My name is Pam Sirrine and I LOVE FOOD! Thinking back over my life some of my best memories involve food in one way or the other. My parents were both from Holland and as you can imagine having a northern European palette, our meals were usually heavy and involved meat of some sort (usually beef), potatoes, a vegetable and lots of butter or gravy to top it all off. Not only were our meals heavy but our we were also very emotional eaters. We usually used food to mend hurt feelings, recover from a bad day or just use as a reason to get together and visit with each other. It was really always about routine and food was and is a central focalpoint with every family gathering.
I was blessed with being tall (5'8") and in my youth was really able to eat everything and anything I wanted. I had a quick metabolism and despite eating tons, it never really showed. I remember one summer vacation, my brother and I went to the grocery store and each bought a box of chocolate pudding and whipping cream. We each made our own mixing bowl of it and each ate the whole thing. In 6th grade, our family had a chocolate pie eating contest. My dad could not eat a whole pie himself but I did it! I never gained weight from any of that.
The day I was married I probably weighed about 130 lbs. Over the years I had 5 children. With children 1, 2, and 3, I would gain weight during my pregnancy but it was pretty easy for me to take it off afterwards. I carried around a few extra pounds with each pregnancy but overall I was in pretty good shape. Child 4 was a different story. My husband like to refer to it as the "big boom". I probably gained about 40 lbs with that pregnancy and for some reason afterwards, my body just wasn't the same. I was very active raising our little family and I really did not have time to focus on myself. A couple of years later came baby 5 and in addition to still carrying around a lot of extra weight, I added even more to it. My husband was gone a lot with his job in the military and again, I focused on taking care of my family rather than myself.
In 1995 my husband left the military and we moved to Washington state to be near family. It was at that time that I went to work full-time and I have been working full-time every since. The world of working opens a whole bunch of new opportunities to eat. The worst being the world of fast-food. It is so easy to hit the drive-thru on the way in to the office in the morning or to spend your lunch hour in the McDonald's parking lot eating a value-meal and enjoying a new book. It all starts very innocently and before you know it, it almost becomes an addiction. This has been my life for the past 13 years. Little by little I have put on a few pounds here and there. I have tried to take them off and sometimes I did really good, but before you know it, the weight I had lost would be back and then some....
Well today that is all going to change. The straw that broke the camels back was looking at myself in home videos. I do not even recognize me....and I don't want to play that game anymore. I am changing my life as of today and I am vowing here and now not to fall into those old habits again.
So your probably asking yourself "why is she blogging about it?". I am blogging about it because it makes me accountable. I can not tell you the number of Monday morning I have said "ok..today is the day". Usually by dinner time those days I would be really hungry. I figured nobody knew I was trying to diet so I would not have to answer to them about it why my dinner plate was so full or why I was having that bowl of ice cream. And besides, there was always next week. Well I am running out of next weeks. I am 44 years old and probably about 70 lbs over weight. I don't want to be that way anymore. I want to be able to be a active and healthy for my husband, my children and my grandchildren. Starting today I am making a life style change. No quick diets for me. I am going to be accountable for everything that goes into my mouth. My plan is to go low carb but also not go crazy with the proteins. This will involve removing everything white from my diet. Goodbye potatoes and bread....I will miss you! I am hoping to have a protein and a vegetable or salad for most meals. I am going to go to the gym at least 3 days a week to start and hopefully move up to 5 days a week as time allows.
I hope you will all support me and encourage me in this endeavor. As time goes by I know I will need it and I am counting on those that I love the most to help me. I plan to update this blog on my progress as well as how I am doing it. Check back often for updates.
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