Good, great and dull news

The good: I think we have a daycare in Europe! To be precise, we now have 2 offers on the table (each with their drawbacks) and I have until Monday morning to choose between them and wire a deposit. And then it's just a visa and housing and plane tickets and packing and we're off!

Great: Io is back! My most faithful reader and one of the nicest, most interesting bloggers out there (although I do reserve final judgment until she comes to visit me).

Dull: I am firmly resolved to lose weight. No, really. And since my self-control has yet to return, I would like your help in keeping me on track. I looked at a weight loss blog a couple of months ago and it was so nice to see the blogger receiving so much support. She had actually set up a system where she had a friend responsible for keeping her on track each week and they would cook together and go for walks. Well, not even my husband will do that with me so I'm asking for your help.

1. The challenge: The honest truth is I really don't care about the weight - I look decent (not great), I'm at my pre-TTC weight, losing weight is not going to make my stretch marks disappear in a poof (only time, according to my mother who seems to still be waiting 27 years later ...) nor my breasts shrink and I'm just not that inspired.

But,

2. The motivation: There are a few reasons I need to lose weight (and I know they may be a bit off-putting to other IF readers):
a. I am too cheap and lazy to buy a new wardrobe. And I have been living in the same 4 skirts and 1 pair of jeans since early December. I need to get back into my old clothes.
b. I do have some vanity, and I want to look good in the fusspot's baby photos. Just maybe even as good as Ms. J does (and she has a toddler!)
c. JD is not going to let me return to the IF clinic until I have lost a bit of weight. The minor complications I had during pregnancy would all have been more complicated if I'd started at a higher BMI and starting treatments, and even just maybe this whole circus again, at a lower weight will make it much easier (note: still avoiding the p-word). And that's largely what I'm keeping in mind: I'm doing this for the chance to try again (because after all, I did have self-control when it was related to medical problems, first with the starvation diet and then with the GD).

3. The logistical challenge: I'm on the road 2.5 days a week. That means I eat out most of those meals and I also don't have much time to cook at home. Oh, and I keep kosher so I don't eat any meat when out and about (there goes the protein ...). And I will need to do most of this weight loss by dieting because I don't have very much time to exercise, and have yet to find time to actually make it to the gym. TS and I do walk several miles a day, but it's not very intense. Definitely considering a jogging stroller when she's big enough.

4. The goal: To weigh 140 by May 10th (yes, I'm setting my goals by someone else's wedding, but I need to fit into a cute dress for it). Ideally I would like to get down to 135, but I need to be realistic. Starting weight: between 149 and 152 (my scale is rather unreliable).

So, I'm going to add a sidenote to this blog for weight loss and periodically give you updates in the hope that my self-control will come slinking home from whatever wild disco-style bar she's been living it up at.