can take fat jokes in stride so let's be sensitive. Also don't start a fucking fight about how shitty you think the atkins diet is. We all think we know that it's a stupid way to lose weight but what many don't know are the exact details of that diet and that most people are idiots about being on it. Check the facts, provide ::constructive:: criticism and support.

Learning to cook for ourselves is definitely something we might learn here. For those rooting us on, feel free to post tips and recipes for our health.

I think we can do this. I'll post my own journey/goal/whatever in a while. Let's get touchy-feely and get our hearts pumping and just say no to those delicious, greasy, sweet jelly doughnuts, OK?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

So here's my thing:

Personally, I'd like to lose 20-30 lbs this year. It's a lot of weight I've put back on since moving away from Washington DC where I biked almost everyday for an hour. I hate the idea of growing out of my cloths because, aside from being real-real fat I'd have to buy new clothes. F- that.

So what I've already begun doing is riding my bike for an hour every day around my neighborhood. To make the trip less boring I've been listening to the Star Wars Radio Drama on my iPod. After that I'll move on to audio books. It's shocking, really, how time flies when your mind is distracted by something interesting to you.

Food wise I'm staying far away from fried foods, especially doughnuts and french fries, as well as ground meats, like hamburger, because all of these things are calorie laden and pretty much not-great for you. The double-trouble combo of a massive amount of fat and carbs is something I'm moving away from and have already done a good job of avoiding this year, actually.

A regular eating schedule is something I need to get on as well. I've kind of forgotten about breakfast and getting the metabolism started for the day is really important.

So, with that said, I'm going for a bike ride~

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Skinny people are allowed in Fat Force as proof that even the skinny have health woes and a desire to build strength and stamina... so, yeah, share.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

For the sake of activity:

This week I've been working on two main things: activity and regular meals.

When I say regular meals I mean eating when I wake up to get the juices flowing. I've been eating fairly normally, I haven't really taken anything out of my diet that I already haven't been eating (soda, fries, etc). Change isn't just difficult, too much change at once can lead to depression and regression!

Activity wise I've already biked 40 miles this week, which seems like a lot, but it's been mostly flat (there's a short 200 yard stretch that's slightly uphill). I worked out this path around my small neighborhood that's 1.2 miles and bike it at an even pace for an hour a day. If I don't bike I walk one of my dogs on that path, but I keep the activity going for an hour or an hour and a half at least.

Obviously there haven't been any noticeable changes over five days but I've definitely been enjoying the audio books~~

Hopefully I can keep it up, it's been good so far and I do enjoy biking and getting to know the area. I did almost crash once, but I blame the city for that pot-hole, not my zoning out.

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It's funny you mention combining activities, zeph, not only because I've been doing that but also because the post-activity-activity has been, in many cases, playing mtg. Most of my pals seem to be in a weight-loss kick and after an hour of tennis we go off and play games.

We actually have to get good at tennis before we start making it a competition. I'm thinking a simple biggest volley possible game will eventually increase our skill. It's actually kind of funny just how much work it is to run around from left to right and picking up balls from the fence, it's a great compliment to riding the bike in mile-circles.

So far I've lost a bit of weight, but more importantly I just feel more ALIVE. Lot's of energy and overall just feeling good. I definitely think it's been the forced inclusion of breakfast into my life that's kicked that into gear. Also just an overall good mood after getting some sun.

I was speaking idiomatically.