I’m 37 years old and I’ve never been “on a diet” before. I’ve never had to be, until now.

I’ve always had a fairly high metabolism, and my body responds well to exercise, so I’ve never really had to think about my weight. If I ever felt that I was getting a bit heavy, I just picked up my activity level for a week or so, or maybe cut out the wine in the evenings, and the weight dropped off.

I knew I was lucky in that regard, and I wasn’t looking forward to the day that it changed — but now it seems that day has arrived.

Yes, I know I just had a baby four months ago, but I’m breastfeeding — this weight should be nearly gone by now; instead, I think I’ve actually gained a couple of pounds! I’m not liking this at all.

Anyway, somehow, while browsing the internet a couple of days ago I stumbled across a diet called the 3-Apple-a-Day Plan. I printed out the sample menus, ordered the book from Amazon, and stocked up on apples.

While I was on Amazon I also found another diet book that sounded promising: The Bread for Life Diet. It was only $.89 plus shipping, so I ordered it, too. (I’ve been feeling a little hungry already, on the apple diet, so I’m wondering if the bread diet might be better for me….)

One more that sounded interesting, but the book got not-so-stellar reviews for being hard-to-read:

The Rice Diet
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1. Diet in the following manner:

a. 1 week of grains, fruits, and veggies. This is the detox

period, with 1000-1200 calories/day.
b. keep the same diet, but add some non-fat dairy, and you

get animal protein once a week.
c. Maintenance while you add more foods.

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I’ll be tracking my progress here, but I’ll be measuring it in inches, rather than pounds. Why, you ask? That’s a great question! Let me tell you. Because:

1) We don’t own a scale

2) I have a lot of muscle, so even when I’m thin I’m fairly heavy

and

3) It’s fitting into my clothes that matters to me, not how lightly I tread.

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My starting measurements:

chest: 40″

waist: 32.5″

hips: 42″

(ugh, ick, yuck, yuck, yuck!)

I’ll try to post a picture in the morning, just for reference . . .