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amy March 9th, 2007

Hi, I’m Amy Vallery. I’m a 25 year old software tester, wife, and mother of one. My one year old son James, husband Jason and I live in Longmont, Colorado. Our family website can be found at http://vallery.net.

I’ve been struggling to lose weight for most of my life, since elementary school. After yo-yo dieting for many years, here I am back at my high school weight (most people would probably love to weigh what they weighed in high school!) Instead of starting yet another quick-fix diet, I want to change my life this time. I want to be at a healthy weight while eating like a “normal” person - no measuring, no counting, no forbidden foods. I want to retrain my attitude towards food to view it as a fuel instead of a hobby or cure-all, while still allowing the occasional indulgence. I want to eat when I am hungry, and stop when I am not. I want to have power over food, not the other way around. I want to make physical activity a part of my daily life, not a chore to be done three times a week at the gym.

This blog is a personal account of my journey to regain control over my body through introspection and trial and error. It is also a commentary on nutrition and the diet climate in general. Too much money is spent on pills, commercial diet programs, fitness gadgets, and magazines that make impossible promises on the cover. Instead of paying groups whose best interest is not our sustainable weight loss (how would they continue to make money then?), we should be looking for alternative ways to be healthy that are tailored specifically to us as individuals. Losing weight does not need to cost money. Healthy food can be just as inexpensive or even more so than packaged junk. Your body’s hunger signals are a natural way to regulate weight and can be just as effective as a “points” system if you learn to listen to them. Many forms of exercise are free or require a minimal investment, such as running shoes or a used bicycle.

My goal for this blog, in addition to motivating my own weight loss, is to inform others of the lessons I’ve learned (and am still learning) over the years about healthy eating and why DIET is a four letter word.

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