Following the birth of my first child in 2006, I vowed (like most mothers!) to return to my pre-pregnancy weight. One of the midwives who assisted my home birth insisted that no mother should EVER use bearing children as a reason for excess weight on their bodies. She is a mother of 5, stands at 5’3” and by my rough estimation weighs no more than 115 lbs. I took this as inspiration and motivation! It also came with a bit of resentment and jealousy.

Within several months, I had returned to 130 lbs (still 10 lbs more than my original weight), and was feeling quite pleased and on the right track. Breastfeeding helped (so they say!), along with lots of walks with a healthy, chunky baby strapped to me.

Then came the big move. We relocated for my husband to finish his schooling, and by necessity moved in with my mother-in-law. For most people, this takes little elaboration and explanation for an increased level of stress. I took on a full time job to make ends meet, and this meant leaving my child (who was a little over 1 year old) much more than I wanted to. In under a year, the job led to a decent promotion, for which I was excited and feeling accomplished for. However, it came with yet more stress, and an underlying feeling of emptiness. My little boy was growing up while I was away from home, and I was lucky to get 1 or 2 hours a day to enjoy with him.

In the 2 years spent at that job and in that house, I gained 15 to 20 more pounds. All from binge eating and stress. Might I mention, the binge eating often times was organic dark chocolate and all natural potato chips to justify in my mind that I wasn’t eating TOO badly.

That chapter in my life is officially over. My husband graduated. Within 2 months we packed our things, and ran from that house eager to start a new life. We decided on starting a business from home; a small daycare center focused on nurturing young children’s minds with the arts, and nurturing their bodies with all natural organic, traditional foods. Getting it going has taken less than 2 months since we have gotten such a positive response from the community for what we are doing.

Our days are now spent together as a family. We have the freedom to make the decisions we want in our business. And while we have hit some rough patches with our son as he learns to adapt to all these kids invading our space, the lessons I know it will ultimately teach him will be invaluable.

Now that my home life, stress levels, and peace of mind are all gaining clarity, I realize my next move is to get my body back to a healthy state. The eating lifestyle I most subscribe to is the traditional, local, organic way. When a tomato is grown in the farm 30 miles from home, allowed to ripen in the sun and not sprayed with any chemicals, I am quite sure it is 100% better for you than one picked green in California, artificially ripened, and driven by truck to you. So it’s healthier. But will it enable weight loss? And will eating meat from a cow than grazes on grass instead of eating processed corn product also enable weight loss?

My goal is to return by body to my pre-pregnancy weight of 120 lbs. Threw a combination of eating local, traditional foods (which includes whole milk, butter, and fats from meats! Shocking!), and obsessive Internet documentation, I hope to achieve this. I’ll be weighing myself daily, and photographing every bit of food I consume. I am no fool, and I realize that the documentation is not simply a tool to analyze the results, but rather an integral part of keeping me on track. When faced with a piece of chocolate cake, I understand my mind’s ability to refrain from eating it, since posting the photo will result in embarrassment and disappointment.

Today is September 7, 2009; Labor Day. We are grilling a whole chicken (pastured, organic), hot dogs (nitrate/preservative free), and ribs of questionable quality. For vegetables we have onions, corn and eggplant. Dessert is organic homemade sugar cookies; made with freshly ground whole grain flour. Iced with organic, and all natural homemade food coloring. Stay tuned, many photos coming soon.