I ♥ my curves.

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Never, ever in a million years would I have thought I'd be willing to write a blog post about my weight. But here goes...

I've always been a curvy girl. I've also always been a tall girl, which I know makes a difference in my weight. I still remember getting weighed and measured in sixth grade and a classmate just as tall as me flipping out because she was exactly 100 pounds. (I think I was just over it.) Her friends consoled her with, "But you're tall!" which is a refrain I often hear when discussing weight with friends. Me? I just wanted to punch her.

Honestly though, for the most part I've always been okay with being the curvy girl. I really don't think girls who are a size zero are that attractive because there's nothing to them. I would rather look healthy than fit into designer clothing or constantly stress about my weight.

A lesson, truth be told, I learned the hard way because I was that girl from time to time growing up - mostly in high school. But following a weekend of not eating, passing out and landing face-first into a tile floor, I changed my mind: being a dumb girl is painful. (And scary when you're subjected to medicine in east Texas, just let me say...) Fourteen stitches in my forehead later, I sheepishly returned to my freshman dorm room, embarrassed and a little worse for the wear...

And determined not to do dumb things like feign anorexia for a weekend.

So up until two months ago, I spent my time not really paying attention to what I put in my body other than foods I liked. That, combined with a medicine I took for six months meant to treat my chronic headaches that really just made me sleep 24/7, got me to where I was at the end of January.

(Being annoyed at being surrounded by a bunch of skinny girls at my new job who constantly were talking about how many calories they were eating and how far they'd have to run to work it off later might have helped too.)

Yes, I'm 5'11. Height definitely plays into it, but it took finally getting on a scale two months ago to realize all that extra weight wasn't just me being tall. It was too many beers, too much of the wrong types of foods, and too much over indulgence, period.

I had already (finally) started a workout regiment now that my schedule has calmed down compared to how it was a year ago, but it took seeing the largest number I've ever been to shock me into finally paying attention to what I eat.

Two months later, I'm excited to say I've lost nearly 18 inches, and a whole TWENTY pounds - ie, a quarter of the weight I'm determined to lose.

I posted those stats on Twitter earlier this evening and got back "How did you do it?!"

The same way everyone should: diet and exercise.

My mom and grandma both go to Curves on a daily basis. I went for a month with my mom in August 2009 just after I moved home, but my crazy work schedule derailed that. I started back up again in November, and while I might be the youngest person in there every evening I have to say, I really enjoy going. For the type of girl who is friendly on the yoga and not the cardio, Curves makes the workout super easy with their circuit. I like it because I don't have to think about what I'm doing. I just go, do and 30 minutes later I'm done. And as long as I go three times a week, I'm meeting what they consider their basic requirement. And it's only $30 a month.

What that testimonial enough for you?

And then there's "the plan" as my family calls it - aka the Curves weight management plan. "The plan" is basically calorie counting, designed to change how your metabolism works. I'm on my second round through, and over half the weight I've lost came off during the first phase where you decrease your calories significantly. I'll be honest - the first week of calorie counting sucked. I cut my daily calories by more than half, so I found myself hungry and usually with a headache. But I found that by eating more veggies to fill up (which count as zero calories on "the plan") I not only got through phase one, I also made a big difference in what I craved and how much I ate. Once I got through that first week, the rest was pretty easy.

And honestly? The whole thing has been pretty easy. All it takes it working out on a regular basis and being conscious of what goes in your mouth - seriously, you'd be AH-MAZED how many calories are in junk food you don't even think about eating. Don't worry, I'm not going to turn into half the girls I work with and obsess over every little thing that touches my lips. But I feel like I'm making better choices - like not touching the carrot cake or donut holes in the office kitchen today - and therefore making my body work better.

Okay, enough on this topic. I'm just really excited I've managed to drop the extra 20 pounds I didn't realize I was carrying around. Now my real work can begin - I have at least 60 more pounds to go because I'm back and what *I* consider my ideal weight - which is still 10 pounds over what BMI scales consider a "healthy" weight for my height.

But hey - I like my curves.