Plant the Garden, Pitch the Scale -- Week 2

The Green
What better time to plant a vegetable garden than on Mother’s Day weekend.  Not only is it the recommended date to put plants in the ground, but it comes with built-in labor, generously giving my family the perfect opportunity to show me how special I am to them.   
All kidding aside, the garden is good for the whole family in many regards.

• Saves money
• Provides my family with organic food
• Teaches my kids how to plant and maintain a garden

We've had the occasional tomato or pepper plant in the past, but this year we are going all out and planting a full garden to include: lettuce, radish, zucchini, tomato, chives, basil, cucumber, green beans, peppers and even a few sun flowers.

This is also the first time that we are starting our plants from seed.  Not only is it fun to see the sprouts break through the soil, but it is a huge cost savings as well.

I must say, this green effort feels really good. I can't wait to post the progress of this garden and share it with you. I plan on getting into some garden-inspired recipes this summer as well. Doing green does feel good!

---

The Lean

I don't have a scale. I used to – it dated back to my days in the dorm. I loved that scale, it was 10 pounds lighter than the doctors scale (or any other calibrated scale for that matter). Looking back, I wish I had embraced those numbers it shared with me when I was 18, 19, and 20 years old. I hopped on and off of it daily, sometimes more, scooting it to various areas of the bathroom floor in an attempt to get a reading that satisfied me.  After all, my day and mood depended on it! Ironically, if it showed me disappointment, I was more likely to have a donut for breakfast. Crazy, I know.

Then the weighing stopped.  I just couldn't take it anymore; I had to get off the emotional roller coaster I had been riding for so many years.  I just wanted to enjoy my house full of toddlers, and happily nibble away on their dry Cheerios, crackers, mac and cheese... ahh, to be a kid again. It's true that ignorance is bliss... until you can't button your jeans.  
So upon the start of this 52 week journey, I have a decision to make: to weigh or not to weigh?  That is the question.

The decision (drum roll please) – is not to weigh. My old college scale finally broke just prior to my 52 week journey and I am taking this as a sign from the universe. That being said, I do in fact know my start weight. The shocking number was revealed to me at my doctor’s appointment last month. In fact, it is this number, the highest I’ve ever seen without being pregnant, that is motivating me to FINALLY take off this weight once and for all.

I am choosing to focus my success on the measurement of my midsection.  Here’s why and I quote:

---

“Among women of normal weight, those with a waist larger than 34.6 inches were three times as likely to die of heart disease, compared to women with smaller waists.
By the time the tailor's tape says your waistline is larger than 39 inches, you may already be on the road to diabetes or heart disease. This holds true for both men and women, find Hans Wahrenberg, MD, and colleagues at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.  Wahrenberg's team finds that half of all men and women with waistlines of 39.37 inches or more -- already have insulin resistance. But very few people with smaller waists have developed this dangerous condition.”

I know my start weight, my waist measurement, and which pair of shorts I would like to someday button.  I don’t care if it takes me a year or more to reach my goal because it’s not about the destination this time, it’s about the journey.  I need to adopt permanent, healthy habits that I can live with everyday for the rest of my life; and this is where my daily focus will lie - not on a number from the bathroom scale.