Dear Stephanie and Christopher, No wonder I'm fat. I live in York County PA.

Yo Mama is so fat and now I know why. I live in York County PA. I have proof that this is the reason. The local newspaper just had an article on obesity and said that York County is one of the fattest counties in the country. So there you have it. Proof. The paper is running a whole series of articles on obesity; how much it costs us, how we get to be fat, why we get fat, how to get healthy, etc. The article is pretty scary and mentions that sitting around and eating is more deadly for us than most other risky behaviors. I am glad that I started changing my lifestyle before I read this article or I would really be in a panic! And to think of all the fun I might have had.
The same day that the newspaper started this series of article on obesity, they had another large article/articles (only a couple of pages away) on Lancaster County's plethera of smorgasbords. The article had a listing of where to go, items on the menus, restaurant specialties, and cost. It even listed the definition of a smorgasbord - my definition is lots of food. All that Amish food....and only a few miles away.........
Ok, so now I am so confused. I want to be healthy and lose weight. But I REALLY want to go eat at one of those smorgasbords. I even know which one I want to go to first after reading that article. If I wasn't changing my eating habits, I probably would have them listed, in my mind, by order of first to try to last. I would know which ones I have been to and which ones I haven't, which ones were really good and which ones I should maybe give a second try.
The truth is, I was fat way before I moved to York County 10 years ago.  I've been fat a long time.  The fact is that we run into these contradictions between wanting to be healthy and having an abundance of food placed in front of our eyes everywhere we go. I need to be the one to be able to look the other way. So I can't blame it on York County for being fat. I can, however, feel like I fit right in:) At least for now.

So here is the news: I went back to work today and got on the scales. Decided not to measure for a few more weeks. Today is day 7 soda free!

Current weight is 224.0 - down 11/2 lbs since last week.

For Christopher:

Breakfast
1 slice whole grain bread with tbls of peanut butter
1 clementine

Lunch
My own recipe mixture of bulger, black eyed peas, zuchinni, green onion, fresh tomato, fresh oregano and basil

Dinner
More of mixture from above (Can't be much healthier than that)
Ham spread and american cheese sandwich on 2 slice whole grain bread

Snack
Broccoli and carrots with tbls of hummus
4 cheddar cubes
About a cup of hummus chips
About 10 small pretzel twists

Coming up. Increasing my walking and exercise.

Love you guys,
Yo Mama