Day the 4th THE SEQUEL! It's a good one, too...

You know...Mom was right.

"Think first," she used to tell me. But did I? Do I? not always...

When I first started the blog--lo! A few short days ago...

I didn't think. Well, I thought, all right, but not on all the right things. I was sort of like my friend who lives in another country and some time back, dated a guy of a different religion. This mattered to her--it would matter to me, too, but not to everyone--and she wrote a long email airing her thoughts.

So naturally, all of us pounced on her and gave her unasked-for advice. And she felt overwhelmed. That's because she is an Independent Woman--and so are we.

And of course, so are you. I love that about you, o readers of this blog.

But I have already found that I am overwhelmed with advice because I didn't make clear what I was doing before the start of it all. And then...I wrote the first part of today's blog this morning...on the fly before work started.

So...who knows? Perhaps I could use advice, perhaps not.

So...let's make a deal. Think of this blog as reading a novel and enjoying it although the heroine sometimes doesn't use the best sense. Go "tsk, tsk" in your mind, but on the blog, just share what you have done that works for you. Let's not get into the "don't do this" or "don't do that" mode. Instead, you are relieved from having to give advice--and I'm relieved from having to read it and then stress because I can't/won't/shouldn't take it. I'm not weight-obsessed...just determined to get healthy and get this weight to where it ought to be.

Here is what I should have begun with: I'm following Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. It not only works for me, but I love eating that way. Here's why I have a blog: being on Fit for Life worked great for me when I had a doctor to talk with each week, to be accountable to, to discuss the story of my journey to good health with (which is what this is really about--you can't have good health if you are carrying more weight that your body needs! But the health comes first. The weight...it follows. I love that about it. It's sort of like a little lost sheep...). But now, I don't go to that doctor any more. So...you all are my fellow-travelers.

However! There will be times I just might ask for advice! I will headline those posts with:

Red Alert! Red Alert! Weltha is requesting advice!

And then...I will really want all the advice comments I can get. Until then, let's just enjoy this journey together--no stress on anyone's part, no overwhelming feelings on mine...

• From my friend Dixie--she has lost weight following the Skinny B*****s who advocate eating really high quality food--organic, without animal lard, preservatives. What a brilliant idea--and she says she was able to eat lots of things that she enjoyed (cookes, chocolate!). Sounds brilliant to me!
• Dixie also has tried stir fry for those pesky veggies we can't stand to eat totally in the raw and of course, the lovely hummus as a dip for "stuff."
• I'm jonzing for baba ghanoush and my lovely city has a restaurant that makes an incredible, garlicky version! And they do take-out...yummmmm.
• Tonight, I am going to jump on the rebounder. But those of you who live in "my town", hey! I want to take you up on walking together. What a great way for women to reconnect--and get healthy at the same time.

I love all of you--and a special shout-out to Brenda from the Atlanta area--you are the BOMB, woman.

Independently,

Weltha