The truth comes out.

I have a secret.

Has anyone noticed I haven't been blogging much since summer started? No?? How could you not notice? Oh, that's right. The world doesn't revolve around me. Duh. Well there is a very good reason for my lack of interesting blog posts. I've been keeping busy and haven't been sharing.

No, I'm not expecting. Let's just get that out there right now. But I've been doing something else pretty incredible.

I've lost 55 pounds. And counting.

All that leading up work just to tell you that. I know. So melodramatic. But it feels pretty huge to me. I bet you're wondering why I haven't told you. Well, frankly, its embarrassing to have that much weight to lose, number one. And I'm not even done yet. I have MORE weight to lose. Even more embarrassing. Some of the people who read this blog haven't seen me in years and remember me as fairly thin. I didn't want to shatter any one's illusions of me. Number two, I'm well known for starting something, then quitting if it gets to be too hard for me. You want a list? I could give you one. Let's see: I dropped out of college, I have a box of crafts I've started and haven't finished, I have a whole quilt I've started and never finished, I started piano lessons last year but don't play anymore because I don't have a teacher as flexible as my last one.... and the list could go on. Just ask Tyler. I'm the queen of quitting. I didn't want to announce a goal and then fail. Failing doesn't feel good when you're the only one who knows about it, much less a bunch of your friends and family.

So now you're wondering why this means I have less to blog about. Frankly, dieting and exercising are about all I think about besides feeding my children occasionally. So if I don't want you to know I've got this huge goal, I can't really talk about what's on in my mind can I? Because diet and exercise are (almost) all I think about.

So yay for me. I've never worked so hard for anything in my life. And just because I know someone will ask how I'm doing it, I'll tell you. Sweat. Determination. And a whole lot of portion control. I work out A LOT. My friend, Gabrielle, has been my biggest motivator and inspiration. When we moved to Colorado in 2006, 2 other friends left our little community, too. And Gabrielle found herself a little lonely so she decided to fill her time working out and lost 75 lbs (which happens to be my final goal, too... give or take a few pounds). When we moved to the Burg and I found myself friendless, without a calling, and with a lot of free time, I decided to follow her lead. I didn't do a special diet. I provide meals for 3 other people. Its just not feasible to change our lifestyle that much. Plus I wanted to eat in a way that would be easy to maintain. So I eat more fruits, veggies, and whole grains (well, actually, just less grains altogether, but whole ones when I do) and I don't eat refined sugar (usually). And it's working! No programs, no systems, no nothing. I just make sure I expend more calories in a day than I take in.

And your next question is: can we see a picture? And the answer is not yet! I've got 20 more pounds to lose, then I'll shock you all with a picture of me!

Now if anyone is feeling particularly generous and would like to donate to the "Carrie has absolutely nothing to wear that fits her (even her pants fall off, literally.)" fund, we would greatly appreciate it, as a whole new wardrobe doesn't come cheap.