Let me start off by saying that I don’t want to lose weight to look like a super model, I want to lose weight to be HEALTHY. Granted I exercise and run races, but I’m still not healthy. If you saw how I eat, you would probably be appalled. Its time for me to get serious about my health and my body. That is why I welcome you to “My Weight Loss Journey.”
I recently purchased and read The Runner’s Diet by Madelyn H Fernstrom. I got this book because not only do I want to lose weight but I want to do it by running (and eating right) And hopefully along the way, my running (swimming and biking too) will improve. I’ll just tell you a few of the basics and try not to go into a long summary of the book. The beginning of the book has a eating awareness scale quiz and a physical activity rating scale quiz. Overall, I scored a 34 out of 60. Not very good. I definitely don’t (or didn’t) pay attention to what I was eating. And because I was eating so poorly, I didn’t have enough energy to exercise as often as I should. It goes onto talk about having realistic goals, etc. It also talks about the different roles of food and how much of each you should eat. Basically (now you need to read the book to get the whole picture of this diet) my daily calorie distribution needs to be 50-25-25. 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% fat. I also need to have a much lower calorie intake (I told you I eat CRAP) in order to lose weight.
Here is my plan/goal:
1. I’m going to post my progress every week on my blog. I’m hoping by doing this, I’ll be more successful cause I’ll have you guys to hold me accountable. Also expect these updates every Wednesday.
2. I would like to keep my calories to around 1700/day and follow the 50-25-25 plan.
3. I plan to exercise/train 5 days/week.
4. I would like to lose 40 lbs overall. (I don’t really have a timeframe on this, trying to stay realistic here)
5. July, 2011: Be 40 lbs lighter and complete my first Ironman 70.3!
Now I debated on whether or not I should tell you my weight and share progress pictures with everybody. But I decided, if you really have nothing nice to stay you shouldn’t be reading my blog anyways! 
So here we go: I’m 5’3″ and I currently weight 183 lbs. Below are my before pictures:
To celebrate my new journey, I decided to have a giveaway for you guys! I’ll be giving the lucky winner a copy of The Runner’s Diet. I’ll be accepting entries until Tuesday and I’ll announce the winner in my next update on Wednesday.
Here’s how to enter:
1. Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment.
2. Become a fan of my blog on facebook and leave a comment.
3. Make a donation to my TNT fundraising HERE and leave a comment.
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter, facebook or whatever and leave a comment for each.
Good luck everybody and welcome to my journey! 
Good luck with your weightloss journey. I lost a total of about 75lbs through diet and exercise over a 10month period about a year and a half ago and still have about 15 to lose. It's a long journey but so worth it. Good luck!
Way to go setting awesome goals! I am a current follower (AS cHRIS in GFC):)
I am already a facebook fan
I follow your blog. Good luck! You can do it!
I am already a facebook fan.
That is so awesome that you are doing this!
I applaud you! I love your blog and will definitely be here to comment and encourage and be support along the way! You rock!
Following!
I've actually been wanting to look at this book.
Linked to your giveaway in my blog.
What kind of shorts are those?
I am already a follower.
AND.
Wow. What a goal. I wish you ALL the success. I will be following you to see how it is going and also for some inspiration!
You go girl!!
I am a follower.
You GO!! I have lost 30 lbs this year and need to lose 40 more. We can do this!
I am really interested in the book. Lately I have struggled with the balance of training, eating healthy and calorie controlled, but the right amount to not want to gnaw my arm off by 3PM.
Good luck!!
I'm a follower
I'm a facebook fan!
I think it's so awesome you are doing this! You will do awesome. I'm excited to follow your journey and be supportive along the way!
Good luck on your journey! You can do this! I just finished reading that book and I loved it. I am trying to apply the concepts to clean up my eating habits!
I'm already a follower of your blog. Congrats on deciding to loose weight! I can't wait to read about your progress. Remember, slow and steady is best.
put your giveaway up on my blog.
I think this is a great motivation and goal for yourself. I am in the same boat…I have been running and working out, but because my eating isn't in check, I'm not losing weight. I start marathon training next week, and really hope to focus on my eating and hopefully I will actually lose weight.
I would love to win this book to help me with my goal also. I think it would be awesome!
I am a loyal follower!
Good luck Courtney! I think your journey is going to be great and I am excited to follow you. I have similar goals in mind for myself and will be excited to see how you do. I think that book sounds perfect. Good luck to you!
I am a follower!
Oh and we are friends on Facebook now!
Hey, just saw your comment on Katye's mileage count. Since we will be running the same race together, I figured I'd come stalk you, I mean support you on your journey
Best wishes
I'm a new follower!
I became a fan of your blog on FB.
I posted a status update about your give away on FB.
I'm a follower. Once your goals are in writing, they suddenly become real, making them easier to attain. I'm sure you'll have many stories to share on your journey.
This sounds like a book I should be reading. I'll have to check it out, one way or another.
I just linked to your giveaway on my side bar
http://stickyfingerprints.com/
Good for you Courtney!! Looking forward to (continuing) following your journey!
I am a fan on FB
I am off to link you to the sidebar on my blog.
http://www.lauraelainedesigns.blogspot.com
There is also an awesome website that helps you track what you are eating and then you can see the breakdown of carbs/fat/protein ratio. It has helped me to see that I need to get more protein into my diet. You can also track your workouts on it. It's called fitday.com
Good luck!
I am a new follower. I've also read the Runners Diet and was surprised by the carb/protein/fat ratio's.
I am a new follower !!
I am a new follower.
I became a fan on your FB page.
you're linked on my sidebar.
Posted it on my blog: http://babyweightmyfatass.blogspot.com/2010/06/saturday-morning-round-up-of-give-aways_12.html
I just became a follower!!
I also just became a fan on facebook (and added a few of your favorites, as well! Thanks!).
I am a follower:-)
yeahhh good luck!!! I definitely think posting helps a lot.
i am a follower
I'm a new follower! I'd love to win this book! Sweet bike by the way
i'm a follower!
i linked your giveaway to my page!