I vote very brave. Good for you for not only choosing this goal but also choosing a great motivator to get you there. On another note, I didn’t feel the baby shots were gratuitous at all. In fact, if you have a baby that cute, a camera and a youtube account you’re kind of obligated to share. It’s a rule.

Good luck on losing weight before Blogher. I know you can do it. Now go do it.

I agree, you are brave! I am backing you all the way- email me to vent or not sneek treats!I can relate- I am 8 pounds over what I weighed at Henry’s 6 week checkup! and he was over 8 pounds…sigh. What is really important is that you are healthy to keep chewing on that sweet baby of yours for a long time! I wish you the best of luck!

I admire you so much for this. I also think it is awesome that you are using this as a motivation to work on getting where you are headed. How very cool. I wish you the best of luck, and I have a feeling you are going to be making some serious progress by Blogher time.

You are VERY brave for doing that video blog!! 2 years ago I lost 30 lbs and when we went shopping the other day I weighed myself and discovered I gained 26 of the 30 lbs back. I was just think I had to do what I did 2 years ago and then here you are blogging about your weight. Good luck!! Now you’ve motivated me to get in gear. You can do this! If you want an internet fitness buddy, let me know!

Very brave, I have had to lose a whole pile after each of my kids (I’m still big from number 4) and goals like this have helped me in the past. By the way, those cheeks, gorgeous!!

Very, very brave. VERY brave! And you can totally do it. When I moved to Belgium I weighed in at 232. Over 4 months I got down to about 210. Then I stagnated and went back up to 223. On September 1st I decided to try again, for good this time and as of now I’m right around 204, give or take a pound. Just remember that if you have a bad day, or even a bad week, it is okay, but it is not okay to give up.
I had a horrible week this past week. And I’m trying to get back into the healthy mindset. But you can do it! And again, wow, very very brave.

There is NOTHING wrong with you mate!!! You just had a baby for goodness sake! give yourself a break…. you are beautiful. And so is Lucy!!! Such an adorable bubba.

Leslie, you made me cry. First of all, I think it is WONDERFUL that you are going to try to lose weight. You’ll be healthier and happier and that is great. And, while I totally understand about being scared to go to BlogHer while you are overweight, you do know that people are NOT going to look at you like your gross or whatever? Anyone that reads your blog already likes you, they already know you, they already want to meet you and they don’t care what you look like. And fuck everyone else.

That being said, I also need to lose weight. I weight about 5lbs less than I did when I delivered Cindy-Lu. Which is about 65lbs more than I weighed when I met Cleatus. Yuck.

You know from my blog that I’m also taking on this challenge right now, so I say good for you! It’s not easy, and that’s an understatement. I became a single mom a few months ago and loosing weight is sometimes even harder for me than that was. The things that have helped me were to put my goals on my blog where everyone can see if I fail (yikes), and to set a couple of smaller goals instead of one overwhelming goal. I’ve lost 27 lbs. and I am about 18 lbs. away from my first goal. My final goal weight is a weight that I will feel comfortable with and I’ve come to grips with the fact that I will never be the size that I was before babies. You have my email address so hit me up if you need any support! Also traineo.com is a really great site that will offer some support. Good luck!!

Wow. That was really brave. I’m on the same kick. I really want to have some very expensive family portraits done next summer, and there is no way in hell I’m doing them at this weight.

I’ve been on Sparkpeople and I think it’s really helpful in tracking food and exercise. (Just don’t engage in any political debates - Amy at Pretty Babies got kicked off for that.) I haven’t really lost any weight yet, but it’s at least got me exercising and thinking about what I eat.

You are so brave. And inspirational. I am definitely rooting (is that how it’s spelled?) for you!!

You are brave… and not at all stupid. You are smart, and funny, and I love ya. I agree with my sister that Traineo.com is a good site for motivation. I used it before I got pregnant, and will use it again when trying to get back into shape after baby. We love you no matter what. You are awesome, and your writing is fantastic. But I wish you all kinds of luck and good will on your goal!

Good for you!
You do it for you screw what other people think!
Awesome motivation though,
And So loving the baby!
So cute!
Stephy

Oh Leslie, you are super cute! You can be beautiful at any size and you are. But this is not really about what other people think, so good luck on your quest. All any of us can do is try to love ourselves, make healthy choices in our lives and never give up on those goals, right?

Leslie you are incredibly brave and honest. I hope I get to meet you at blogher if I get to go this year. I want to go but hate being thrown into new social situations as I’m socially handicapped. Plus I really don’t want to get on a plane. See, I’m talking myself out of it already.

You had me rolling!!! Just come as you are with that funny sense of humor.

This is AMAZING! I’m serious. I LOVE you! Best of luck to you in your weight loss endeavors. I can’t wait to meet you in Chicago!

Leslie - I’m right about where you are in terms of what I need to lose. I can totally relate.

You are a ROCKSTAR for doing this, GF.

And I second sparkpeople - it’s fab and it’s FREE and it has great exercise videos, plans, everything. It totally, completely rocks.

I’m trying to get serious, too, and I’m only five hours from Chicago… maybe I can join the party?

First of all, it was GREAT to actually HEAR your voice. You are SO SO SO SO SSO SOOO pretty and sweet. You are NOT THAT FREAKING BIG woman!! Stop being so hard on yourself.
However, um…. so, like if I got invited to go to BlogHer in July with my long lost old friend Karly and my still in touch friend Leslie…?? I SWEAR I would HEAP praise on you for looking so much thinner in person and after all the hard work you are going to do between now and then. I mean, I would CONSTANTLY be telling you how skinny you are and we could share clothes and stuff and swap dieting secrets and since someone (ok Karly) was supposed to go to Blogher with me in California..it’s almost like she OWES me a blogher get together. Pretty please can I come play with you guys? I’ll even bribe you and offer to foot the bill for the room if we can all be roomies and stuff.